With a pot of about 3,000 in the middle, the board read 
. The first player checked to Ludovic Lacay and he checked behind. The river completed the board with the 
and the first player checked again. Lacay thought for a bit and then fired 3,100 and was all in. HIs opponent then sat in the tank for several minutes, but eventually gave it up and Lacay moved back to just over 6,000 chips.
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One of the early candidates for Table of Death is the "middle under-stair" table as we're beginning to call it, the center table in a group of three that are tucked into a cramped corner under the main stairwell. In any event, check out the middle four seats over there at middle under-stair:
Seat 2: Tony Cousineau
Seat 3: Andrew Teng
Seat 4: Praz Bansi
Seat 5: Phil Laak
Also of note: Mike Matusow has just joined a table with Annette Obrestad, two seats to her right. Roberto Romanello and Jeff Lisandro are seated next to each other at the adjacent table.
Tom Dwan is certainly not a fan of the current status quo, in that he does not yet have a bracelet though he is rumoured to have several substantial bets in this regard. Breaking the duck in London is going to be hard now though as he's lost over half his stack.
Dwan had fired 1,225 on the turn of a 
board before Joe Serock raised it up to 3,100, Ted Lawson folded quickly and Dwan thought momentarily before making the call leaving himself just 3,200 left with the pot swelling to around 10,000.
The 
looked to be a blank and Dwan checked, Serock dwelled for a moment before moving his remaining few thousand chips into the middle and Dwan did the customary recheck-my-cards-aww-they-have n't-turned-into-quads before folding. Dwan is left with just 3,200 while Serock has 14,000.
Just at the top of the balcony, we've spotted "Gentleman" Ben Roberts, Justin "BoostedJ" Smith and WSOPE Champion of 2008 John Juanda. All three are still waiting to get into the tournament and are on the alternates list.
Huck Seed has entered the arena, and completed a tough table that also includes Scott Fischman, Tony Cousineau and German veteran Henry Nowakowski. Nowakowski is a face that some might recall from the Late Night Poker Days. He doesn't play too much these days, but he's certainly a character who can liven up any table. Could be someone to keep an eye on.
An opponent bet 800 into Sorel Mizzi on the board of 
. Mizzi thought for a bit and then tossed in a yellow T1,000 chip to make the call. The river came the 
and the first player checked. Mizzi went into the tank, debating whether or not to put more chips into the pot. He eventually tapped the table behind and mucked his cards when he saw his opponent table the 
. Mizzi dropped to 3,925.
Praz Bansi has grown his stack to 12,000 chips and it's thanks in most part to this last pot.
Bansi fired 1,100 on the board of 
and his opponent made the call. The river completed the board with the 
. Bansi played with his chips and then fired out 2,350. His opponent quickly called, to which Bansi tabled a diamond flush with the 
. His opponent couldn't beat that and mucked his hand.
Jennifer Tilly opened to 150 from UTG before Barry Greenstein reraised to 500 next to her. Then the cut-off cold 4-bet to 1,250 passing the action around to WSOP finalist John Racener (Michael Abecassis on the button was sitting out, as was the small blind) who gave it a couple of minutes to stare at everyone on the table before moving all-in.
Tilly and Greenstein folded quicker than origami experts but the cut-off took a little longer before folding 
face up.
The next hand saw Greenstein open to 150 before Racener 3-bet from the small blind to 500. This time Jennifer Tilly came in with a 4-bet to 1,500 and pushed the other two of the hand, someone is going to leave this table with a lot of chips, the way this is carrying on.
A middle-aged gentleman raised to 150 under the gun, and Phil Ivey (in matching jeans and jean jacket) defended his big blind to see a heads-up flop.
It came 
, and Ivey check-called a continuation bet of 200. On the 
turn, Ivey once again checked it over, and his opponent slid out 425 chips in a clumsy, technicolor mess. Ivey responded with a check-raise to 1,500 straight, and his opponent quickly called. The 
river drew a leading bet of 3,000 from Mr. Ivey, and the other player again wasted no time calling, splashing in the chips and cueing the showdown.
Ivey had it, there's a shocker. He tabled 
for the trip fives, and his opponent slapped his cards into the muck to leave himself less than 2,000 chips. Ivey, on the other hand, has started this day off well. He's one of the big stacks thus far, having pushed his count up to about 15,500.
The Empire have encountered some organizational difficulties today in terms of getting players seated and there have been several announcements on the microphone from Jack Effel directing people to their seats and assuring the players that everything will be sorted soon.
One man who isn't happy, however, is the Devilfish. I only caught the very end of his complaint, but it appeared as though he was grumbling that someone in front of the queue had been seated before him.
