Dinner Break: McLaughlin Leads, Mortensen Still In
Three levels of play are complete on Day 5 of the Main Event, and the players are now on a 90-minute dinner break. The chip lead changed several times over the past two hours, but at the end of the level, it was Marc McLaughlin at the top of leaderboard. He jumped into the lead when his aces held up against Patrick Renkers's Queens. Jonathan Jaffe and Sami Rustom also pushed toward the top during the past level.
Carlos Mortensen, the only remaining Main Event champion in the field, also had a good level. After being outdrawn to become short-stacked, Mortensen doubled up twice, and finished the level with about 1.5 million in chips.
There were several notable eliminations during the last level. Max Steinberg, who was at or near the top of the chip counts throughout most of Day 4, had a tough time gaining traction today and busted early in Level 23. Ashton Griffin got the last of his chips in the middle with 
and lost Sergio Castelluccio’s 
. Ronnie Bardah was short-stacked most of the day, and he busted when his 
lost to Jorn Walthaus’s 
. This is Bardah’s fourth consecutive year cashing in the Main Event, which ties the record held by Chris Bjorin and Christian Harder. Other eliminations this level include Anthony Forsyth-Forrest, Nikolai Sears, and Yi Fang.
There were only 27 eliminations during the last level, a sharp drop in the pace from earlier in the day. There are now 109 players remaining with two more levels scheduled to play tonight.
We’ll be back soon with updated chip counts from the field, and with live updates when play resumes after the dinner break.