Dani Stern and Michael Binger were moved to the same table a while before dinner and we just caught them in a hand together. Binger was in middle position when he opened up the pot with a raise. Only Stern would call from the button and the dealer would spread out a flop. Binger led for 7,500 here and Stern made the call.
On the turn, Binger opted to check and Stern would quickly bet 17,500. Binger didn't want to continue, sending his cards into the muck and the pot to Stern.
Stern has had some success at the World Series of Poker in the past, finishing in fourth place in the $40,000 No Limit Hold'em - 40th Anniversary event in 2009 and taking fifth place in the $10,000 Pot Limit Hold'em Championship in 2010.
Eric Baldwin has crossed the 400,000 mark on the last hand. We found him surrounded by cameras and on the river of a board. His opponent checked, Baldwin bet 31,000 and his opponent tanked.
After a short while the opponent folded and Baldwin took the pot.
After taking down a few pots with just a preflop raise, the action folded to Benjamin Alcober, who raised to 7,000 from the small blind. The player in the big blind three-bet to 22,000, and Alcober clicked it back (kind of), making it 36,000. The player called.
The flop fell , and Alcober led out for 27,800. His opponent folded, and Alcober is getting closer and closer to a million chips.
Eddie Blumenthal raised from the cutoff seat and found one caller in the player from the big blind.
The flop came and Blumethal's opponent check-called a 4,600 from Blumethal.
Both players checked the turn, however, when the completed the board, Blumethal's opponent fired 22,300 into the middle. Blumenthal didn't take long to fold and his opponent scooped the pot.
WSOP bracelet holder Jason Lester has cashed in the WSOP Main Event seven times previously, his best ever showing coming in 2003 when he finished fourth. Lester has been battling with a short stack for most of Day 3, however, and it looked just now as though his Main Event run this year was about to fall shy of the money.
Following a middle position player's opening raise to 6,200, Lester reraised all in from a seat over for his last 55,000 or so. It folded back around, and Lester's opponent tanked for some time before finally announcing he was calling.
Lester shook his head initially at the call while turning over his , guessing he was about to be racing for his tourney life. But when his opponent showed , he looked relieved. He looked even more so after the board ran out to give him the double-up and survival.
"I was hoping for jacks or tens," said Lester with a laugh. Then after pausing a moment, he looked up with a mischievous grin.
We've fallen under the 1,000-player mark, as just 999 remain. Since the top 666 make the money, that means two out of every three players who have made it this far will be cashing in this year's WSOP Main Event.
Picking up the action after the river of a board, AJ Jejelowo's bet of 45,000 was called by his opponent. Jejelowo tabled for a flush, besting his opponent's holdings to win the pot.
We found Maria Ho and an unknown player at a flop of . Ho was in the big blind and checked. Her opponent bet 11,500 and Ho called. The turn came and both players checked. The river came , Ho bet 17,000 and her opponent folded.