Moments ago, in true Hellmuthian fashion, Phil Hellmuth jumped out of his chair and shouted something excitedly.
When we arrived, the cards were all in the muck, but Hellmuth's stack had shot up to 65,000 chips. There was an open seat two to his right which was previously owned by Daham Wang, and Eric Rodawig only had around 2,000 on Hellmuth's direct left.
Rodawig, who defeated Hellmuth in the 2011 $10,000 Seven Card Stud Eight-or-Better World Championship, has also been eliminated from the tournament.
Hellmuth, who finally won a non-hold'em bracelet last year in a razz event, is now among the leaders, and will be looking to add bracelet number 14 to his trophy case.
The buzz inside the walls of the Rio extends beyond just the tournaments on the 2013 World Series of Poker schedule. Online poker in Nevada is a very, very hot topic right now, and WSOP.com is making a lot of noise.
While the site has yet to launch, you can head to the Lambada Room of the Rio or look for one of the beautiful and friendly WSOP.com ladies walking the hallways to sign up for a free, personal WSOP.com online poker account. This is a great way to get a jump on the site's registration, and plenty of people have already taken this opportunity.
What's more is that the WSOP will be hosting daily raffles for everyone that has taken the time to register for WSOP.com at the Rio. What can you win? Plenty of fantastic prizes including 36 WSOP seats!
Players 21 years of age and older who sign up for a WSOP.com account will automatically be entered into the “36-Seat Giveaway” where a randomly-selected winner will win a seat into the next day’s first WSOP gold bracelet event. One of the events eligible in this promotion is the $111,111 One Drop High Roller No-Limit Hold’em tournament that is expected to feature a $10,000,000 prize pool and allow you to play poker with the biggest names in the game. In total, $182,333 in WSOP seats, including a seat to the WSOP Main Event, are being given away during this one-of-a-kind WSOP.com promotion.
In addition to the 36-Seat Giveaway, a “Hot Seat” promotion will allow any player who signs up for a WSOP.com online account and wears their WSOP.com patch on their chest at the table while playing an event to be randomly selected to receive 500 bonus dollars deposited directly into their WSOP.com online account once the site has received all regulatory approvals and launches.
With 62 WSOP gold bracelet events and three winners promised for the Main Event, this promotion includes $32,000 worth of value to those participating.
Christopher McHugh: /
Joe Tehan: / /
Larry St. Jean: / /
We reached the table on fifth street, where St. Jean bet out and both McHugh and Tehan called. St. Jean bet out again on sixth, McHugh called, and Tehan raised. St. Jean called, and McHugh called all in for 2,900.
St. Jean check-called a bet on seventh, and all three hands were revealed.
McHugh: (Fives and fours, seven-six low)
Tehan: (Seven-low)
St. Jean: (Queens-up)
McHugh hit the rail, while Tehan and St. Jean split the pot.
Matt Savage: / /
Nikolai Yakovenko: / (FOLD)
Unknown Player: / /
We caught the action on fifth street, where the action checked to Savage and he bet. Yakovenko folded, and the third player called. On sixth street the player raised when Savage bet, and Savage called. Savage check-called a bet on seventh, and his opponent opened up for a straight flush.
Savage showed for a low, however, and the two chopped the pot.
![[user101598]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
/ 
/ 
(Fives and fours, seven-six low)
(Seven-low)
(Queens-up)
/ 
(FOLD)
/ 
for a low, however, and the two chopped the pot.
