The dinner bell has rang with the remaining Day 1a players all heading on a 90-minute break.
The previous level began with players such as PokerNews' own Chad Holloway chipping up before Tony Dunst put pressure on Sam Barnhart. However it would be on the feature table that we would see the hand of the century according to Ronnie Bardah when Dominik Nitsche hit running queens to stay alive against Tatiana Barausova.
Six-time WSOP bracelet winner T.J. Cloutier would be one of the victims for the level while high-stakes player Olivier Busquet climbed the leaderboard following a series of hands; one in which he picked off a bluff with second pair.
As the final few hands began to play out, Johnny Steven would see his stack reach the upper echelon of counts as he ended the level with 100,100, but it would be Gal Erlichman continuing his dominance up top as he ended the level as chip leader with 122,000.
With play not resuming until roughly 8:25 p.m. local time, enjoy this video of Eli Elezra's winner interview after he claimed his second bracelet last night.
Two recent hands involving actor Kevin Pollak demonstrated the fickle nature of poker, as he went from flopping the nuts to folding the winner in short order.
First, Pollak took a flop of against two opponents, checking and then raising to 3,300 when one of them bet 1,200. This folded the player in between, and the bettor flatted to see the turn come .
Pollak led out for 4,000 on fourth street, his opponent flatted once again, and the river came . After both players tapped the table, Pollak rolled over the for a flopped nut flush.
On the very next deal, Pollak held the button and took a flop of against two opponents. After both checked to him, Pollak fired out a bet of 1,000. The big blind player folded, but the cutoff came along to see the turn come . Both players opted to check, and on the river Pollak's opponent made a suspiciously small bet of 750.
"Why so much?," asked Pollak, employing his trademark sense of humor.
"I have exactly what you think I have," was the opponent's response.
"I think you have sh-t," Pollak shot back, obviously not buying the player's shoe of strength.
Eventually, Pollak became a believer though, and his was folded face up. With the post-oak bluff successfully executed, the player gladly revealed his for pure air.
As the rest of the field departed the Amazon Room for the recent break, we noticed Paul "X-22" Magriel agonizing over a difficult decsion, his face contorting into the animated expressions that are his trademark.
The flop read and 2,100 was up for grabs in the middle. Bill Mullins had checked to Magriel, and he bet his signature amount of 2,200.
Mullins sprung his trap, however, and raised to 6,200. The action back on him, Magriel tanked for more than three minutes while the room emptied out, but ultimately he released his hand.
"Ace-king of diamond?," he asked Mullins, who graciously tabled the for top two pair in response.
However it would Gal Erlichman heading to break as the chip leader after eliminating Soi Nguyen with against Nguyen's . That chip lead amounted to roughly 118,000 and saw him sitting very comfortable as players were now able to enjoy a break full of bad beat stories, missed bets and close calls.
As the remaining players enjoy their 20 minutes away from the table, check out this video Sarah Grant recorded about all the highlights from week five.
Soi Nguyen Tried to Get a Little Too Slick With His Suited Big Slick
We passed by the table where T.J. Cloutier and Mike Matusow are now sitting, and overheard Cloutier laughing a bit about a previous hand.
"He only played every hand for two hours...," said Cloutier in his famous Southern drawl. "Of course he gets 250 big blinds in before the flop and busts."
With Gal Erlichman quietly stacking a tower of orange T5000 tournament chips a few seats over, and adding them to an already expansive chip castle, it soon became apparent that Erlichman had stacked an unfortunate player, and the victim turned out to be 2010 November Niner Soi Nguyen.
According to Erlichman, the action started when a player opened for 500, and two others flatted the raise. Erlichman woke up with , and three-bet to 2,300.
This pressure folded the original raiser, but Nguyen four-bet to 9,300. When the action folded back to him, Erlichman jammed for the rest of his stack, and Nguyen called off with the .
Despite finding a premium hand, Nguyen was utterly dominated by Erlichman's rockets, and when the flop brought the case ace to the board, Nguyen's Main Event came to an abrupt end.
With the board reading by the turn, a player in the small blind bet 1,200, and Eddie Blumenthal made it 3,350 to play.
His opponent flatted the raise and the river fell , prompting the small blind player to tap the table for a check. Blumenthal paused for a moment before moving a bet of 5,700 into the middle, and his opponent decided to look the pro up.
Blumenthal rolled over the with a flourish, and his boat was big enough to ship the pot.
On the flop, John "World" Hennigan led out for a bet of 1,100, and then called when his opponent raised it up to 3,100.
The arrived on the turn, prompting Hennigan to slow down with a check. His opponent tossed out a bet of 3,600, and Johnny World flatted to see the drop on the river.
With that being a scare card in a number of ways, the experienced pro quickly moved 12,000 into the pot, and his opponent dove deep into the tank, thinking things over for around three minutes before releasing his hand.
Ronnie Bardah seated at the main feature table to begin the 2013 WSOP Main Event
Ronnie Bardah won a World Series of Poker gold bracelet in 2012 when he took down the $2,500 Limit Hold'em — Six-Handed event for $182,088. Here in the Main Event this year, Bardah has already doubled his stack and will be eyeing a return to the money for another deep run.
Bardah started his double-up hand off by opening under the gun to 300 just before Level 1 came to a close. After two players called, 2009 WSOP Main Event champion Joe Cada reraised to 1,200 from the hijack seat. Play folded back to Bardah, and he called. The next player called, then the third player reraised to 4,500. Cada folded, Bardah flatted, and the other player folded. This left heads-up action to the flop, which came down rainbow.
After Bardah checked the flop, his opponent fired in a bet of 5,000. Bardah check-raised to approximately 23,000 and was all in. His opponent called. Bardah rolled over and was beating his opponent's .
A on the turn and a on the river kept Bardah's kings in front, and he doubled up.
Bardah has had a lot of success in the WSOP Main Event over the past few years. He's cashed in 2010, 2011 and 2012, so hitting the money this year would be his fourth consecutive year doing so. The scores for each of those years were $317,161 (24th place), $27,103 (453rd place) and $21,707 (540th place), respectively.
The Main Event is now heading on it's first 20-minute break for the day.
Following a few words by Jack Effel and Ty Stewart, it would be reigning Champion Greg Merson giving the orders to shuffle up and deal before he took his seat just a few feet away from a table that housed 2011 Champion Pius Heinz.
As players settled in to the tournament playing their first few hands with some nervous energy, excitement and maybe a little bit of feat, the tournament would unfortunately lose Mark Jeffreys roughly an hour into play. Jeffreys check-raised every street holding but would be called down by Angel Funes Rios with to become the first elimination of Day 1a.
PokerNews' own Chad Holloway would see his stack dip severely early when he ran a bluff against Eddie Blumenthal to put him high up on the leaderboard alongside the likes of Rios, Greg Ostrander, Ben Wilinofsky and Tony Dunst.
With players now enjoying a 20-minute break to stretch their legs, grab a coffee or fill their belly, you at home can do the same while watching our July 6th update recorded by Lynn Gilmartin late last night.
Eric Froehlich has been ranked as the best Magic the Gathering player in the world, but today he is hoping to reach the pinnacle in another strategy based card game.
We caught the man known as "E-Fro" involved in an early pot, as he limped in and then called a raise of 300. When the dealer fanned the flop, Froehlich check-called a bet of 550, bringing the to the table on the turn.
Another check by Froehlich prompted a bet of 1,300 by his opponent, and once again the two-time bracelet winner flatted.
Both players tapped the table on the river, and Froehlich rolled over the for a flopped pair of jacks. His opponent mucked, and Froehlich chipped up a bit to begin the day.
![[user80015]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
against two opponents, checking and then raising to 3,300 when one of them bet 1,200. This folded the player in between, and the bettor flatted to see the turn come 
.
. After both players tapped the table, Pollak rolled over the 
for a flopped nut flush.
against two opponents. After both checked to him, Pollak fired out a bet of 1,000. The big blind player folded, but the cutoff came along to see the turn come 
. Both players opted to check, and on the 
was folded face up. With the post-oak bluff successfully executed, the player gladly revealed his 
for pure air.
and 2,100 was up for grabs in the middle. Bill Mullins had checked to Magriel, and he bet his signature amount of 2,200.
for top two pair in response.
, prompting the small blind player to tap the table for a check. Blumenthal paused for a moment before moving a bet of 5,700 into the middle, and his opponent decided to look the pro up.
with a flourish, and his boat was big enough to ship the pot.
rainbow.
on the river kept Bardah's kings in front, and he doubled up.
river, and Froehlich rolled over the 
for a flopped pair of jacks. His opponent mucked, and Froehlich chipped up a bit to begin the day.
