Don't look now but Yarron Bendor is making his presence known here in the Orange Section of the Amazon Room with a stack of 100k, putting him in the top five with some pretty prestigious company.
That's the end of the line for Steve "MrSmokey1" Billirakis. As we returned to the floor, we saw him dropping another pot to Linda Johnson. Billirakis had showing, but Johnson made an ace-high spade flush to all but end his hopes. He was reduced to just 1,500, and moments later, he was all-in in a multiway pot.
Billirakis' final board ran out ( ) / / (). The other lady at the table ran out a high board of ( ) / / (), and a third player made a stronger low than Billirakis could muster.
His day is done with an early cash under his 2012 WSOP belt.
A short-stacked Jeff Madsen just received some much-needed help in the form of a triple. The 2006 Player of the Year must have felt confident on each street as he ultimately ended up with a wheel for the scoop.
Madsen: / /
Meanwhile just one table over, Chris Bjorin has jumped up to 150,000 and appears to be our chip leader.
At the end of dinner break we made our way to the payout desk to get the updated order of eliminations and were surprised to see Tom Schneider's name listed in 55th place. We're not sure how we missed it, but he has been eliminated and will take home $3,073 for his efforts.
Likewise, Thomas Bessoir and Sharad Mehta preceded his elimination by finishing in 57th and 56th for $2,754 and $3,073 respectively.
We picked up a pot as Steve Billirakis completed with the up and Johnson called with the .
Billirakis: (x-x) / / (x)
Johnson: (x-x) / / (x)
Billirakis barreled on fourth street, then Johnson bet her lead on fifth. When she did, Billirakis took a brief pause. He had a line of T100 gray chips racked up, and he went ahead and slid out the 10,000 — rack and all — with a verbal "Raise."
"Okay," Johnson said as she quickly matched the bet.
Johnson called another bet on sixth. On seventh, Billirakis took a long squeeze and knocked the table. Johnson quickly bet the 5,000, and Billirakis was stopped in his tracks. It would be about 90 seconds of deliberation before he finally stacked the last call into the pot.
"I have two pair," Johnson declared. "I think they're good." She opened up for queens up.
"They're good," Billirakis admitted as he tucked his own cards under. The last call represented a significant chunk of his stack, and he's been reduced down under 20,000 in grays.
"I feel stupid for betting for value," Johnson said quietly as the dealer pushed the pot. No need to feel stupid about that one, Ms. Johnson. Short-stacked just a short while ago, she's now quite healthy with close to 80,000 chips.
Shaun Deeb stopped in for the latest edition of the PokerNews Podcast from the 2012 World Series of Poker. Check it out and don't forget to subscribe on iTunes.
Level 14 has come to an end which signals the start of the one-hour dinner break. Check back then as we play four more levels and march toward the final table.