After a grueling day on the felt which spanned 14 hours of play, Event #9 of the 2014 World Series of Poker has come to a close. In the end a total of 1,940 entrants were recorded, and when it was all said and done just 161 players remained in contention for the gold bracelet - and $323,125 in prize money.
With the "Millionaire Maker" event captivating the poker world's attention yesterday by drawing an astounding field which nearly reached 8,000 runners, many of those who busted in there took a second shot here today. The field was littered with big name pros and recognizable names, and by the time chips were bagged and tagged a who's who of the game's best players were among the survivors.
Along the way players like Greg Merson, Mukul Pahuja, Joe Serock, Scott Clements, Blake Bohn, Ryan D'Angelo, D.J. MacKinnon, Joe McKeehen, Amanda Baker, Rex Clinkscales, and Russell Crane all came and went, with each falling short of the money.
The group of pros who did manage to earn at least a min-cash include Adam Geyer (177,500), Chris Hunichen (99,000), Vinny Pahuja (93,200), Faraz Jaka (62,000), Mark Radoja (72,700), Roland Israelashvili (54,100), and Daniel Buzgon (57,000).
Check back in with PokerNews tomorrow at 1 p.m. local time to continue following the action, as the remaining 161 players reconvene to continue their pursuit of WSOP glory.
James Woods last hand of the night went down a little while ago, after he open-jammed for his last 4,700 from middle position.
Alex Masek - the owner of a record-setting eight World Series of Poker Circuit rings - looked Woods up with , finding himself out in front of the actor's .
The final runout came and with that Woods made his way to the rail late in Level 10.
Shortly after taking his seat at Amnon Filippi's table, a newcomer noticed the longtime pro and piped up with a strange comment that may have been a needle or a compliment, depending on one's perspective.
"Hey!," exclaimed Hank Paniccia at the sight of Filippi. "I know you from High Stakes Poker... what'cha doin' playing a one-k? Times must be tough!"
Filippi, a man known for his mean mug and New York-bred demeanor, was none too pleased with the young Paniccia's table talk, and he didn't so much as move a muscle while staring at him from across the table.
Finally, flipping his earbuds out to hear what his interrogator had to say, Filippi dismissed the comments with a jab of his own.
"You must be Canadian..." said Filippi with a stone cold glare, before returning to the sanctuary of his music.
Filippi had the last laugh though, as Paniccia managed to spill his beer on the floor while continuing another conversation about whether or not Filippi enjoyed playing with Stu Unger. The two seem to have become fast friends, and currently the room is filled with boisterous laughter as the two continue launching good-natured verbal volleys.
With his good friend Emad Alabsi standing by to sweat from the rail, James Woods just shoved all-in to force two players off the pot, but to hear Alabsi tell it the move was ill-timed. Here's what we saw:
The board read by the turn and Woods was riding a short stack of 3,150 while sitting in the small blind. He knuckled the felt and elicited a bet of 1,400 by the big blind, a bet which the button decided to flat.
That's when Woods sprung his trap and raised all in for 1,750 more, a move which Alabsi seemed to approve of.
"I love that shove..." he told us as Woods' opponet's contemplated their options. "Love it."
Alabsi is no slouch on the felt himself, as a man with more than $1 million an earnings and two recent titles on the East Coast - including a $164,469 score at a $1650 Parx Casino Big Stax V event - knows how to play the game.
Soon enough, Woods' power play worked its magic and both of his opponent's laid down to the pressure, and with this reporter's hovering gathering attention, the table beckoned Woods to "show the bluff to PokerNews."
Woods called Elabsi over to the table and flashed his hand to his good friend, showing the for the stone cold nuts. Having seen Woods scare off two opponents with the best hand possible at the time, Alabsi's previous enthusiasm over the play was dampened, and he began to offer his own opinion on the hand to the actor and poker enthusiast who served as his best man a few years back.
If he wins two bracelets in a week, that should just about a do it, and with double the starting stack at the moment, he is squarely in contention for another deep run.
A recent hand saw Cartwright shove all in on the flop with the board reading . He was acting from the small blind, and from what we could gather he had come over the top of a 2,800 wager which was either a bet or a raise. In any event, Cartwright soon had the "all-in" button in front of his 20,000-chip stack, and his opponent diving deep into the tank to assess his spot.
Eventually though, that player surrendered and the sizable pot was sent Cartwright's way, giving him about double the average late in this first day of play.
We just caught the tail end of a confrontation which resulted in Stammen sending an unfortunate player to the rail, after the "Stammdog" caught a fortuitous four-flush runout to come from behind and steal a pot.
Stammen held , while his unlucky opponent had , and although the flop came king-high, hearts on the turn and river gave the pro a winning flush.
A short time after noting Greg Merson's presence in the Brasilia Room, we saw him stand and make a quick exit from the table, his attempt to run up a short stack thwarted by Michael Merichko.
According to Merichko, he was holding the button when he woke up with , and with a pocket pair in the hole he open-shoved for his last 7,000.
Merson had a pocket pair of his own in and he called off his last 3,500 or so, but a clean runout left him with the second-best hand.
Moments after taking his new seat in the Brasilia Room's Blue section, 2012 World Series of Poker Main Event champion Greg Merson took notice of fellow pro Roland Israelashvili's massive stack.
Sitting on more than 45,000 at the moment, Israelashvili holds 4.5 times the current average and is likely the chip leader with just under 600 players left in the field.
"You have a lot of chips there," said Merson by way of introduction. "A lot of chips."
"What do you know about a lot of chips," replied Israelashvili with a devilish grin. "How many did you have back then, one hundred million?"
"A hundred and eighty million..." said Merson, referring back to the moment he eliminated Jesse Sylvia to win the Main Event. "Something like that."
With two highly experienced pros now at the same table - one short-stacked and the other chip leader - it will be interesting to see how this dynamic plays out as the tournament continues.
Andrew "BalugaWhale" Seidman is crushing the $1,500 buy-in Millionaire Maker, and he joins his former student on the final episode of Strategy With Kristy.