Bill Gazes Survives All In

Level 4: 200-400, 50 ante

After a flop of Q62 Andrew Barta bets 2,500 from the cut off. Bill Gazes has the button and raises to 5,400. Barta makes the call. The river brings the 3. Barta checks to Gazes who bets 12,000 and is all in. Barta, who finished 3rd at the Foxwoods Poker Classic in April, mucks his cards and Gazes stays alive while picking up some chips.

Level 4 Begins

Level 4: 200-400, 50 ante

The players return from break to begin Level 4, with increased blinds of 200-400 and a 50 ante.

Who Gets Credit For Small Ball: Daniel Negreanu or Phil Hellmuth?

Level 4: 200-400, 50 ante

David Williams has been moved to the table right next to Daniel Negreanu, and they are effectively sitting back to back. During a lull in the action, David asked if their preview show had aired yet. (Presumably talking about ESPN's WSOP Final Table Preview show, which aired on election night here in the U.S.A.) Daniel told him that it already aired, and asked David if he had heard how pissed that Phil Hellmuth was. David hadn't, so Daniel elaborated. Apparently, Daniel's interview on the show covered one of his favorite topics -- small ball poker. So Phil asked Daniel, "Small ball? So now you take credit for that too?" Daniel started by saying that he wasn't "taking credit" for anything, but followed that with, "Well, I did write a book about it."

15-Minute Break

Level 3: 100-200, 25 ante

Level 3 comes to an end, and the players take a 15-minute break.

Official Prizepool Released

Level 3: 100-200, 25 ante

The tournament staff has released the prizepool information. Here's the breakdown: Total # of Players: 412 Total Prizepool: $3,876,508 First Prize: $1,120,310 The top 50 players will finish in the money, earning at least $21,320. The full list will be posted on the "Payout Structure" page (check the links at left) in a few minutes.

Mike Matusow Gets a Refund

Level 3: 100-200, 25 ante

Andy Bloch's Extravagant Facebook Updates

Level 3: 100-200, 25 ante

Jimmy "Gobboboy" Fricke Eliminated by Quads

Level 3: 100-200, 25 ante

With the final board showing 8855K, Jimmy "Gobboboy" Fricke bets 6,100 from the small blind, and John D'Agostino raises from middle position to 15,000, which appears to be enough to cover Fricke. (If it's not, Fricke doesn't have much more left behind.) Fricke thinks for a bit and says, "I'm sure you have kings full or quads." But he decides to move all in anyway, holding his cards as if he's expecting to lose and toss them into the muck. D'Agostino flips over 88 for quad eights on the flop, and Fricke tosses his cards into the muck, eliminated from the tournament. As he gets up to leave, Fricke asks D'Agostino, "Why can't you just bet the flop, so I feel better about sticking it all in?" After Fricke has left the area, D'Agostino repeats Gobboboy's comment about having quads or kings full, and adds, "I was really hoping that he hit kings full. But I guess it didn't matter." While Fricke never showed his cards, a couple of players at the table said they put him on pocket aces. After the hand, John D'Agostino's stack is up to about 50,000.

No Cheap Flops

Level 3: 100-200, 25 ante

Three players limp into the pot and Freddy Deeb makes a raise to 1,400 - seven times the big blind. All others fold and he takes down the pot. Freddy Deeb finished 9th in this event last year.

Brief Power Outage?

Level 3: 100-200, 25 ante

The center bank of lights in the tournament room just went dark, causing a wave of excited chatter from the players as they protected their chip stacks. The lights were back on in about 15 seconds. The likely cause? My guess is that a spectator leaned up against the wall in the wrong spot and hit a light switch. But play quickly resumed with no complaints from the players.