In the most action we've seen in 45 minutes, Eric Drache called the bring-in with the showing. Freddie Ellis completed it with the , and Drache called again.
On fourth street, Ellis picked up the and fired out a bet. Drache's was good for a raise, and Ellis called the extra bet.
On fifth, Drache led out with the , and Ellis folded his .
See? There really isn't much happening right now. It's reverted back to a sort of feeling-out period, with the players basically trading antes and bring-ins. Of course, it's only a matter of time before things pick up. Cue the level up!
We've hit another dry spell here on the secondary featured table, so let's talk about something else. There is a rotating group of about 40 or 50 people along the rail, both on the floor and up above in the overlooking spectator box. There were a lot more earlier in the day, but the railbirds' attention seems to have wandered; we're fighting the same predicament ourselves to be honest.
Across the other side of the Jack Link's stage is where you can find the big cheering section; the final table of the $1,000 Stimulus Special is going strong, heads up for the title. There is quite a throng of people sweating that event, and every half hour or so, a thunderous ovation comes roaring out of the TV Table area. Steve Sung is the big name over there, duking it out with a Greek player named Pete Vilandos. Let's just say nearly everyone is rooting for Sung.
On the other side of the room, the Pot-Limit Omaha event ended about 2 hours ago, with Jason Mercier taking home his first bracelet. Also in the green section is the conclusion of the Deuce to Seven Lowball event, down to the final 11 players. Phil Ivey is still kicking over there, as are Layne Flack, David Grey, and Tony G.
Way back behind us, Day 2 of the $1,500 NLHE event is running, and Day 1 of both the $1,500 Six-Handed NLHE and the $2,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em/Omaha are both running as well. To top it all off, the red section is chock full of cash games. There's a lot going on here in the Amazon Room... just not much at our Stud final table.
Freddie Ellis had to bring it in with the . Ville Wahlbeck completed it, and Ellis was the lone caller. On fourth street, Wahlbeck pulled the and bet out again. Ellis called after drawing the . On fifth street, Wahlbeck's slowed him down. When he checked, Ellis fired with his . Wahlbeck frowned, counted down his remaining stack, and mucked his hand. He has 260,000 chips left and truly can't afford to lose too many more pots.
We join the action on sixth street, heads up between Eric Drache and Ville Wahlbeck. Drache's up cards read , and he put out a bet into Wahlbeck's dangerous looking board. Wahlbeck called, and both players checked seventh street. Drache tabled , making queens up. It was good; Wahlbeck pushed his cards into the muck, leaving himself just about 150,000 chips to play with.
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On the next hand, Wahlbeck got it all in on fifth street, again tangling with Drache. Drache's board came out ( ) / / () for two pair once again. Wahlbeck could top that, running out his ( ) / / () board. His ace-high diamond flush locked up the pot, earning him a timely double up. After losing most of his stack to Drache, he has climbed back up over 400,000 courtesy of the same man.