Hello and welcome back to PokerNews' coverage of Event #49: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em where 204 players remain in contention for the $719,707 first place prize.
Leading the 204 players back into battle when the tournament resumes at 1:00p.m. local time is the 2005 World Blackjack Champion Ken Einiger who had a great day at the felt on Wednesday where he turned his 15,000 starting stack into a tournament leading 174,000.
Josh Arieh (173,400), Refael Shaoulian (152,600), Robert Prinz (149,400), Tom Bedell (144,600) and Martin Hanowski (142,900) also have monster stacks at the start of play.
Among the returnees are some of the best tournament poker players on the planet. The likes of Vanessa Selbst, Jason Koon, Ravi Raghavan, JC Tran, Shannon Shorr, Andrew Lichtenberger, Jonathan Little, Phil Hellmuth, and Sorel Mizzi are ready to bulldoze their way to victory.
The plan is to play 10 levels, with a 20-minute break after each alternate level. There will be a 60-minute dinner break at the completion of the sixth level of the day.
Only the top 72 players are to receive prize money, which means the money bubble is a little way off, but it will burst at some point and that is always an exciting time!
Make sure you keep your browsers pointing at PokerNews.com from 1:00p.m. on Thursday afternoon as we bring you all of the best action from Event #49.
Melanie Weisner bet a board of out of the big blind, and her lone opponent thought for a bit before shoving all in. Weisner snap-called, tabling for a straight, and her opponent was dead in the water with .
The next hand, she open-shipped from the small blind, and Sorel Mizzi called it off in the big.
Mizzi:
Weisner:
Weisner took a big lead when she flopped a pair on , and Mizzi's calls for an ace went unheeded on the turn and river.
We found Josh Arieh with a three-bet to 11,800 in front of him, and Owen Crowe, who opened under the gun, made it 24,500. Arieh came back with the five-bet: 54,200. Crowe moved all in, and a perturbed Arieh asked for a count. Told it was 118,600, he made the call.
Arieh:
Crowe:
Crowe had Arieh smashed, and he never threatened a comeback on the board.
The flop read and Ami Barer checked from the big blind, which put the action on 13-time World Series of Poker champion Phil Hellmuth. Hellmuth made it 8,000 to go, Barer check-raised to 16,400 and Hellmuth almost instantly called.
The turn was the and both players checked. Barer bet 28,100 on the river and Hellmuth counted out the chips needed to call. He said something about it being a shame he could only call, which is what he did, before showing for a flush. Barer flashed before mucking his hand.
Ole Schemion grinded a short stack all day before busting.
Action folded to Ole Schemion, who jammed it in from the small blind with . He was called by Jonathan Poche, who held in the big blind. Poche flopped a pair of aces, and that was all she wrote for the German crusher.
We found Josh Arieh, on the button, facing an all-in shove from Ken Einiger on a board of . Einiger was in the big blind and putting Arieh at risk for his last 87,000.
"Am I allowed to say anything?" Einiger asked the dealer, who shook his head negative.
Arieh took off his hat and ran his hands through his hair as he struggled with the decision before ultimately making the call. Einiger instantly flipped over for trips, and Arieh tossed into the middle for top pair and a flush draw. The dealer peeled the off the deck, saving Arieh's tournament by giving him a flush. Einiger could only shake his head in disappointment.
Vanessa Selbst headed for the exits after losing a race.
Vanessa Selbst spent most of the day with heaps, but the fall came hard and fast. Marty Kozlov finished her off when he opened for 6,000 and then called her all-in shove of 34,200.
Kozlov:
Selbst:
Selbst got up to leave, but the brought some help in the form of a pair on the board. However, the turn left her dead in the water.
An unusual situation arose at Table 443. Darren Rabinowitz moved all in for 81,500 under the gun, but he only put out 5,500 while he announced the shove. Phil Hellmuth, thinking 5,500 was the current wager, placed 5,500 in the middle without verbalizing a call. The floor was called, and after some discussion, the eventual ruling was that Hellmuth had the option of forfeiting the 5,500 and mucking his hand or calling the all in. Hellmuth chose to give up the 5,500, and everyone else folded, leaving Rabinowitz with the pot.
Down to his last 20,000, Phil Hellmuth opened to 10,000 in middle position. Michael Tureniec shoved on the button for about 112,000, and Alberto Gomez called from the small blind. Hellmuth put the rest of his chips in.
Hellmuth:
Tureniec:
Gomez:
Hellmuth's triple up was secure by the turn as the board came , while Gomez eliminated Tureniec and took the side pot.
Phil Hellmuth didn't take kindly to the three-outer that busted him.
Jeremy Kottler opened for 13,000 on the button, and Phil Hellmuth three-bet to 30,000 out of the big blind. Kottler shoved all in, and Hellmuth almost beat him into the pot.
Hellmuth:
Kottler:
The dealer spread the flop: , leaving Hellmuth gasping with just one out. The arrived on the turn to give Hellmuth some additional equity, but the river prompted Hellmuth to vent his frustrations.
"I got him to put it in there with ace-jack," Hellmuth said. "Are you f****** kidding me?"
"What a f****** monkey," Hellmuth continued. "I knew he would give me all of his chips. Nice play. Good luck everybody."
out of the big blind, and her lone opponent thought for a bit before shoving all in. Weisner snap-called, tabling 
for a straight, and her opponent was dead in the water with 
.
, and Mizzi's calls for an ace went unheeded on the 
turn and 
river.
board.
and Ami Barer checked from the big blind, which put the action on 13-time World Series of Poker champion Phil Hellmuth. Hellmuth made it 8,000 to go, Barer check-raised to 16,400 and Hellmuth almost instantly called.
and both players checked. Barer bet 28,100 on the 
river and Hellmuth counted out the chips needed to call. He said something about it being a shame he could only call, which is what he did, before showing 
for a flush. Barer flashed 
. He was called by Jonathan Poche, who held 
in the big blind. Poche flopped a pair of aces, and that was all she wrote for the German crusher.
for trips, and Arieh tossed 
brought some help in the form of a pair on the board. However, the 
turn left her dead in the water.
, while Gomez eliminated Tureniec and took the side pot.
river prompted Hellmuth to vent his frustrations.
