Eric Froehlich has wasted no time in accumulating what must be one of the largest stacks in the room.
In a recent hand a player in early position raised to 900, Froehlich called, and the player on the button went all in for a total of 7,500. The original raised folded and Froehlich called.
Froehlich:
Button:
Up through the turn the board read and the button player was about to double up, but then the fell on the river giving Froehlich the win and sending the other player to the rail.
We caught the action as the turn was being dealt on a board. All of Bill Chen's money was in the middle and Andre Akkari was the one putting him at risk.
Chen:
Akkari:
Akkari wouldn't need to wait long for help when the turn hit with a . The river bricked out for Chen and eliminated him from the tournament. Akkari now has 45,000.
While we were trying to count their chips, Noah Schwartz and Justin Young decided to play a pot so we could watch. When we walked up, there was already a flop on board, and it looks like Schwartz had check-called a bet of 3,300.
On the turn, the came calling, and Schwartz took the lead with a bet of 7,575. Young considered for a good while before shoving in for 17,600, and Schwarz made the call. "I just got a pair," Young lamented as he tabled . Schwartz had gotten there with , and the river was safe enough to earn him the knockout.
Schwartz is up to a healthy 62,000 after that pot.
Daniel Negreanu (Event #49) - Eliminated from the tournament
Over in the Black section, table #30 happens to be located right next to the rail. This is definitely a good thing for railbirds looking to catch a glimpse of a big name pro as that table has contained Daniel Negreanu, Gavin Smith, Jonathan Duhamel, Josh Brikis, and Terrence Chan for the past few levels.
On a recent hand, with a small crowd of onlookers watching the action, the flop came . Five players were still in the hand and action checked to Negreanu who bet 3,500. Duhamel, Brikis, and Smith all folded but the player in the big blind (who had Negreanu covered) shoved all in. Negreanu called putting his tournament life at risk.
Negreanu:
Big Blind:
Negreanu's pair of kings was behind the other players set of sevens. The on the turn gave Negreanu some flush outs, but the on the river couldn't save him and he was eliminated.
Immediately after the hand Chan said, "Bye bye rail" and even though there are a few other notable players including last years Main Event Winner at the table, the rail did indeed scatter to the wind shortly after Negreanu's departure.
Anyone thinking that table #30 got a little softer would be incorrect though as Negreanu's seat has now been taken by Barry Greenstein. This will certainly be a table to watch for the rest of the evening.
The tournament clock that keeps a running tally of the players remaining just dropped to 396 meaning over half the starting field has already been eliminated from play. While we won't reach the money tonight, there are sure to be many more eliminations to come over the next couple of levels.
We had just walked away from counting down Phil Hellmuth at about 31,000, and we heard him take a phone call from his wife, who we think must be named Honey. We were trying not to eavesdrop on the conversation as Hellmuth stepped over near us, but we did hear the words "seven hours of sleep", "just won a pot", "this table", and "frustrating" in little tidbits. We walked away.
Just a few seconds later, we heard Hellmuth's familiar, "GOD!" followed by a quick, "Are you f***ing kidding me?!" so we snapped back around to see what was what. We saw all of the Brat's chips in the middle, and he had laid out in front of him. His opponent was in the eight seat, and he was showing . The board in the middle of the table? A fun . The money apparently got in on the flop with the ace-nine being a huge underdog. Hellmuth was fuming, and it was only now that we noticed he was still on the phone with his wife.
Standing up from the table, he spoke to her instead. "The guy just put in 50k with ace-nine. I got him to put in 50k with top pair." It would be another two minutes or so before Hellmuth finally left the table. Before he did, he lifted the phone away from his ear and glared across the table. "How f***ing bad are you?" he asked rhetorically.
The gentleman in the eight seat was relishing the moment with a wide grin on his face. He knelt with one knee on his chair, them pumped his fists above his head. In broken English, he matched Hellmuth's volume with a loud, "I got Pill Hellmoot!"
With a delightful air of condescending, Hellmuth reached across the table to shake his opponent's hand. "Very nice play, sir. Very nice play." And with that, he was gone.
and the button player was about to double up, but then the 
fell on the river giving Froehlich the win and sending the other player to the rail.
board. All of Bill Chen's money was in the middle and Andre Akkari was the one putting him at risk.
. The river bricked out for Chen and eliminated him from the tournament. Akkari now has 45,000.
flop on board, and it looks like Schwartz had check-called a bet of 3,300.
came calling, and Schwartz took the lead with a bet of 7,575. Young considered for a good while before shoving in for 17,600, and Schwarz made the call. "I just got a pair," Young lamented as he tabled 
. Schwartz had gotten there with 
, and the river 
. Five players were still in the hand and action checked to Negreanu who bet 3,500. Duhamel, Brikis, and Smith all folded but the player in the big blind (who had Negreanu covered) shoved all in. Negreanu called putting his tournament life at risk.
on the turn gave Negreanu some flush outs, but the 
on the river couldn't save him and he was eliminated.
. The board in the middle of the table? A fun 
