Aye carumba!
From the floor of the Empire Casino...
My condolences, Vicky Coren fans, but the reigning EPT London champ seems to only have eyes for one Erick Lindgren. Currently seated next door to one another, the two seem to be giggling, socialising and generally having a ruddy good time. At one point, Erick Lindgren even put his arm around Vicky on request.
Is this the start of more than a blossoming friendship, or is it (especially if they have spouses) just my imagination running wild?
Either way, they're both still plugging away here at the Empire Casino, Vicky with 19,000 and Erick with 17,850.
THE FIFTY-- Each table here at the Fifty seems to have developed its own personality, with some stone-cold silent (the Erik Seidel/Nik [Removed:552]/Nenad Medic table comes to mind) while others are engaged in spirited conversation. In the back of the room, the table of online wizards including Sorel "Imper1um" Mizzi and Jeff "ActionJeff" Garza is chatting about... what else... online gaming and the whole "NewBodog" fiasco, while over at Greg Raymer's table, he's reveling his tablemates with his infamous "I got robbed at Bellagio" tale. Over at Table 15, currently captained by Liz Lieu's large stack, several of her male opponents are enjoying head massages as they stare each other down (it really does look quite ridiculous).
Glancing at the chip counts from downstairs and the other casinos where today's event is being held, I must confess to being slightly jealous, our chip leader being Jennifer Harman with just 35k.
In fact, I'm yet to see an exit, with the big orange 5k chips rarely entering a pot. It all seems very cagey with players very wary of making a mistake. Perhaps that will all change in the near future, but at the moment, my action-hungry eyes will remain on the look out.
If nothing changes soon, I'm going to have to become the first player to streak at the World Series... and no one wants to see that. So be warned, players - let's see action, and make it snappy!
David Williams takes a hit
THE SPORTSMAN -- UK circuit player (and big winner this year in English festival Main Event) Dave Smith has been eliminated - with the . He was, however, down to just 2,425, and the pot was pretty small preflop - it looked like he might have raised to 600 and been called by his knocker-outer Joe Serock.
The flop: , with Dave's opponent holding the . No help from the turn or river and we're down one more here at the Sportsman, which is starting to fill with a small early-evening gambling crowd.
Serock picked up another nice pot, this time from neighbour David Williams, just before the cameras came to catch the knockout: I caught the hand at the river with 10k+ already in the pot.
The board: . A 7k bet on the river was paid off by Williams, only for him to be shown and bump his opponent up to 44,000.
I dont want to see snoopy streak
From the floor of the Empire Casino...
Well, it would appear as though my threat to streak the event unless I see some action sharpish didn't fall on stony ground, two players on the end table dispelling my theory that they were saying "Look, here comes the PokerNews blogger, quick, take the chips back," and hiding the action from me.
The hand that has saved the Empire Casino from my naked flash involved Per Ummer and (according to the player list) Sergey Rybachenko. With just over 10k in the pot and the board reading , Sergey was faced with a 6k bet from Per on the river.
However, although he only had second pair with his Pocket Tens, Sergey obviously spotted something we didn't as he was able to make what was ultimately a very good call.
Per shook his head and mucked. "I don't need see your hand," said Per, but he was overruled by the dealer, and the rest of the table, who correctly claimed that in order to win the pot, the hand had to be revealed.
THE FIFTY-- We can always count on Thomas Wahlroos to look put-together, but he's really doing a bang-up job of it today, in a perfectly tailored black suit with a blue shirt and a gold tie. Gary Jones went with a James Bond-esque look as well, though his shock of lime green hair doesn't quite fit that mold. Heather Wells is making her major tournament debut all in white, her short-sleeve fitted blazer emblazoned with a black Bodog sticky patch, and her eyes hidden behind designer sunglasses that would probably cost me a week's salary. She also has a Chanel lipgloss sitting next to her chip stack, the top of the wand decked out in Swarovski stones. Evidently Ms. Wells has her own company, "H2Bling" that specializes in encrusting items in the shiny crystals. I wonder if she'll do my cell phone if I ask nicely...
The most egregious fashion offense in the room, however was committed by one of Ms. Wells' tablemates. I'll leave out his name, but his choice of a zebra-printed sweater is making my eyes itch.
THE SPORTSMAN -- John Dwyer has been eliminated by player-on-a-roll Mike 'The Grinder' Mizrachi. He added Dwyer's 5,450 to his stack after raising out Yilmaz after Dwyer moved the last of his chips over the line on a flop of . Heads up and on their backs:
Mizrachi showed:
Dwyer showed:
The turn paired the Six for the all-in player, but it was followed by the and he went, out-flushed, to the rail.
Hellmuth in action at the feature table
From The Empire.....
Being that the event is being run over multiple venues, the Tournament Staff are spread fairly thin today, and as a result could not spare a staff member to announce the feature table. Always happy to assist when asked, I have been calling the action for the past hour, and I can tell you - it is all Phil Hellmuth. He has been involved in almost every pot and is running over the table. The only player able to keep up with him is Marco Traniello (current pot count sees Marco leading 3-0). Phil has built his stack to just over 45,000.
. He was, however, down to just 2,425, and the pot was pretty small preflop - it looked like he might have raised to 600 and been called by his knocker-outer Joe Serock. 
, with Dave's opponent holding the 
. No help from the turn or river and we're down one more here at the Sportsman, which is starting to fill with a small early-evening gambling crowd.
. A 7k bet on the river was paid off by Williams, only for him to be shown 
and bump his opponent up to 44,000.
, Sergey was faced with a 6k bet from Per on the river.
. Heads up and on their backs:
