Patrik Antonius' never-say-die attitude has prevailed, the Flying Fin doubling up in Omaha. I didn't witness the hand, just the sudden increase in chips; Antonius' stack is now around the 7K mark.
Meanwhile, the table is being broken up meaning that all remaining players are now in the main cardroom. As a result, I shall be rejoining my colleagues downstairs and asking them a very important question: What does Annie Duke's 'say yes when nobody asked' tattoo mean?
Barry Greenstein's chair is now down to 600 in chips, but is holding its own. It has managed to avoid the bring-in and is holding fast.
At the start of play today, Barry Greenstein, Joe Sebok, and Andrew Fitzgerald were all no-shows for the tournament. Sebok and Fitzgerald's chips were taken out of play, but Barry's were left in play.
Patrik Antonius, who really hasn't got going today, has been in freefall mode and is now down to just 3,500 in chips.
However, although he's struggling chip-wise, his opponents' efforts to once and for all eliminate him from the comp have been in vain. The plucky Finn is refusing to give up, however low he is.
After being bluffed off an ace-high flop in Hold'em by JJ Hazan, Patrik then took the blinds, his raise leaving him with just 600, before stealing the blinds once more.
Soon after, he managed to flop a set of jacks from the big blind but was unable to find any action from JJ, who folded instantly.
Patrik's still smiling, although it seems he is being stalked by two dancers who have decided to strategically position themselves by his table so they can continually gawk at the former model, leaving me to mop up the drool.
A pot has risen around a board of with three players to the river. I caught the action as Juanda, rock-like (in the sense of being very still only) considered the 1,600 he was now facing. Eventually he made the call, apparently getting rid of the player still to act with the winning hand, as his opponent mucked. Juanda had to show his hand to win the pot -- he had made the call with and took the chips and a bit of ruffled surprised commentary from his tablemates.
The top tournament pro, famous charitable donator, and author has either added invisability to his list of talents or hasn't showed up all day. His stack is still in, at last count at just under 3,000, meaning that his tight style has put him in the top two-thirds of the field as Day One trundles towards its conclusion, outlasting players like Dave Colclough, and most recently Richard Gryko.
Meanwhile, another table up top breaking has sent us Annie Duke, who's been seated to short stack Richard Ashby's left. Her first magnanimous gesture upon arriving downstairs was to convince Management that bottled water should be henceforth on the house. Three cheers for Annie, hydrating the poker community.
I'm currently working in a side room where the feature table is also being prepared for later on in the week. However, what has caught my attention rather more is the lovely array of girls who are practicing their performance right before me.
"Do you mind if we do our routine in here?" one of them politely asked.
"Of course not," I said in my best James Bond accent with one eyebrow raised in a Roger Moore-manner. (Well, actually, I bumbled and stuttered my reply.)
And so, off they went, dancing around and making me grimace like a gurning champion as they performed synchronized splits. Ouch!
Although many have compared me to Brad Pitt, the girls seemed inexplicably more interested in Patrik Antonius who is on the remaining table here on the balcony. I took great pleasure in breaking hearts and informing them that he was happily married with a child. Shame, they'll have to settle for me...