Late registration came to a close with the end of the last break; as such, we've picked up quite a few players, which includes some pretty big names. On the other end of the spectrum, Randy "Nanonoko" Lew has been eliminated from the tournament.
Ben Lamb, who won Event #42: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship for $814,436 and his first-ever World Series of Poker gold bracelet less than 45 minutes ago, has joined today's field. Fresh off his win, Lamb is apparently seeking back-to-back Championship titles.
A table was breaking over in the "White" section, and the tournament director delivered the usual instructions after giving the players their new seat assignments.
"Okay players, gather your chips. You don't have to use racks but you must keep your chips in view at all times..."
"That's okay," said Jason Somerville, referring to the non-restriction about racks. The TD laughed. Somerville will be able to carry his stack -- down to about 7,500 or so -- just fine by hand.
Preflop action left two players, one in the big blind and John Racener in the cutoff. The flop came and Racener's opponent checked. Racener bet 4,645, the BB check-raised to 10,300, Racener reshoved all in, and his opponent called for 16,400 total.
Racener's opponent had , but Racener had him in bad shape with -- a set of ducks. The turn was the and river the , and we've seen another elimination as we near the end of Level 4 and the second break of the day.
With about 7,000 in the middle and the board reading , Dwyte Pilgrim (cutoff) checked, James Calderaro bet 2,000, and Pilgrim called. The river then brought the and a bet of 4,300 from Pilgrim. Calderaro shook a closed fist at the board a moment after Pilgrim made his bet, rechecked his cards, then sent them to the muck.
Pilgrim has about 48,000 now, while Calderaro has 32,000.
Following a flop, a player in middle position bet 875, Freddy Deeb made it 3,300, the bettor pushed all in for 6,700, and Deeb called, creating a total pot of about 15,000. Deeb held for top pair-top kicker, while his opponent had for the nut flush draw.
The turn was the and river the , and that makes two players thus far this afternoon that have been knocked out by Deeb. Deeb pushes up to 62,000 on that one.
We wandered by Daniel Negreanu's table and overheard him talking to the other five players at his table, which happens to include Daniel Alaei and David Singer. Negreanu was suggesting that they all try playing heads-up no-limit hold'em sometime, but with a little catch.
In the game, one player is given the choice to either see his opponent's hole cards from the get go, or he can pick to see the turn and river cards in advance. Whichever option he chooses, his opponent is awarded the other. Negreanu claims to have played before and actually had a lot of fun, claiming it is better to have the ability to see the turn/river cards in advance.