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Gerasimos Deres is sitting with 640,000 chips thanks in part to a big hand in which a player five-bet shoved 220,000 with 
. Deres tank-called with 
and the board ran 
.
Deres chipped up with some small pots after that hand, and is now amongst our chip leaders.
On a flop of 
, Jim Collopy made a bet of 8,200 with Matt Affleck making the call to see the 
hit the turn. Collopy bet 21,700 but Affleck responded with a cheeky min-raise. Collopy made the call.
The river was the 
and Collopy checked to Affleck who made it 65,000 to see, but the price was too high for Collopy who let his hand go.
Collopy slips to 375,000 with Affleck now up to 325,000.
It's been a tough day for Michael Mizrachi but he's in rebuilding mode after eliminating an opponent. The two got the chips all in pre-flop, with Mizrachi's stack covering his opponent by about 60,000 chips. Mizrachi's 
pocket kings were in the lead, and needed to fade an ace when his opponent tabled 
. The board came without much of a sweat for Mizrachi, 
. He eliminated his opponent and is back up to 225,000.
Level: 13
Blinds: 1,200/2,400
Ante: 300
2007 Main Event 3rd-place finisher Raymond Rahme is sprinting up the counts since the dinner break. He re-raised pre-flop to 24,500 in a recent pot after the under-the-gun player opened to 5,000. Action folded to the small blind, who moved all in for about 80,000. That raise folded the under-the-gun player, but Rahme called with 
. He was racing 
and came out on top of a 
board. When his opponent's chips were added to his own Rahme's new chip count was approximately 345,000.
Poker's a game in which dreams are realized and legends made, but it's also one of near misses and close-but-no-cigar moments - sometimes the line between the two is thinner than we think.
John Shipley is often cited as falling into the final category and for a few years had a blemish on his otherwise spotless poker career that he found difficult to remove.
Back in 2002, Shipley was the chip leader heading into the Main Event final with more than double that of Russell Rosenblum in second. However, momentum soon switched, and Shipley's stack began hurtling towards the felt before he incredibly exited in a disappointing seventh place for $125,000.
Robert Varkonyi, meanwhile, went on to become the 2002 World Champion and have his picture hung up on the wall, predominately due to a huge double through with jacks versus the ace-jack of Shipley. Shipley had been the odds on favorite to etch his name into history, but that honor had evaded him.
Getting so close must have been painful, but Shipley battled on, and continued his life as a poker pro, finding the occasional score including an EPT win in the inaugural season.
Today, he's back in the Main Event in an effort to better his 2002 performance, and hopefully go that one step further. Of course, the environment is different, and the mountain is steeper, but I see a look of determination on his face that makes me think he could be a dark horse. With 145,000, he's by no means comfortable, but he's still alive and in with a shout if he can hit a good run of cards.
One of the more reserved players on the scene, you won't be hearing him shout and holler, or strive for the attention of the cameras, but he has a story to tell, and one that he hopes will have a happy ending. Perhaps 2010 will finally be Shipley's year and the closing chapter he's been searching for.
There was about 18,000 in the pot and a flop of 
when the big blind bet 12,000. Raymond Rahme made the call only to have the button raise to 43,300. The big blind folded and Rahme moved all in over the top. It was enough to take down the pot and Rahme brought his stack up to 220,000.
We don't know when the money got in the middle, but when we arrived at Table 298 Thor Hansen was all in with 
against an opponent's and the flop had already fallen 
. The turn and river both bricked , 
respectively and Hansen was eliminated.
There was about 60,000 in the pot and a flop of 
when Pat Ricci was all in for around 50,000 against Robert Mizrachi.
Ricci:
Mizrachi: 
The ESPN camera crew made their way over and watched as the 
hit the turn. The on the river gave Mizrachi the pot while increasing his stack to around 460,000. Ricci shook hands with Mizrachi and made a gracious exit from the tournament area.
Isaac Baron was down to about 70,000 not too long ago, but has worked his chip stack back to about 134,000.
He picked up a few chips after being involved in a hand against another player at his table where Baron bet 7,500 into a board reading 
, getting a call. When the arrived on the turn, Baron bet again, this time for 16,500. His opponent folded and Baron continued to build.
