Level 8 (100/500/1000)
Day 1A Entrants: 150
Players remaining: 58
Average chips: 51,724
With 58 players still in play across 7 tables, the leaders are busy putting pressure on the small stacks.
Case in point, Daniel Lowery versus Matt Ellis. Ellis had chipped up prior to this hand, now sitting with around 60,000 chips. We arrive at the table with a flop of 9♠8♠3♦. Ellis bets 6,600 from the small blind and Lowery raises to 23,000 on the button.
Ellis thinks it over before finally saying, "You're sick," and throwing away his cards.
Lowery flips over 7♥2♥ and says, "I was thinking, I hope he calls. I hope he calls because there's no way he can call the river."
Lowery now has 95,000 while Ellis is still near his peak with 55,000.
The leaders heading into Level 9 are:
Askia Ingram - 200,000
Greg Jennings - 120,000
Rodney Spriggs - 100,000
Vincent Ramirez - 90,000
Post-registration eliminations include RG Pro Bernard Lee, AP Phahurat (pictured), and Ryan Tepen. Papa Karn is still in with 35,000.