On a board, David Phan bet 500, only for his opponent to make it 2,000. Phan shrugged before splashing his entire stack of circa 8,000 onto the felt before him. There were a few raised eyebrows, but he was eventually called and both players showed an ace to chop it up.
Sunderland-born but Norwegian-bred poker pro and comic book enthusiast Andreas Hoivold bet out on the turn of a board, and British-through-and-through Simon Higgins called him. Come the river and Hoivold bet 1,450, leaving himself just 2,400 behind. After some consideration, Higgins passed. He made a few chips back several hands later with pocket ladies preflop, though, and remains sitting pretty on 12,500.
Scott Montgomery's seat is empty, there's a chap seated opposite with more chips than he had a moment ago, and the November Niner was recently spotted heading towards the exit with a facial expression that best resembled a bulldog munching on a wasp. It's a mystery of Poirot proportions, but I'd guess he's been eliminated from today's event.
John Tabatabai
Last year's WSOPE Main Event runner-up John Tabatabai is hard at work over on Table 4 accumulating chips, though this game can be quite easy when your opponent throws up the white flag and surrenders.
Tabatabai opened the pot with a 350 bet on a flop. His opponent made the call and then both players proceeded to check the that came on the turn.
The on the river not only paired the board, but it also put four clubs out there. Tabatabai then fired a 1,000 bullet and his opponent just smiled, staring wide-eyed at his hold cards.
"I can't win..." the man said.
"I'm sorry?" Tabatabai replied.
"I can't win!" he reiterated.
"That makes me feel a lot better!" Tabatabai confessed, at which point his opponent revealed -- barely enough to beat the board.
The pot moved Tabatabai closer to the 10,000 mark on the day, as he now sits with 9,400 in chips.
Azzy Ashgar is on metaphorical fire. Finding himself on the river of a board, he confidently bet out 1,000 and was gratified by a call from Michael Binger. Ashgar flipped over and Binger quietly mucked, ruefully regarding his remaining 2,625 in chips.
"You can't miss," commented Paul Lammas as Ashgar raked in his new chips, bringing his stack up to around 15,000. It seems that Ashgar may have taken a few off Lammas as well -- down to just 800 at the break, Lammas had clawed back up to 2,500 and seemed to be hoping that Ashgar's some of big stack could shift in his direction. "I have a feeling you're going to double me up..."
Jennifer Tilly, a red-head today
It looks as though Jennifer Tilly has indeed hit the rail, as there is now a dude in her seat, who apparently bought in in the last minute allowed to do so (right before the break).
Also out at the beginning of this level: Eric Albinsson. The table formations are starting to alter rapidly as players filter up from broken tables down below, and move around to balance increasingly rapidly emptying spaces. It does look like now the final entry has been taken that today was almost a sell-out, bringing the overall number of runners up to 423 (TBC). That doesn't dwarf some of the American fields this year, but for the UK that's a pretty hefty turnout.
Bah!
On a flop, Richard Berridge led out for 1,000 only for Annette Obrestad to come over the top and slide her remaining stack across the line. Berridge, who tends to make his decisions relatively quickly, insta-called.
Berridge =
Obrestad =
Turn = , River =
Annette drops to 2,475 whilst Berridge shoots up to around 9,500.
There's been more up and down than an elevator full of pogo sticks for Paul Lammas today. It seems that he did indeed get a double up from somewhere, but then moved table and immediately handed some of his new stack back to Simon Higgins. Higgins check-called Lammas' bets on the flop and turn, and then Higgins checked the river. Lammas pulled at his lip for a few seconds before checking behind. Higgins turned over the and Lammas just mucked, back down to around 4,000 after losing 1,500 or so on that hand.
Marcus Golser
A short-stacked Marcus Golser has just been eliminated from the tournament after an untimely shove holding .
The winner of the hand limped in holding pocket aces and when the action folded around to Golser, he shoved for less than 2,000. The bet was called and Golser's fate left to the community cards.
A Q-8-X flop gave Golser a bit of hope, but the board ultimately blanked out, shipping the pot to the aces.
Erica Schoenerg is out after seeing her aces busted by kings. All in preflop, the all diamond flop gave her opponent a flush draw, but it was a third king on the river that ultimately sent her home.
board, David Phan bet 500, only for his opponent to make it 2,000. Phan shrugged before splashing his entire stack of circa 8,000 onto the felt before him. There were a few raised eyebrows, but he was eventually called and both players showed an ace to chop it up.
board, and British-through-and-through Simon Higgins called him. Come the 
river and Hoivold bet 1,450, leaving himself just 2,400 behind. After some consideration, Higgins passed. He made a few chips back several hands later with pocket ladies preflop, though, and remains sitting pretty on 12,500.
flop. His opponent made the call and then both players proceeded to check the 
that came on the turn.
on the river not only paired the board, but it also put four clubs out there. Tabatabai then fired a 1,000 bullet and his opponent just smiled, staring wide-eyed at his hold cards.
-- barely enough to beat the board.
board, he confidently bet out 1,000 and was gratified by a call from Michael Binger. Ashgar flipped over 
and Binger quietly mucked, ruefully regarding his remaining 2,625 in chips.
flop and 
