Posted by Andrew Feldman
9:45 p.m. ET: Two empty seats were left at the feature table during Level 21, and for those covering the event, we've begun to look for new stories. 2005 WSOP champion Joseph Hachem (103rd place) and J.C. Tran (108th place) were eliminated about 20 minutes apart, with both moving in with severely short stacks. Tran fell to Dennis Phillips, who flopped top pair, and Hachem couldn't win a race with K-9 against 4-4. Moments later on the outer tables, David Benyamine had his aces cracked by 3-3 and is probably on his way to Bobby's Room in the Bellagio.
AP Photo/Laura Rauch
Joe Hachem was eliminated in 103rd place.
Tom Schneider has been at a tough table all day, with massive stacks putting pressure on every hand. After getting down to as low as $1.5 million, Schneider doubled up with A-A versus A-K and is back well above average. Noah Boeken took a crippling blow holding pocket kings after his opponent called his preflop four-bet for his tournament life with A-Q. An ace flopped and Boeken ranted about the call his opponent made.
We're down to a few notable names and some of them even have some chips to play with. Phil Ivey, Antonio Esfandiari and Schneider are all over $2 million, while Dennis Phillips, Peter Eastgate, Kenny Tran and Joe Sebok are all playing the short stack. Card Player's Jeff Shulman eclipsed the $3 million mark earlier this level, along with Fabrice Soulier. I have most definitely overlooked Soulier so far this main event and apologies are due. He might not be a household name, but the seasoned pro had six cashes during this WSOP and has over $1.3 million in lifetime earnings.
When players return from dinner break, they will have two more levels to play tonight. The next pay jump occurs at 99 players remaining, and that could weigh heavily on the minds of the short stacks as they head to dinner with 101 players remaining.
Small blinds: We have a truck horn again. Great. … Dennis Phillips has filled up the stage with fans of his. It's great to see him have such a strong following. … Gavin Smith won $1,000 on a prop bet in which he predicted no player who was in the top five from any of the starting days would make the top 100. … The guys at Wicked Chops had a trophy made for the last woman standing. … The $100,000 chip has been introduced into play. … Tom Schneider's wife is on the rail and vocal when he wins a pot. … You can get more ESPN Poker coverage on Twitter. … Lots of friends are showing up on the rail as the day goes on. Guess the flights have landed. … The ESPN TV team has to make three shows out of the action from today. I think there's plenty of footage for them to work with. … Time to go eat -- I'm hungry.
Poker
