Level 13 (2000/3000/3000)
Total Entries: 386
Players Remaining: 59
Chip Average: 130,847
Despite our earlier prediction that the pace of play would be fast and furious, the opposite seems to be true. We've lost 4 short stacks, yes, but the big stacks are playing surprisingly tight. The shoves we've seen called have been by medium and average-stacked players--and most have resulted in the short stack doubling up.
By way of example, Vincent Ramirez shoved for his last 40,000 with A♥6♥ and was called by Travis Taylor with Q♦J♦. Taylor had 110,000 chips at the time. The board ran out dry for both players and Ramirez doubled up.
But even more reasonable hand ranges are showing similar results. John R. Martin (pictured) shoved for 21,500 pre-flop with 6♦6♣ and Colin Leighton called from the blinds, turning over A♠K♣. Leighton started the hand with 133,000 chips. As the board ran out, Leighton failed to improve and Martin doubled up.
Big stacks playing it safe makes for less dramatic hands to write up for the blog, but it's still interesting to watch in that timely three-bets are often getting through, allowing the big stacks to chip up with little to no risk to their stacks.