We walked around the room at the beginning and spotted Sorel Mizzi with his starting stack of around 110,000. When we came back around five minutes later, he was sitting around on about 235,000 and has clearly doubled up (and some) to start the day. Apparently Mizzi got it all in preflop with vs. and they clearly held up. With Mizzi's success in large field No-Limit Hold'em tournaments, this only means trouble for the rest of the field as he starts to chip up
When we reached the table, Phil Collins was heads-up with Stephen Rose, and the flop had already been dealt . Rose tossed out 4,200 from the small blind, and Collins called from the big.
The turn was the , and Rose checked. Collins tossed out a single orange T5,000 chip, Rose folded, and Collins pulled in the pot.
Noah Boeken raised to 3,500 from early position and found two callers in the form of the button and the big blind. When the flop fell , the big blind led out for 8,000, Boeken popped it to 28,000, and the button folded. After the big blind called, the dealer burned and turned the .
We're not sure of the betting at this point, but we do know that Boeken ended up being all in as the appeared on the river. Boeken rolled over for a rivered straight, and he managed to survive with a double.
Three players were in to see a flop come . Pinkal Darji checked from the big blind, Lee Childs fired a bet of 11,700 from middle position, Edward Ochana called from the button, and Darji stepped aside. That made the pot about 35,000 when the turn brought the . Childs bet 19,200 this time, and Ochana again made the call.
The river brought the and quick checks from both players. Childs tabled for the Broadway straight. Ochana looked at Childs' overturned cards, then spoke up. "Ten of hearts you get all my money," he said, turning over his .
Childs chips up to 142,000 after that one, while Ochana has 278,000.
Michael Meredith came in for a raise in the cutoff to 3,600, and Jonathan Jaffe called on the button. Action folded around to Neil Channing in the big blind, who went all in for 31,800 more. Meredith thought it over for a couple minutes before folding, and Jaffe instantly threw the chips in for the call. The cards were flipped, and Channing was in great shape.
Channing:
Jaffe:
The flop was a brutal one for Channing, as it came , giving Jaffe a pair of tens. All Channing could say was "unbelievable" as he started to stand up, realizing his tournament was likely over. The turn gave him no help, coming the , and the river brought the . Jaffe's top pair was still good, and Channing grabbed his stuff and headed to the rail. Meanwhile, Jaffe is a force to be reckoned with, as he now has over 300,000 chips.
Ramin Henke opened to 3,400 from under the gun, Lamar Wilkinson moved all in for 28,200 on the button, and Amerigo Santoro called in the small blind. Henke released, and the hands were opened.
Wilkinson:
Santoro:
Wilkinson was crushed, but the flop hit him right in the face. Neither the turn () nor the river () were a queen, and it didn't come running fives, more than doubling Wilkinson to over 60,000 chips.
Richard "nutsinho" Lyndaker raised to 3,400 from the hijack only to have Christina Lindley move all in for 15,600 from the cutoff. Action folded back around to the young internet star and he thought for about 30 seconds before releasing his hand. Lindley took down the pot without resistance, though she is still short with just 20,000.
Meanwhile, both Jose Pereira and David Powers have been eliminated from the Main Event.
Shaun Deeb kicked off the action with a raise to 3,700 under the gun. Apparently the table didn't respect that raise much, because he was called by four players before the action hit Kristy Gazes in the big blind. She re-raised all in for about 59,000 and Deeb mulled it over for a little while before folding. The other players folded rather quickly and Gazes took it down.
We just walked past Table 312, where sits Jason Alexander and Jonathan Frey, among others. On our way past, Alexander threw his hands up in the air and stared over in our direction. He has shades on, so we couldn't immediately tell if he was looking at us directly. He did the motion again, though, following us around the table with his eyes.
"Where were you?!" he finally spoke up. "Two good ones over here already."
A quick check on Alexander's stack sees that his day has indeed started off well. He began play with 167,000 chips just a half level ago, and he's already turned that into about 285,000, making him the biggest-stacked celebrity left in the field.
While he continues to gain respect for his prowess on the felt, it's Alexander's other passion that he's best known for. Born in New Jersey with a full head of hair, Alexander initially had his heart set on being a magician. He soon realized how hard it was to pay the bills making little red balls disappear under plastic cups, though, and he made a fortuitous switch to a career in acting. He writes, he sings, he tells jokes, he produces and directs, he's won a ton of awards, and he's played one of the more memorable characters in television history, Seinfeld's George Costanza. Still, more than a decade after the show's final episode, we still very often hear people asking "George!" for his autograph in the Amazon Room. Even the dealer at Table 312 was asking him, "Do you ever see Kramer?" as we walked past.
If any of the mainstream celebrities have a chance to win a gold bracelet, Alexander may well be the best bet. He won a season of Celebrity Poker Showdown, and he finished 10th in the Ante Up for Africa event in 2007. This appearance today marks the second time in three years he's made Day 3 of the Main Event, and he's got some fighting chips to work with over there, too.
and they clearly held up. With Mizzi's success in large field No-Limit Hold'em tournaments, this only means trouble for the rest of the field as he starts to chip up
. Rose tossed out 4,200 from the small blind, and Collins called from the big.
, and Rose checked. Collins tossed out a single orange T5,000 chip, Rose folded, and Collins pulled in the pot.
, the big blind led out for 8,000, Boeken popped it to 28,000, and the button folded. After the big blind called, the dealer burned and turned the 
.
appeared on the river. Boeken rolled over 
for a rivered straight, and he managed to survive with a double.
. Pinkal Darji checked from the big blind, Lee Childs fired a bet of 11,700 from middle position, Edward Ochana called from the button, and Darji stepped aside. That made the pot about 35,000 when the turn brought the 
. Childs bet 19,200 this time, and Ochana again made the call.
and quick checks from both players. Childs tabled 
for the Broadway straight. Ochana looked at Childs' overturned cards, then spoke up. "Ten of hearts you get all my money," he said, turning over his 
, giving Jaffe a pair of tens. All Channing could say was "unbelievable" as he started to stand up, realizing his tournament was likely over. The turn gave him no help, coming the 
, and the river brought the 
. Jaffe's top pair was still good, and Channing grabbed his stuff and headed to the rail. Meanwhile, Jaffe is a force to be reckoned with, as he now has over 300,000 chips.
flop hit him right in the face. Neither the turn (
) nor the river (
