We didn't catch the hand, but we can confirm that Davidi Kitai has been eliminated from the tournament. In the meantime, here are some various chip counts from around the Orange Section of the Amazon Room.
We caught the action with the button having 2,300 in front of him and a player in middle position raising to 4,750 with Brad Garrett still to act sitting behind the raise. He flatted, as did the button.
The flop was seen three ways and the player first to act bet 6,000. Garrett called, as did the player on the button.
The turn was the and the first opponent thought for awhile before finally checking. Garrett and the player in position both quickly checked. The river was the and once again all three players checked. Garrett tabled which was good enough to win him the over 30,000-chip pot.
Garrett sits with 67,000 now and while we all knew that he was funny, we are quickly learning that we should take his poker skills very seriously.
T.J. Cloutier -- who played Day 1a and made it through with a below-average stack of 16,000 -- has come over to visit the players at the secondary feature table.
"You'd think some star is on this table or something," said Cloutier with a smile, momentarily ignoring Phil Hellmuth who looked on. "I see Mimi is here," he added, referring to Mimi Tran.
Finally he went over to Hellmuth and mentioned something about how the Poker Brat currently leads the WSOP Player of the Year race. "I shouldn't say I don't care about it, because I do," answered Hellmuth. "But I want a bracelet!"
"Can't say you haven't had your chances," cracked Cloutier, and the table broke up.
Cloutier was referring, of course, to Hellmuth's three second-place finishes this summer. While Cloutier has won six WSOP bracelets, he also knows something himself about the pain of finishing second, having been runner-up not once but twice in the WSOP Main Event (1985, 2000).
Mike Caro, one of the elder statesmen poker strategy writers, earned the nickname "Crazy" Mike Caro decades ago. These days Caro is a bit more subdued and today he is a bit more subdued than normal. We've caught him napping in between a few hands and he's not conversing with the players at his table.
Maybe he's developing a new book of tells based upon projecting disinterest in what's going on around you.
Englishman Rob Sherwood is the latest of what is likely to be many suffering the ill-timing to have kings all in preflop against another player's aces.
A player in middle position raised to 700 and both the button and Jimmy Fricke in the big blind called. The flop came , Fricke checked, and the preflop raiser bet 1,250. The button folded but Fricke called. The turn brought the inducing a check from both players and the river was the . Fricke took the lead betting out 4,000 and his opponent thought for a minute before flashing the and tossing his hand into the muck.
Fricke didn't reveal his hand but scooped up the pot. His stack has been stuck just over 20,000 since the dinner break but we wouldn't be surprised to see him make some big moves before the end of the night.
Normally when we hear something like this, you'll see one of the members of our team scurrying to get to the table before the tournament director so we can catch all of the action and the full ruling. But this is the Main Event. When we heard it this time, five members of the ESPN crew came along with us, as did some other media personnel creating quite a cluster around the table.
On a board, seat four had declared himself all in for 13,375 into a pot already worth at least 20,000. The confusion came from the six seat, who was the last remaining player in the hand, because he had been unclear about what his intended actions were. The dealer told the tournament director that he heard the six seat say, "I call," and then a few seconds later ask, "How much?" The dealer had already instructed the hands to be turned face up, the four seat obeyed these instructions and tabled for a set. The six seat, however, denied ever saying, "I call."
The tournament director asked some of the players around the table and one confirmed what the dealer had heard. A couple of other players seemed more hesitant to get involved but everyone seemed to agree he said something along the lines of "I call." After the player refused for a couple of minutes to make the call, his was forced up by a second tournament director who confirmed the ruling and the last card was dealt.
Eventually, the six seat tossed in the necessary chips but still seems to be steaming about the decision. Luckily for him, he still has a very healthy stack with about 50,000 and this decision did not directly cost him his chance to win the tournament.
With about 5,000 in the pot and a board reading , Victoria Coren bet 2,700 and was called by her opponent on the button. When the appeared on the river, Coren thought for a few moments before checking as she said, "Alright, you can have it. You seem like a really nice person."
The button did not immediately check behind, instead opting to consider his options. "You don't have to bet," Coren insisted. After a few more moments, Coren shot up in her chair as if she had just experienced and epiphany. "Oh my god, maybe you don't have anything. If you have a really bad flush draw, you have to bet," she concluded.
The button remained silent before putting out a bet of 5,300. Coren seemed as if she wanted to make the call, but instead pushed her cards to the dealer. "If I had a queen high, I might have called," she confessed. The button did not show his cards.
flop was seen three ways and the player first to act bet 6,000. Garrett called, as did the player on the button.
and the first opponent thought for awhile before finally checking. Garrett and the player in position both quickly checked. The river was the 
and once again all three players checked. Garrett tabled 
which was good enough to win him the over 30,000-chip pot.
, Fricke checked, and the preflop raiser bet 1,250. The button folded but Fricke called. The turn brought the 
inducing a check from both players and the river was the 
. Fricke took the lead betting out 4,000 and his opponent thought for a minute before flashing the 
board, seat four had declared himself all in for 13,375 into a pot already worth at least 20,000. The confusion came from the six seat, who was the last remaining player in the hand, because he had been unclear about what his intended actions were. The dealer told the tournament director that he heard the six seat say, "I call," and then a few seconds later ask, "How much?" The dealer had already instructed the hands to be turned face up, the four seat obeyed these instructions and tabled 
, Victoria Coren bet 2,700 and was called by her opponent on the button. When the 
appeared on the river, Coren thought for a few moments before checking as she said, "Alright, you can have it. You seem like a really nice person."
