While players go off on breaks, the dealers must remain behind, sitting at the tables among the silent stacks.
Just before players returned from dinner for Level 4 today, PokerNews photographer Neil Stoddart decided to help make the dealers' wait more fun by snapping a few photos of them, including this one in which they appear as airplanes flying in formation.
You could almost feel the Amazon Room about to break away from the rest of the Rio and take off into the Vegas night as Neil snapped the photo.
Having reached the end of Level 3, all remaining Day 1b players are now off to take a 90-minute dinner break before returning this evening for two more two-hour levels. Play will resume about 8:15 PM Vegas time.
The amazing PokerNews video team of hostess Kristy Arnett and cameraman Will Thomas took to the floor of the World Series of Poker to find out how players, fans and media would describe the WSOP Main Event using only one word. Check it out!
A middle position player raised and got a caller one seat over, then Layne Flack reraised. It folded back around and the original raiser bumped it up again to 3,150, the first caller folded, and Flack stuck around.
The flop came and Flack's opponent again bet 3,150. Flack quickly called. The turn was the and after a pause the original raiser checked, and Flack immediately patted the felt with an open palm.
The river was the . This time Flack's opponent pushed out a bet of 5,050, and Flack called instantly. Flack's opponent showed for a set of aces, and Flack tossed his cards into the muck.
Maria Ho opened for 700 from middle position and action folded around to the big blind, who made the call.
The flop came and Ho's opponent checked - prompting a 750 c-bet from Ho. Her opponent responded by check-raising to 1,850. Ho thought it over and made the call.
The turn brought the and Ho's opponent continued his aggression and fired 3,025 into the middle. Undeterred, Ho again called.
The completed the board and the player in the big fired one last time for 8,000. Ho paused, and then raised to 19,400 total. Her opponent immediately announced, "Call," and Ho tabled for a rivered tens-full of deuces. Her opponent revealed that he had the for an inferior full house and mucked.
Ho has been on quite a roll this past level - she is up to 90,000.
We caught up to the action to see a board of . Scott Seiver was heads up in the hand with about 5,000 in the pot. Seiver led out for 4,000 and his opponent tanked for well over two minutes. Eventually, his opponent announced a raise and tossed 11,000 into the middle.
Seiver tanked back for about ninety-second before announcing that he was all in. It was actually Sevier's opponent's tournament life that would have been at risk had there been a call. Seiver's opponent folded, however, and Seiver is now sitting at 49,500 in chips.