Neil Channing opened with a raise from the cutoff, and the player sitting on the button reraised to 925. The blinds got out, Channing quickly called, and the flop came . Channing checked, the button bet 775, and Channing again called without hesitation.
The turn was the , and Channing tapped the table to check. This time his opponent bet 1,125. Channing didn't act right away this time, spending a bit of time first arranging his chips, including placing a 500 chip on each corner of his downturned cards. He then set out 2,725 to check-raise and his opponent tanked.
"What's that?" asked David Pham from across the table, pointing at the arrangement of chips on Channing's cards. "What? That's my card marker," said Channing in response. "For luck."
Finally Channing's opponent folded and he dragged the pot. Pham tossed two yellow 1,000 chips across the felt to Channing, asking for some change in return. Pretending he hadn't heard the request, Channing looked up blankly. "Is this for me?" he said with a grin. "For luck?" He then delivered the asked-for change.
Whether by luck, skill, or a combination of the two, Channing has built up to 28,000 at present.
Tony Dunst raised to 700 from the cutoff and the player on the button and the player in the big blind called. The flop ran out . The player in the big blind checked, Dunst bet 1,400, the player on the button folded, and the player in the big blind called.
The hit on the turn and the player in the big blind checked. Dunst bet 3,500 and his opponent folded.
Erick Lindgren has joined the group of more than 200 runners who have thus far hit the rail.
In his final hand, a player in the hijack opened for 600, then Lindgren shoved all in from the button for 6,000. It folded to the big blind who called Lindgren's shove, and the original raiser got out.
Lindgren tabled and his opponent . The flop came , giving Lindgren a set and hopes for a saving double-up. But the turn was the , filling his opponent's gutshot to Broadway. The river was the , and Lindgren had been eliminated.
A short-stacked Russell Crane just now found himself all in before the flop with and was up against an opponent's . The board came , and Crane became another Level 6 elimination.
A player in late position raised to 725, the small blind reraised to 2,100, and Matt Affleck, sitting in the big blind, leaned forward in his Seattle Sonics jersey to study the situation. After a few seconds he called the reraise, and with a shrug the original raiser called as well.
The flop came a coordinated and the small blind checked. Affleck set out a bet of 3,800, and both of his opponents folded without much ceremony.
Affleck has built up a sizable stack this afternoon, one of the bigger ones we're seeing. He's now closing in on 70,000.
When we walked by Table 17, the players were discussing the idea of a timer or shot clock.
"They need to have a clock for everyone," Ludovic Lacay professed. "Especially on Day 1's."
"They take enough juice that we should all be able to have our own timers," Kevin Saul added. "We should all get five minutes, then after dinner we get another two, and then they add more on Day 2."
"When would the timer start?" Carter King asked.
"After 30 seconds," Lacay answered.
"I think it should start right away," Isaac Haxton interjected. "And we should get like 15 to 20 minutes."
A shot clock was used at the 2011 Aussie Millions, and it was going to be used for the now defunct Onyx Cup Series. A handful of players, including the aforementioned group and Tom Dwan, are in favor of a time limit because it would increase the amount of hands played per hour and regulate the pace of play.
Nobody likes a professional tanker, especially this early in a tournament, so perhaps instituting a shot clock would be a good for the WSOP.