Dan Shak would've been better off dozing as he donated 600 chips to a neighbour. Men Nguyen limped from early position and the action got around to Shak in the hijack but he failed to act because he was napping and early attempts to wake him failed as he was wearing headphones. A quick shake from the dealer later and Shak woke to make the call. Rob Jarrett-Smith punished the limpers from the cut-off with a raise to 250 that was only called by Shak.
The flop came and Shak called a 350 bet only to fold to a725 bet on the turn.
Eagle-eyed viewers may have noticed Neil Channing's stack hovering around the 1,000 mark on that last post. He was a victim of the bullets, Robert Cooper pressing the trigger with and surviving a board (all in on the flop) against Channing's . Cooper, meanwhile, is enjoying an early surge with 5,500 and currently wearing a smile the width of the equator.
One cheeky player has just been thrown out of tournament after it emerged he somehow managed to sneak into the tournament for a second time. A table mate of his, Stuart Rutter, informed us that a floor man came and took his chips and asked him to leave as he'd already played and busted on Friday. Naughty naughty.
Jeff Kimber seems more interested in the Manchester United/Liverpool match playing on his iPod than he does about the poker but he's just picked up a decent pot when the big blind was sitting out.
Kimber raised to 150 and received just one caller, the button.
He then fired 200 on the flop and 300 on the turn getting called both times before both players checked the river. Kimber showed and it was enough to award him the pot. Time to watch the football once again
I spotted Chris Bjorin on the rail, and unscrupulously inquired as to the gory details of his exit. As expected, he was as coy and clandestine off the felt as he is, merely commenting, "I played very poorly and got what I deserved."
For now, the trio of final tables will have to wait.
"I want to leave that for the Main Event," he smiled.
Richard Ashby has taken a minor hit, doubling up an opponent with versus on an ensuing board. The defeat served up just a minor blip, however, as Ashby still has circa 3,500 in chips.
Michael Mizrachi raised to 150 preflop before Claire Renault 3-bet to 450 from the button. However, she was not expecting Mizrachi to move all-in but that's exactly what he did.
"Oh no!" said Renault as Fabrice Soulier, her other half playing on the table next door, stood up to see what was going on.
"What are you doing this afternoon?" joked Soulier to Mizrachi as Renault eventually made the call.
Mizrachi turned over to Renault's . "I thought you had aces for sure!" piped up Mike Matusow.
The board came and Renault's nines held to bust the November Niner.
"I'm sorry," said Soulier, "but I was rooting for her!"
"That's ok, so was I," laughed Mizrachi as he packed up his things and left the room.
Men "The Master" Nguyen picked a bad time to bluff Fabrizio Prete. The turn was out as an eight and he moved all-in on a gutshot draw. He soon saw the bad news as Prete called with a set of eights that held up to eliminate Nguyen.