After posting my update I got back in time to catch a big hand developing between Jerry Yang and Philip Hilm. On a J-5-2 flop Jerry bet 1.5 million and Hilm moved all in over the top. Yang folded. Jerry got some of it back the following hand when he raised 800K and Philip decided to butt heads with him again and called. The flop came A-9-8 and Jerry bet 1.6 million. This time Hilm decided to let it go and folded. It was getting late and the stands were starting to empty out, people were yawning, and everyone was rooting for someone... anyone... to bust out.

Steven Garfinkle was the short stack at this point and he moved all in and won a pot. After doing so the tournament director said "Steven is still here folks." Everyone laughed and he added "I mean that in a good way." Sure you did. :) The security guard protecting the bracelet is nodding off and everyone folds to Steve and the tournament director says "and the action is over to my good friend Steve."

	Steven Garfinkle, 10th place finisher

I guess Steve was as tired as everyone else because the very next hand he pushed all in for nearly 3.5 million first to act in middle position with the blinds at 100K/200K... 17x the big blind... certainly not what I would call "desperation" time. Everyone folded over to Raymond Rahme who looked at his cards and quietly said "I call." The rest of the players folded and when the cards were turned over we saw Garfinkle's colossal mistake. He had open pushed with A-3 off and been called by Rahme's pocket queens.

This woke up the tired crowd and everyone stood up... and honestly most of them were rooting for Rahme to win the hand. You almost had to feel bad for Garfinkle. They dealt the flop and when a queen was the first card off the deck the crowd went crazy. I'd never seen such energy at 4 in the morning. The other two cards were a king and a jack which meant that Garfinkle still had outs to four tens. The turn was a 6 and the river was a 2 and with that we had our final 9. Rahme's fans started singing (some foreign anthem it sounded like, not sure what it was) and clapping and Rahme bowed to them in gratitude. A round of applause and hugs were given for Garfinkle's fine run. Steven Garfinkle finished in 10th place for $476,926.

Our final 9 look like this (with approximate chip counts, updated chip counts will be provided as soon as they become available):

Seat 1: Raymond Rahme - 16,000,000
Seat 2: Alex Kravchenko - 6,570,000
Seat 3: Lee Childs - 13,320,000
Seat 4: Jerry Yang - 8,500,000
Seat 5: Lee Watkinson - 9,975,000
Seat 6: Tuan Lam - 20,290,000
Seat 7: Philip Hilm - 23,070,000
Seat 8: Jon Kalmar - 20,220,000
Seat 9: Hevad Khan - 9,205,000

There is an off day tomorrow and the final table will start at noon Pacific time on Tuesday. Join us here for all the exciting final table action! This concludes our coverage for the evening.

The ten handed play began with the following seat positions and starting chip counts:

Seat 1: Raymond Rahme - 12,875,000
Seat 2: Alex Kravchenko - 2,810,000
Seat 3: Lee Childs - 18,050,000
Seat 4: Jerry Yang - 6,130,000
Seat 5: Lee Watkinson - 11,715,000
Seat 6: Steve Garfinkle - 4,925,000
Seat 7: Tuan Lam - 20,100,000
Seat 8: Philip Hilm - 19,310,000
Seat 9: Jon Kalmar - 20,200,000
Seat 10: Hevad Khan - 11,035,000

22 hands have been played since play started.

Over at the other table there was not a shortage of action.

Jon Kalmer continues to play every other hand, it'll be interesting to see if he readjusts now that it is back to a full table. The first hand of signifigance saw Kalmer limp in, Lee Watkinson complete, and Steve Garfinkle check his option. The flop came A-K-3 all spades, Watkinson and Garfinkle checked and Kalmer bet 300K. Lee folded and Steve called. The turn was a queen and both players checked. The river was a king and Steve checked, Kalmer bet 1 million, and Garfinkle folded.

Steve Garfinkle picked up a chunk of change when he reraised Lee Watkinson's 400K raise to 1.2 million. Lee folded. Lee and Jon then were involved in a hand where on a Q-9-2-Q three club board Watkinson bet 500K only to be raised by Jon for another million. Lee flicked one card over, the ace of clubs, and folded. Kalmer showed 8-7 of clubs for the flush and took down the pot.

Lee Watkinson has been very aggressive during short handed play consistently reraising players opening raises. He raised Khan's 450K raise a million more and Khan folded. He did the same thing to Kravchenko except this time he made it 2 million to go... and Kravchenko folded. Then one more time... this time he raised Steve Garfinkle's raise to 2 million total and Steve folded. The strategy worked well for Lee and he was able to accumulate chips without much risk.

The short stacks Jerry Yang and Alex Kravchenko exchanged double ups. The first time Jerry moved all in for 2.7 million with pocket 8's and Kravchenko called with K-Q of diamonds. The board came 9-6-6-T-A and Jerry doubled up to 5.6 million while Alex fell to 1.5 million. They exchanged chips a few hands later when Alex pushed all in over the top of Jerry's 500K opening raise and Jerry called. This time Jerry had K-9 of clubs and Alex pocket tens. The board came Q-6-4-7-A and Alex doubled up to 3.2 million while Jerry fell to 4.1.

Jerry took a hit to his stack when he made a small reraise of Kalmers raise (he made it 500K more to go when Kalmer had opened for 450). Kalmer called and they checked the flop, turn, and river on a 5-9-7-7-3 board and Kalmer's 9-6 of clubs won the pot over Jerry's A-Q (I think if he pushed pre-flop Kalmer folds... I hated the reraise he made there).

Steve Garfinkle picked up a pot against Kalmer when he reraised Kalmers 450K raise (something Kalmer has been doing all too frequently) to 1.25 million. Kalmer folded K-Q face up and Steve showed Jon A-Q. Hevad then popped Lee Watkinson's 500K raise to 1.7 million causing Lee to fold and on the last hand before the table merge Jerry Yang picked up a small pot against Jon Kalmer when he flopped top pair.

	Scotty Nguyen - Out in 11th Place

Steven Garfinkle raised to half a million and Jon Kalmar called from the blind. The flop came 2 4 3. Kalmar checked and Garfinkle shoved for 2.8M. Kalmar called. Garfinkle had rockets: A A. Kalmar had K J for the flush draw. The J turn and A river don't make Kalmar's hand, so Garfinkle doubles up to just under seven million.

Jerry Yang moved all-in from the button for over 3.1M and won the blinds and antes. He said he had ace-king. Even so, that's shoving with 20 big blinds.

	Ray Henson, 12th place finisher

I've figured out Jon Kalmer's game. When he has a big hand he raises. When he has a good piece of it he's going to just call. Let me tell you now... don't bluff this man because he's going to look you up. He's what I like to call an aggressive calling station.

Example #1: Jerry Yang raises to 400K and Kalmer calls out of the big blind. The flop comes K-T-3 rainbow. Both players check. The turn is a 5, still rainbow. Kalmer bets 500K and Yang calls. The river is an 8. Kalmer checks and Yang pushes out two monster stacks of chips for a total of 1.5 million. Jon matter of factly and without much thought says "I call" and flips over K-7 of hearts. Yang shakes his head and tosses his cards into the muck.

Then a few hands later Billy Spadea raises to 400K and Kalmer repops him out of the big blind to a total of 1.2 million. Billy doesn't take much time to announce he is all in and Kalmer is even faster to call. Understably so considering he has aces. Billy is holding A-K and needs a miracle. The flop comes A-8-8 and Billy is drawing to runner runner 8's which doesn't happen. William Spadea finishes in 13th place for $429,114.

	Hevad Khan

Example #2: The last hand before the break Khan made it 350K to go and Kalmer called (if you've been following the blog today you'll notice a trend of Kalmer calling a ton of raises). The flop comes K-J-T with two hearts. Khan bets 600K and Jon calls. The turn is the 4 of diamonds. Both players check. The river is the king of diamonds and Khan places three stacks of one million each in front of him and pushes them into the middle. "Three million," he says as he makes the massive overbet. Just like every other time Kalmer has called a bet he quickly calls here. Khan stands up and slams down his cards face up on the table. K-T for the rivered full house. Kalmer mucks and Khan starts to do his celebration rebel yell. He turns to the rail to do his victory dance but none of his friends are there so he stops himself, but only for a moment since he can't help but to be happy after raking in the massive pot. After the hand Kalmer still had 23.5 million while Hevad was back in the mix with nearly 12 million.

I think Hevad has figured out the best approach to handle Kalmer and it's the typical strategy against a calling station. Bet big when you have it and check when you don't. Others hadn't figured that out yet and they would keep betting in hopes that he would fold his hand but he never would. Maybe this last hand will clue them in. Khan even told me after the hand "I'm not betting there without the nuts or something close to it."

	Doing the Rain Khan.

	This is good for poker, right?

While I’m not actually watching a final table, I wanted to touch on something that Michael and I both discussed yesterday, as I’m finding out more information as we approach the final table of the main event.

Basically, there are two online gaming sites that are competing for the players – PokerStars and Full Tilt. My assumption is that they are offering so much money that no other site can compete in that realm, so they aren’t even here to try.

Here’s the situation with 14 players left – all but three have hats, shirts, and/or patches that represent one of the two aforementioned sites. I had two questions for my friend/source about this, and I have some vague but interesting answers.

Question 1: Why is it so important to those online sites that they will shell out thousands upon thousands of dollars to these players? Literally, they are paying players anywhere from $5,000 to $20,000 to wear the logos… even when they’re not at the ESPN table. And their compensation goes up if they do get on the TV feature table, and each time they reach a new level, i.e. 27 players, 18 players, etc. Final table compensation can be upwards of $100,000 in addition to what they’ve already received.

Answer: This is advertising. By putting their logo on a player who receives television time, they are getting much more for their dollar than by purchasing air time for a commercial. Plus, the World Series of Poker episodes, especially main event shows, will be repeated on ESPN and ESPN Classic for years to come, so the advertising has years of life to it. This is more than worth the time and effort, not to mention the moolah.

Question 2: Why are there three players not accepting the offers and pocketing the extra dough? All 14 remaining players have been made offers by both websites.

Answer: Though the answer was speculative, there are two possibilities. One is that they won’t advertise for an online site based on some principles or values. More likely, though, the other reason is more common; they are waiting for better offers as they get closer to the final table. A player at the final table who hasn’t yet accepted an offer to wear the logo/gear will probably be offered a minimum of 15-20% more in total dollars.

Interesting stuff, huh? This is my first time seeing the branding/advertising aspect of the WSOP up close, so I’m just passing along my knowledge to you (whether you want it or not… sorry!).

Overheard from spectators on the rail:

"Tournaments like this are so easy to win. If you get ace-king, just keep re-raising all-in and they'll call you with ace-jack or whatever."

"C'mon Scotty (Nguyen), get a hand and double up! How hard is that?"

We just experienced the Wrath of Khan. As mentioned, he had been unusually inactive - and thus quiet - all day long. Well, that just ended. Jerry Yang limped in for 120K and Hevad Khan raised to 480K, which Yang called. The flop came Q K A. Yang checked and Khan slowly and mechanically counted down and slid out 650K. Yang announced that he was raising and made it another million to go. Khan immediately announced that he was all-in for 3.5M total. Yang studied Khan, who was seated to his immediate left. "It's gonna cost me a lot of money," he said. Finally, he slid out the 1.85M more to call. Khan tabled K Q for bottom two pair. Yang showed A 6 for top pair. "Hold up!" yelled Khan. The 5 turn came out, which at first looked like a six, causing everone to look twice. On the 8 river, Khan knew he had won the pot with his two pair and he went into his grotesque display of emotions. Yelling at the top of his lungs, jumping up and down, and then screaming, "I play this game to win!!!". Then he sat back down and calmly sipped his drink while the massive pot was pushed to him.

Yeah, like that will ever make the television cut.

After things settled down for a few minutes, Lee Watkinson raised to 400K from the cutoff and Steven Garfinkle called from the button and William Spadea called from the small blind. Out came the flop of A 7 5. Spadea checked, Watkinson bet 1.0M, Garfinkle folded, and then Spadea raised all-in. Watkinson folded and Spadea added nearly two million to his stack.

	Lee Watkinson

The action has slowed down somewhat after Kenny Tran's bustout, either people aren't picking up hands or they are waiting for other's to make mistakes. Here's a rundown of the few hands of any meaning over the last 30 minutes.

Lee Watkinson raised and Jon Kalmer (by far the most active player at the table) called. Lee bet 2 million on a Q-J-4 flop and Kalmer quickly folded.

Jerry Yang limped in on Kalmer's big blind and it was checked by both players on an A-4-2 two club flop. Kalmer led out for 200K on the king of clubs turn and Yang called. On the 9 of diamonds river Kalmer checked, Yang bet 400K, and Kalmer quickly called with A-2 for two pair. Yang mucked and the loud Kalmer contingent let everyone know who won the pot. "It's coming home," some of them yelled. Jon laughed and said "Tax free! Woo Hoo!"

Alex Kravchenko raised three times in a row... the first two times he was able to take the blinds and antes but on the third one Billy Spadea called him from the button. On a K-6-3 flop Alex bet 400K and Billy moved all in. Alex folded.

	Jon Kalmer

Hevad "Rain" Khan had not played a hand in what seemed liked ages. I was thinking "Rain" must not like the Vegas desert (bad pun) because his cards had totally dried up (another bad pun). He finally raised a hand and everyone folded. The very next hand Khan decided to push his luck again but this time Kalmer was having none of it and came over the top for 1.5 million total (Khan's raise had been to 350K). Khan folded, looked at Kalmer and said "it must be nice." Not sure if he was referring to Jon's stack or his cards but Khan is finding himself becoming a short stack.

On a flop of K Q 5, Jon Kalmar bet 400K and Kenny Tran, after long consideration, folded his hand. Kalmar flicked 9 6 onto the table. I told you that so I can tell you this (sometimes showing a bluff can pay huge dividends):

Kenny Tran raised to 350K from the button and Jon Kalmar called from the small blind. The flop came 6 3 T. Kalmar checked and Tran methodically bet 500K, which Kalmar called. On the the 9 turn, Kalmar checked and Tran bet out 1.3M, which Kalmar again called. As soon as the 2 river hit the board, Kalmar announced that he was all-in. He then stood up and stared at Tran, giving him a mocking smile or two. Tran went into the tank, as Kalmar had him covered and a call would be for his tournament life. He studied Jon for several minutes. Finally, Jon called the clock on Tran and when it got down to five seconds remaining, Tran arrived at a decision and said forcefully, "I call!" Kalmar yelled out something unintelligilbe and slammed down A 8 onto the table, showing the nut flush. Tran shook his head and mucked his cards. Everyone at the table came to shake Kenny's hand and Tran went out gracefully. Lee Watkinson told him, "I'm glad to have you out of the tournament, but you deserved to go the whole way, you played great." Kenny Tran is out in 16th place, making $381,302.

It didn't take long for the fireworks to start after the dinner break. With the blinds at 60,000/120,000 and a 15,000 ante Alex Kravchenko moved all in for 2 million. Kenny Tran looked at his cards and was perplexed. He wanted to call. He wanted to fold. You could see the uncertainty in his face. He counted out the 2 million and saw that he would still have 7 million left if he lost the hand. I think this was what compelled him to make the call. As soon as he did that Kevin Farry said "triple me up, I'm all in" and put his remaining 1.5 million in. The ESPN cameras, tournament staff, and media swarmed the table. A three way all in is almost unheard of at this stage.

The cards were revealed and this is what we had:

Alex Kravchenko T T
Kenny Tran A Q
Kevin Farry K Q

I like Kevin and his family... but I have to say that overcalling with K-Q here is bad, bad poker. He has to know that one of the two has A-K or A-Q which puts him in terrible shape to draw to just one of three outs. "Gimmie a cowboy," Farry yelled trying to roust up support from his friends and family.

The dealer put out the flop and all kinds of possibilities:

J 8 7

Kravchenko still had the best hand but Farry had now picked up a miracle flush draw. Any heart or king and he would take the lead. "Heart or Cowboy," Farry yelled.

The turn:

4

Alex was looking even better now and Farry's hopes were down to 11 outs. "Come on," Kevin pleaded.

The river:

4

	Kevin Farry, 17th place finisher

Kevin received a rousing ovation from all of his friends and family that had come out from New York to cheer him on and his mom had tears in her eyes. She was obviously proud of him and it was a touching moment.

Kevin Farry finishes in 17th place for $381,302.

The remaining players and their chip counts:

Lee Childs 16.5 million
Tuan Lam 14.9 million
Lee Watkinson 13 million
Ray Henson 10.4 million
Jon Kalmar 9.7 million
Kenny Tran 9.1 million
Philip Hilm 8.6 million
Jerry Yang  8.2 million
Raymond Rahme 6.1 million
Scotty Nguyen 6 million
Hevad 'Rain' Khan  4.7 million
Steven Garfinkle 4.7 million
David Tran 4.5 million
Billy Spadea 3.7 million
Bob Slezak 3.6 million
Alex Kravchenko 2.1 million
Kevin Farry 1.6 million

Over on the Bluff table it's been the Billy Spadea all in show. Steve Garfinkle raised and Billy moved all in and Steve folded. The next hand Lee Watkinson raised and Billy moved all in and Lee folded, Billy showed 9's and said "figure I can't lose twice with them"... Lee tables pocket 5's knowing he made a good fold. The next hand Billy moved all in first to act and everyone folded. These aren't small bets either, he still is in the 3-4 million range.

	John Armbrust

Then over on the feature table a big hand took place. Ray Henson and Lee Childs limped in and John Armbust made it 700K to go from the big blind. Henson folded and Child re-raised to 1.7 million. Armbrust moved all in for an additional 3.3 million and after two minutes of contemplation Childs decided to gamble and called. The hands: Armbrust A-K of spades, Childs A-Q. Armbrust was way ahead and looked to be in great shape to regain all the chips he had lost to Tuan Lam moments earlier. The flop was a terrible one for John though. J-7-2 all clubs. Childs had the ace of clubs. The turn sealed the deal... the ten of clubs. John Armbrust's remarkable comeback is over, he finishes in 18th place for $381,302.

Alex Kravchenko moved all in pre-flop and Kevin Farry called. Kravchenko had A-K and Farry had pocket tens. The flop came 5-J-2 rainbow... things were looking bad for Alex but once again you know I wouldn't say that if the king didn't hit the turn. Some people on the rail yell "Yea" for Alex but Kenny Tran looks at them and says "excuse me it's not over yet, back it up over the bridge" (meaning they have not crossed the river yet). But for Kevin it really was over, he just didn't know it yet... a 6 came on the river and Alex Kravchenko doubled up to 2.3 million. Farry dropped to 1.6 million after the hand -- he's not having much luck with races today which is never good at this stage of the tournament.

Players are on dinner break until 9 p.m. Pacific time.

Lee Watkinson and William Spadea tangled again. This time, William opened, Lee raised to one million, and Spadea moved all-in for another 1.7M on top. I am not sure what Lee could have been holding that he would fold while getting more than 2-1 odds, but he did in fact release his hand.

Alex Kravchenko, on the short stack, picked a spot and moved all-in preflop but got no customers.

In late position, Jon Kalmar raised to 600K. Jerry Yang looked down at his cards and then asked Jon, "You ready to tango?" He then declared that he was all-in and when he got up, pushing his chair back, the chair fell off the elevated table platform, to the floor below. "That's a tell," quipped someone from the observation stand above. "Yeah, I think you're right," replied Kalmar, ditching his cards.

Jon Kalmar raised to 300K, Lee Watkinson called, and Steven Garfinkle raised to 900K. Kalmar moved all-in for "five million-ish" and both Watkinson and Garfinkle folded.

Jerry Yang raised to 400K in early position and found callers in both Jon Kalmar, on the button, and Steve Garfinkle, in the big blind. The flop came out 2 7 Q and both Jon and Steven checked to Yang, who bet a cool million. Kalmar folded but Garfinkle check-raised to 2.5M, leaving just 1.33M behind. "A lot of money. What's your name?" asked Yang. "Steven," answered Garfinkle. "There's a lot of money in that pot, Steven." Eventually, Yang could not find a way to continue with the hand and folded. Several players at the table and several folks on the rail begged Garfinkle to show his hand. "What do you think I have?" asked Steven. Various people called out: "Deuces!", "Ace-queen!", "Sevens!" Garfinkle turned over Q J.

One player sitting at the table is Hevad Khan. He didn't put any chips into the pot voluntarily for the thirty minutes I was watching the table. I'm not sure whether he has been card dead or whether he just wants to reach the final table and figures he can play conservatively to get there.

Exciting times at the ESPN feature table…

Lee Childs limps into a pot, Tuan Lam does the same, and John Armbrust in the big blind checks his option. The flop comes K 6 8 . Tuan bet 350k, and both other players called. The turn comes K , and after Tuan checked, John took the lead by betting 1.5 million. Lee folded, but Tuan called. The river was an A , and Tuan checked again. John bet 3 million into the already sizable pot, and Tuan just called. Tuan turned over the J 9 for the flush, and John simply mucked without showing his cards. Tuan took down the pot worth over 10 million!

And another hand…

Philip Hilm raised to 300k preflop, and Scotty Nguyen called in the small blind, and the two players saw a flop of 5 5 10 . Scotty checked, Philip bet 400k, and Scotty called. The turn came a 9 , and Scotty checked. Philip moved all-in, having Scotty covered, and after a few minutes, Scotty called. Philip turned over K Q for the inside straight draw, but Scotty happily showed the 9 9 for the full house. The turn was a J and would have given Philip that straight, but Scotty’s full house won the pot and doubled him up to 5.43 million!

This is getting so interesting that Chris Ferguson has joined the media table near the ESPN table and is monitoring the action, as well as checking someone’s computer for anything he missed while he was getting here. Jesus is in the building.

Other pros milling around? Joe Sebok, Greg Mueller, Justin Bonomo, Gavin Smith, and Michael Mizrachi.

	William Spadea

We have a new chip leader and the action was somewhat crazy and to be honest makes you want to shake your head. The Bluff table basically had turned into the Lee Watkinson and William ("Billy") Spadea show. On the first hand Billy led out on a T-3-2 flop and Lee raised. Billy quickly called. The turn was a 7 and Billy led out for 1 million. Lee called. The river was a king and both players checked. Billy showed T-6 for second pair but Lee one upped him with J-T to take down the nice sized pot. It was the next pot, however, that was going to be the big one. Lee opened for 350K and Billy made it a million to go.

Without much hesitation Lee pushed all in for nearly 7 million total. Billy insta-called with 9's. Yep. 9's. For a good portion of his stack. Lee looked stunned when he turned over his hand... A-K... I guess he thought Billy was going to fold. Kenny Tran stepped off to the side and remarked that there was no way Billy was going to fold and that he thought Lee's play was very marginal. The flop came 8-8-7 and the turn was a jack and things were not looking good for Lee but that king on the river changed everything. Lee let out a rare moment of celebration, clapping his hands together, and there was a loud shriek (I could only guess from his girlfriend) that came from the stands. Lee is up to 14.5 million now.

ESPN Featured Table

Seat 1: Tuan Lam
Seat 2: John Armbrust
Seat 3: Ray Henson
Seat 4: Scotty Nguyen
Seat 5: Bob Slezak
Seat 6: Philip Hilm
Seat 7: Raymond Rahme
Seat 8: David Tran
Seat 9: Lee Childs

Bluff Featured Table

Seat 1: Jon Kalmar
Seat 2: Lee Watkinson
Seat 3: Steven Garfinkle
Seat 4: William Spadea
Seat 5: Jerry Yang
Seat 6: Hevad "Rain" Khan
Seat 7: Alex Kravchenko
Seat 8: Kenny Tran
Seat 9: Kevin Farry

With the new blinds of 50K/100K and a 10K ante, Stefan Mattsson moved all-in for 720K. It folded around to Jerry Yang, who stepped away from his chair, contemplating a call. He didn't go far, perhaps seven or eight feet, but I wonder why he would tempt the floor to kill his hand in such a way. Eventually, he came back to his seat and called with A J. Mattsson had 9 7 and had live cards, at least. The flop of 2 J 4 was just what Yang was looking for, giving him top pair and the flush draw. The 8 turn slammed the door on Mattsson's hope of some runner-runner miracle. Stefan Mattsson is out in 22nd place, earning $333,490.

After that elimination, Scott Freeman was moved to this table in order to rebalance the final 21 players.

Mikkel Madsen moved all-in for 1.07M and Jerry Yang kissed the photo he has with him and made the call. Then Raymond Rahme moved all-in over the top for 4.6M more. Yang was beside himself and paced around, holding his head in his hands. Finally, he thought better of it and slid his cards to the dealer. Madsen showed Q T and when Rahme showed 9 9, Yang was visibly angry (he said that he had folded queens). The board came 2 6 4 7 5 and Rahme, the 62-year-old South African, took the huge pot. Mikkel Madsen is out in 20th spot, taking home $333,490.

	Scott Freeman - 19th Place

Jason Welch found himself short so he moved all in with the first decent hand he'd had all day. It was his misfortune that Steven Garfinkle woke up with pocket jacks which left Welch drawing since he had A-3 off. The flop gave Welch a few more outs when it came K-5-2... any ace or 4 would give him the pot. Neither of those cards came and Jason Welch was knocked out in 21st place for $333,490.

Jon Kalmar has gotten ultra aggressive now that he has gotten hold of chips. He raised Scotty Nguyen's opening raise of 320K to 1.2 million. Nguyen folded. He then raised a Garfkinkle limp only to have to fold to a reraise from Kevin Farry. Kevin also picked up another pot in a 3 way pot when he called Tuan Lam's 150K flop bet and then made a huge overbet of 2 million on the turn that Tuan wanted none of. Kevin's family continues to root him on from behind him in the No Limit Lounge and being from New York they are not really the quiet type. Fun though.

Garfinkle was getting pushed around a bit too. He was reraised twice and had to fold his hand. After raising a third time and everyone folded he let out a deep breath as if he was expecting a third raise.

Doesn't really have much to do with the table I was watching but I am amazed at the comeback John Armbrust has made. Yesterday late in the evening (after the dinner break), he was down to 200K. He now has 12 million. Wow.

I'm watching the following table:

Seat 1: Ryan Elson
Seat 2: Scotty Nguyen
Seat 3: Steven Garfinkle
Seat 4: Daniel Alaei
Seat 5: David Tran
Seat 6: Jon Kalmar
Seat 7: Jason Welch
Seat 8: Tuan Lam
Seat 9: Kevin Farry

	Ryan Elson and Scotty Nguyen

The first hand of any significance involved Ryan Elson and Scotty Nguyen. Nguyen had pushed all in over the top of Elson's raise. Elson thought about it for a moment and then said "let's party, I call." They turned the hands over and it was a race. Ryan had pocket tens while Nguyen had the devils hand... A-Q. Fortunately for Scotty he has better luck with that hand then I do because an ace flopped. Bricks on the turn and river and Nguyen doubled up. Johnny Chan had stopped by to root his friend on and said "All right!" after the hand was over. Scotty gives Johnny some high five loving and says "Scotty back in the game baby." I don't think Scotty ever says a complete sentence without including the word baby.

Ryan, despite the loss, continues smiling and having a good time. Great attitude on the kid. Scotty and him start to joke around and Scotty tells them that if he wins the event he will fly Ryan, his wife, and their soon to be newborn child to Paris for dinner. He adds a qualifier though when he says "You put a beat on me I find out where you live." The rail and the rest of the table are loving it. Good times to be had by all.

Things don't stay jovial though as there is some poker to be played. Scotty and Tuan Lam get involved in a pot where Scotty raises it pre-flop to 280K and Tuan calls. THe flop comes K-4-2 with two spades and Scotty checks. Tuan bets 350 and Scotty mulls it over and makes the call. The turn is the 7d and Scotty leads out for 700K and says "call this if you don't like money baby"... Tuan folds and Scotty adds "you want to tango we tango baby." Yes, he really said baby at the end of both of those sentences. Ryan Elson's fans start to cheer for Scotty and Scotty laughs and says "I love the Buckeye."

Things get even quieter and we see another Elson-Scotty confrontation when it is folded to the two of them in the blinds. Elson raises and Scotty looks him up. Elson checks in the dark. The flop is J-J-9 with two spades. Nguyen bets 165K and Elson calls. "That's it baby," Scotty says as Elson slides his chips into the middle. The turn is the 7 of diamonds and both players check. Scotty says "you must have 6's." The river is the 9 of clubs making the board J-9-J-7-9. Elson leads out for 300K, a ridiculously small bet considering the size of the pot. Scotty believes Elson really only does have a small pair and looks him up with king high but Elson had some tricks up his own sleeve... he had pocket kings and raked in the pot.

The next hand of any importance involved Steven Garfinkle and Tuan Lam. Garfinkle raised pre-flop to 250K and Lam called out of the small blind. The flop came A-7-3. Lam checked and Steven bet 400K which Lam called. Lam led out for 700K on the 4 turn and Garfinkle quickly folded. Ryan Elson moved all in over the top of Tuan Lam's 250K raise a few hands later and Lam folded.

	Daniel Alaei, 25th place finisher, and David Tran

Daniel Alaei had been sitting back picking his spots, picking up the blinds and antes here and there with well timed all in raises and post-flop bets. He pushed all in for about 1.5 million first to act from late middle position and Jon Kalmar looked at his cards and quickly reshoved. Everyone folded and Alaei turned over A-Q while Kalmar had him dominated with A-K. No queen for Alaei and he was done. Daniel Alaei finished in 25th place for $333,490.

Kevin Farry then picked up a nice pot when Scotty Nguyen opened for 220K, Jon Kalmar made it 600K to go, and Farry pushed for 2.1 million more. Kevin's family sat on the edge of his seat (I think his sister is going to have a heart attack if she watches too much of this)... fortunately for them the other players folded and Kevin added nearly a million to his stack.

	Ryan Elson, 24th place finisher

Jon Kalmar limped in from middle position and it was folded to Ryan Elson in the big blind who checked his option. The flop came Q-J-8 and both players checked. The turn was an ace. Ryan bet 200K and Kalmar called. The river was an 8 and Ryan looked at his cards, mulled over what to do, and then checked. Kalmar Bet 400K and after about 30 seconds of contemplation Ryan check-raised all in. "Did you hit a full house?" Jon asked. "J-8?" Elson just sat there, not moving, or answering any of Kalmar's queries. "I call," said Kalmar and flipped over K-T. He had turned the nut straight. Elson shook his head... knowing he was beat. He had rivered trip 8's but unfortunately he did not have a full house. It was fun watching Ryan Elson's journey... I was rooting for him. Ryan Elson finishes in 24th place for $333,490.

With a lot of chips in the middle and a final board of 3 5 K 3 6, Raymond Rahme bet 200K and Bill Edler raised to 650K. Rahme called and Edler declared "Ace high." Rahme turned over A 6 for the paired six and took the pot. Edler looked pretty upset with himself and went to counting his remaining chips. He later told me that the river raise had to scream out "bluff" and he should have just let the pot go without losing any more chips.

Ever slow play a set on the flop that has possible flush and straight draws? Yeah, me neither. How about again on the turn? Right, exactly - never. Jerry Yang raised to 300K from middle position and Stefan Mattsson called from the cutoff. The flop came out 4 3 T. Both players checked. The turn was the 5. Check, check. With the J river, Yang bet 300K and Mattsson, after wavering, decided to look him up. Yang turned over 4 4 for the flopped set and Mattsson mucked in disbelief.

Bill Edler raised to 250K, John Armbrust called, and then Roy Winston raised to 925K from the small blind. Edler folded and Armbrust, after a long while, moved all-in or five million, which had Winston covered. Armbrust then proceeded to stare down Winston in a challenging manner, though he did manage a slight smile a couple times. Winston just could not decide on what to do, so one of the players called the clock on him and after the minute expired, his hand was dead. Ambrust took the pot. One of Winston's fans from the rail was criticizing Armbrust for calling the clock, and John defended himself: "I did not call it. I would never call the clock on an opponent with his tournament on the line. Let him take an hour if he wants." Stefan Mattsson weighed in on the matter and told the spectator, "I think he got his time to decide."

Several hands later, Roy Winston raised to 380K and Jerry Yang moved all-in, which would actually put Winston all-in. It folded back around and Winston called, showing Q Q. Yang had A K. Upon the A 3 T flop, Yang let out a loud, "Yes!!" Then, before the turn came, he told the dealer, "C'mon, nothing funny!" After the 8 turn and 6 river came out, Yang again yelled out and then went over to his family on the rail to celebrate. As Winston was shaking the hands of his table-mates, I overheard him ask Armbrust what he had that big hand earlier. "Jacks," replied Armbrust. Roy Winston is out in 26th place, earning $333,490.

Raymond Rahme raised to 380K and Alex Kravchenko moved all-in for 695K. Then Bill Edler announced a raise and pushed out 1.5M, more than half his stack. Rahme folded. Edler turned over 4 4 and was not happy to see the T T of Kravchenko. The board came 7 K Q T A and Kravchenko doubled up at Edler's expense.

The new ESPN feature table looked like this when action resumed after the last break:

Seat 1: Kenny Tran - 7.3 mil
Seat 2: Scott Freeman - 7.5 mil
Seat 3: Bob Slezak - 4.1 mil
Seat 4: Lee Watkinson - 3.35 mil
Seat 5: Hevad "Rain" Khan - 6.6 mil
Seat 6: Jeff Bryan - 2.0 mil
Seat 7: Philip Hilm - 9.34 mil
Seat 8: Billy Spadea - 10.0 mil
Seat 9: Ray Hensen 9.0 mil

Within a few hands, action got intense. Jeff Bryan limped into the pot, but Philip Helm raised it up to 320k. Jeff then reraised all-in for 1,375k, and Philip called.

Jeff Bryan: J 10
Philip Helm: A K

The board came 7 Q 710 ... and the river was a J to give Philip the straight!

Jeff Bryan was eliminated in 27th place for $333,490.

Other quick notes:

Players at the ESPN table were discussing the "Easter colors" of the chips and how much some of them look alike. This plays into our discussion yesterday about the similarity of the orange chip varieties and the light pink.

Hevad Khan is an intense opponent. Even when he's not in a hand, he stares at the involved players with an incredible intensity. Whether he's trying to intimidate, read, or simply admire their attire, it makes him quite the scary opponent.

Billy Spadea is one of the quieter players at the table, but he has taken the chip lead in the main event and sits with well over 11.5 million.

We had an extended break and then resumed play with 28 players at the new blinds of 40K/80K and a 10K ante.

When it folded to him, Paulo Loureiro pulled out a little laminated card, presumably with starting hand recommendations. "It helps me," he told the other players. "A flush beats a straight," offered Steven Garfinkle helpfully. After he looked at the little card, Loureiro folded.  I have absolutely no idea whether he was serious or just joking about using the card, but he did keep it out and he did look at it again, so ...

On the next hand, Garfinkle raised to 250K and William Spadea called from the big blind. When the flop came out, Garfinkle announced, "Six hundred." But Spadea had not yet acted. Garfinkle was heavily apologetic about acting out of turn. "Guess I'll check," said Spadea. Garfinkle then bet his 600K and Spadea folded. The floorman came over and gave Garfinkle a warning and he again apologized, clearly embarrassed about his faux pas.

Hevad "Rain" Khan raised to 245K and Roy Winston called from the small blind. On the Q Q 7 flop, Winston led out with 550K and Khan called. With the 2 turn, Winston bet 850K and Khan folded.

Paulo Loureiro limped for 80K from early position and Hevad Khan called from the small blind. Then William Spadea made a smallish 150K raise from the big blind. Loureiro moved all-in for 1.5M. Khan folded and Spadea called instantly and showed A A. Loureiro had K K. The aces held up, as the board came T 2 T 5 3. Paulo Loureiro is our 28th place finisher, earning $285,678.

As we are now down to 27 players, they have completed a redraw procedure.  The players are at their new tables and play has resumed.

After players took their 20-minute break and returned at approximately 2:30, play was a little slow. Only millions of chips changing hands... no big deal.

At the feature table, Daniel Alaei kept making all-in moves but getting no callers. Lee Childs recently took a pot worth over 6 million to become the tournament's chip leader.

Some big names have come to the Amazon Room to check out the action. Michael and Nick Binger arrived to do a webcast show with Gary Wise. Johnny Chan has made an appearance and is watching the tables, as are Hoyt Corkins and Ted Lawson.

Jason Koshi finally moved his short stack of 945k into the middle of the feature table, and Kenny Tran called. Jason showed K 7 , but Kenny confidently turned over A A .

Board: Q J 5 2 6

Jason Koshi left the tournament in 30th place for $285,678.

Peter Darvill got his money in with pocket 7's, and Bill Edler met him with J-9. When a 9 came on the river, Bill took the pot. Peter Darvill was out in 31st place for $285,678.

Per the reports in yesterday's blog about the online gaming sites marketing themselves so aggressively to players, their efforts are beginning to be apparent. Players who have never been heard of before are decked out in Full Tilt or PokerStars gear, and every table has at least several players marketing for websites. And the pay for wearing said gear goes up with each level that the players increase. More later...

If you're interested in the payouts from this point forward, here is that payout schedule:

The tournament staff announced as play began that there would be random redraws when the field reached 27, 18, and 10 players.

After that big first hand in which two players were eliminated from table 3, Bill Edler was moved over from table 5 to take the 3 seat at table 3.

At that same action table, Paulo Loureiro raised to 200K. Kevin Kim, in the small blind, moved all-in for 635K total. Loureiro made the call and showed A 9. Kim had A K and was in pretty good shape to double up. "Hold up one time!" he said, but winced and walked away when he saw the J 8 9 flop, pairing his opponent's kicker. When the Q came on the turn, though, he came back to watch, as he had numerous outs - any spade, ten, or king. But the 6 river ended his tournament run. Loureiro's cheering section applauded, and Paulo shrugged and said, "I was lucky. I sucked out." Kevin Kim finished in 32nd place, taking home $285,678.

Scotty Nguyen raised to 120K and got called only by John Armbrust in the big blind. Both players checked the J 6 9 flop. On the T turn, Armbrust checked and Scotty fired out 375K. "The only way you win, you have to raise it," taunted Scotty to his foe. Armbrust smiled and folded. Scotty shook his head in mock distress and showed the table his K Q for the stone nuts.

On the following hand at that table, Raymond Rahme raised to 300K and Scott Freeman, in the big blind, jacked it up to 900K. Rahme did some acting and finally announced that he was all-in for 2.58M. Freeman ignored the bad acting job and called with his K K. Rahme, of course, had A A. The board dropped 9 J 3 T 3 and Rahme doubled up to more than five million. "I almost made a move with seven-deuce!" said Scotty Nguyen, after the hand.

William Spadea raised to 200K and Kevin Farry popped it to 800K. It came back around to Spadea, who announced that he was all-in. Spadea had a ton of chips, but Farry did not ask for a count, instead just making the call and turning over his 9 9. Spadea had A K and we were off to the races. The overcards won this race, as the board came 6 A 6 2 T. When they counted it down, Spadea had a staggering 4.4M total. After cutting that amount out of his stack, Farry was left with a lonely 1.3M behind.

The ESPN feature table today includes the following players in seat order: Jason Koshi, Lee Childs, Jon Kalmar, Stefan Mattsson, Christian Togsverd, Jerry Yang, Kenny Tran, Tuan Lam, and Hoa Nguyen.

On the first hand of the table, Hoa Nguyen moves all-in on a 3 2 2 9 4 board. After some consideration, Lee Childs calls and turns over A 9 . Hoa shows 5 5 .

Hoa Nguyen was eliminated in 34th place for $285,678.

The fourth hand of the table began with Kenny Tran raising to 180k. Tuan Lam called, Stefan Mattsson, called, and Christian Togsverd reraised in the big blind all-in for a little over 1.8 million. Kenny folded, Tuan called, and Stefan folded.

Christian: A J
Tuan: Q Q

Board: 9 5 Q 4 J

With the Queen on the flop, Tuan had his opponent dominated, and after the turn, Christian was drawing dead.

Christian Togsverd finished in 33rd place for $285,678.

	Table 2

Table 3 was where the action was early.  These boys came to gamble.  On the very first hand, Robin Bergren moved all-in under the gun for 560K.  Allan King, third to act, called the 560K (leaving about 400K behind), and then Roy Winston, fifth to act, moved all-in for just over one million.  It folded back around to King, who pushed out his remaining chips, and we had a three-way all-in on the first hand of the day.  They turned over:

Bergren: (I'm not making this up, folks)

King:

Winston:

The board came:

Roy Winston, who had each of the others covered, scooped the pot with his full house and both Robin Bergren and Allan King were eliminated, finishing in 36th and 35th place, respectively, and taking home $285,678 each.

Here are the chip counts and seating assigments of the final 36 players heading into Day 6:

112 players started the day on day 5... and only 36 remain.

Some of the bigger names to make their exit on day 5:

Lamar Wilkinson
Maria Ho
John Spadavecchia
Gus Hansen
Huck Seed
Humberto Brenes
Josh Evans
Cory Carroll
Chad Brown
Dario Minieri

In the final hours of play on Day 5, Bill Edler suffered a large hit when his pocket queens lost to the A-A of Kevin Farry. Farry doubled through Edler on that hand, after which Edler had fallen to about 2.5 Million.

Scotty Nguyen is officially the last remaining player to have won the World Series of Poker $10,000 World Championship No-Limit Hold'em in a previous year. Scotty is far from the chip lead, but given skills that cannot be argued, his presence within this tournament should not be discounted.

Ryan Elson, who enters day 6 with a respectable stack, has no previous World Series of Poker cashes... or cashes in any major tournament, for that matter. He is but one of many players seeking to make a name for themselves as play on day 6 begins, scheduled to continue until the final table.

Play begins at 12pm Noon, PDT.