It appears the 40+ players remaining in the field have suddenly discovered that they're playing for a payday in excess of $1,000,000, because the breakneck pace of Day 3's early levels is grinding to a halt.
Hands are being contested with pot-control bets, and players seem reluctant to risk their tournament life in marginal spots. After losing over 100 players during the day's first two levels, the remaining runners have settled in for a long march to the first ever WSOP "Millionaire Maker" final table.
The shorter stacks are being forced to move their chips if they hope to stay in contention, and Jason Liberto did just that with . He got his last 150,000 or so chips into the middle before the flop, and was called in one spot by an opponent holding .
The flop of vaulted Liberto into the led with trip kings, and the secured his double up, leaving his opponent with no outs in the deck.
The last woman left in contention for the "Millionaire Maker" crown has just been eliminated, leaving the fellas to compete for the seven-figure payday.
With her stack dwindling and blinds chipping away at her stack, Khammy Lim shoved all-in from under the gun with . Her bet of 121,000 was called by a player in the big blind who tabled , dominating Lim's ace and putting her in a deep hole.
The flop fell and Lim was in desperate need of a jack on the turn or river, but running deuces left her outkicked and out of the tournament.
With one of the biggest stacks left in the Amazon Room's Tan section, Benny Chen is playing power poker to perfection.
On a flop of , the small blind led out for 34,000 and Chen flatted to see the turn. After the arrived, Chen's opponent continued again, this time for 40,000. After a moment of thought, Chen announced himself all-in, effectively forcing the smaller stack to a test for his tournament life.
This pressure proved to be too intense, and the player mucked his cards, sending yet another pot in Chen's direction.