We've reached the end of the day's third level, and the 32 remaining players have been sent out of the room for their two-hour dinner break. With the flurry of action we've seen in the last six hours, we'd expect they'll enjoy this down time away from the tables.
So what's happened so far then? First of all, it appears that we have a new chip leader as the dinner bell tolls. With a tip of his hat to Hilton Laborda, Matt Giannetti has pushed himself into the top spot with more than 14.3 chips. It was a pair of coolers that helped him achieve that count, and both of them came at Laborda's expense. Twice during the last level, Laborda made a strong club flush with suited cards in his hand, and both times, he was handily beaten by a Giannetti full house. The second one sent the last-standing Brazilian out of the Main Event in 36th place, and Giannetti took a moment to bathe in the warm glow of the mothership's lights as he stacked up his chip-leading fortress of chips
Another big mover during the matinee session was Team PokerStars Pro JP Kelly, who actually doubled up through Giannetti very early in the day with ace-king against ace-jack. Just a few minutes later, the Brit sent two-time bracelet winner Minh Nguyen to the rail when his ace-jack got there against Nguyen's superior ace-queen, and he's more or less held course since then. At the break, Kelly stacks up with 10.25 million to put him comfortably above the chip average.
The name Aleksandr Mozhnyakov has appeared back near the top of the counts as well, and Ben Lamb has been plugging right along in his plot to collect all 205+ million chips in play. He appears to be in third place at the break with 13.035 million, but we'll grab some full hard counts as soon as the tables clear. Moving right along, Bryan Devonshire also had a fine first half to his Day 7, one that's kept him tweeting at a break-neck pace. The big news for Devo came during the last level when his crippled Guillaume Darcourt and his . He's close to 8 million at the recess, right around the same count as another gregarious pro, Phil Collins. That's 8 million more than Darcourt, who was eliminated as the last Frenchman to fall a short while after his kings-versus-aces encounter.
There's a lot more to catch up on, though, and it's a good thing you've got two hours to do so. Have a read back through the blog, check out some photos and videos, and join us back here at 8:25 P.M. local time as we continue to write the story of the 2011 WSOP Main Event!
Just before the dinner break, Nelson Robinson moved all in for 860,000 and was called by Aleksandr Mozhnyakov in the small blind.
Showdown
Mozhnyakov:
Robinson:
Robinson, who was crippled in a prior hand against Greg Kaplan, was in a bad spot, especially when the flop fell . The turn left Robinson drawing dead, and after the was put out on the river, he made his exit from the tournament in 33rd place.
Kenny Shih raised to 250,000 under the gun and action folded around to Philipp Gruissem in the cutoff. He thought for a moment before putting in a three-bet to 585,000. The blinds got out of the way and Shih simply moved all in for 2.155 milllion. Gruissem called and it was off to the races.
Showdown
Gruissem:
Shih:
The proverbial coin was tossed and landed in Shih's favor as the board ran out . Shih doubled to 4.94 just before the dinner break.
Nicolas Fierro opened to 200,000 from under the gun, and the action folded all the way to Scott Schwalich who moved all in. Fierro called all-in, having less chips, and found himself dominated
Fierro:
Schwalich:
"Clubs!" Fierro's contingency shouted.
The flop brought one club, but Fierro would still need a lot of help to catch up. The on the turn kept him alive, leaving him two outs to make trip queens, but the case ace () spiked on the river.
Fierro hit the rail in 34th place, while Schwalich is now over 4 million chips.
Andrey Pateychuk raised to 200,000 from middle position only to have Nelson Robinson raise to 500,000 from the cutoff. The button and small blind got out of the way, and Gregory Kaplan opted to four-bet to 925,000 from the big blind. Pateychuk got out of the way, Robinson moved all in, and Kaplan snap-called off his 5.685 million.
Showdown
Kaplan:
Robinson:
Robinson picked the wrong time to move all in, though he wasn't the one at risk. We'd like to say there was a good sweat, but the board ran out a rather uneventful and Kaplan doubled to 12.5 million; meanwhile, Robinson was left with just 1.1 million.
Matt Giannetti opened to 220,000, and the new guy, Lars Bonding made the call, and the two of them took a flop. Giannetti bet 315,000 at the pot, and another 805,000 on the turn. Bonding called both bets, and the two men were content to check it down after the river.
Bonding showed up for tens up, and that was good enough to drag a pot before he's even had a chance to settle into his new chair.
Soon after suffering that hit in that big hand with Aleksandr Mozhnyakov, Andrey Pateychuk was soon back in action.
Just now came a hand in which Nelson Robinson opened for 225,000 from under the gun, then Konstantinos Mamaliadis called from the cutoff. Pateychuk reraised to 655,000 from the button, forcing out the blinds, then Robinson made it 1.025 million to go. Mamaliadis stepped aside, then Pateychuk shoved all in over the top, making Robinson step aside as well.
Regardless of what he held, Pateychuk's betting on that hand enables him to sneak back up over 7 million.
crippled Guillaume Darcourt and his 
. He's close to 8 million at the recess, right around the same count as another gregarious pro, Phil Collins. That's 8 million more than Darcourt, who was eliminated as the last Frenchman to fall a short while after his kings-versus-aces encounter.
. The 
turn left Robinson drawing dead, and after the 
was put out on the river, he made his exit from the tournament in 33rd place.
. Shih doubled to 4.94 just before the dinner break.
flop brought one club, but Fierro would still need a lot of help to catch up. The 
and Kaplan doubled to 12.5 million; meanwhile, Robinson was left with just 1.1 million.
for tens up, and that was good enough to drag a pot before he's even had a chance to settle into his new chair.
