Back at the felt, and it's not a good Level 5 for Daniel Rudd so far -- he's dropped to 4,300 after doubling up another player when his failed to spike against the all-in player's .
I bumped into Roberto Romanello just moments ago and inquired to his status by mimicking a throat chop with raised eyebrows.
"Yeah, went out earlier," he confirmed.
"What happened?" I asked.
"Oh, I made a move with A-9 but ran into kings, then I flipped A-K against threes. Ace on the flop, three on the river."
"You've won enough money already," I consolidated in vain.
"I need more though," he replied. "I'm hungry."
Nobody seems to be roaring ahead; instead, there are several around the 15,000 mark. One player who fits that bill is Andy Kyprianou. He has 16,500 and is a genuine contender for the chip lead, although Sung Hee Yun seems to have him pipped with 17,000.
Tony Hardy: 3,500
Andy Greekfish: 11,000
James Keys: 5,200
Sida Yuen: 3,500
Jeff Madsen: 8,000
Michael Greco: 10,500
Jesper Hougaard: missing, presumed busto
Barry Greenstein: missing, presumed out
There was a ruling required on Table Bloch after one player tapped the table on the river of an rainbow board, before trying to bet.
"Hey, you checked," claimed the other player, who had checked behind. It soon emerged that the second player hadn't meant to check, but was simply tapping the table through force of habit.
"It doesn't matter what he meant to do," added Andy Bloch. "He tapped the table as if to check, so it must be a check." Ultimately, the tournament director agreed, and the bet was taken back and the cards revealed: versus .
He still won the pot, but the error may have cost him an extra few hundred chips.
First to fall victim to the rather tight conditions around some of the upstairs tables: a whole side table full of drinks overturned as a gentleman tried to stand up. Those of the drinks that wended their damp way down on to the ground floor from the mezzanine have been tidied; those that landed on the floor upstairs will just have to stay there until there's enough room for someone to get in there to clean.