Well that will do it for a long day of fixed-limit poker. 770 players turned up for today's $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. event. It was quite a party, with a field chock full of poker talent trying their hand at mastering five different forms of poker.
By the end of the night, 30 tables remained in the pink section of the Brasilia Room. That suggests that somewhere between 233 and 240 players made it through what Jason Mercier described as "a grind" to return for Day 2 play.
We tried to eyeball the biggest stacks in the room at the end of the day to determine who the chip leader might be and came up with two names that were neck-and-neck. Andy Black was sitting behind about 57,000 as play was winding down. On the other side of the room, Eric Kurtzman looked to have approximately 54,000. With limits at 500 and 1,000 as we finished, one pot in either direction for either player could have changed their position in the counts.
For now, we'll go out on the most unofficial of limbs and declare Andy Black as the overnight chip leader. When that turns out to be wrong, remember that chip counting is not an exact (or static) science.
Players will return for their restart at 2pm tomorrow. With so many still in the field, we are sure to play all the way through until 3am -- and a very long Day 3 is probably in store as well. Fear not. PokerNews will be there to provide coverage of all of the action.
"Boooooo," said one of Jason Mercier's friends as Mercier approached the rail.
"Busto," Mercier confirmed. "What a grind."
Mercier's exit came at the hand of Bryan Micon during the razz round. Mercier called with a 10 showing after Micon completed a 2. "Now we're gambling," said Micon. "Have you been drinking?"
Mercier confirmed that he had. Both players caught three more small cards, but it was Micon's six perfect, 6-4-3-2-A, that took down the pot. Mercier finished with a 10-5.
Making the rounds, these are some of the familiar faces that we can still spot:
Archie Karas
Al Barbieri
Mickey Appleman
Matt Savage
Perry Friedman
Lacey Jones
Marco Traniello
Katja Thater
Shannon Elizabeth
Thor Hansen
Marcel Luske
Andy Black
Annie Duke
Max Stern
Paul Darden
Barry Greenstein
Anna Wroblewski
Vanessa Rousso
Chad Brown
Daniel Negreanu's $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. tournament ends here. He was all in against one opponent on a flop of with . The opponent called with a flush draw, , that missed the turn but filled when the river came . With that river card, Negreanu was eliminated from the tournament.
It's not looking like Daniel Negreanu's day. He was crippled in a recent hand after leading the betting all the way to sixth street in a three-way pot, where he check-folded to preserve his last few hundred chips. Negreanu managed to double up the next hand by making aces up, then caught another double in Stud Hi/Lo. But even despite those pots, he's only on about 3,200 chips right now.
Spotted leaving the Brasilia Room just a few minutes ago was one of our commanders here at PokerNews. The editor-in-chief of the .com site, Haley Hintze, has been eliminated.
Erick Lindgren was crippled to just 300 chips during the Omaha Hi/Lo round. His opponent showed down on a board of , the nut low and the second-nut high. Lindgren managed to scoop the very next pot to climb to 1,200 but was eliminated shortly thereafter. At least he left the Brasilia Room smiling and laughing.
Meanwhile, Paul Darden was also in the Omaha Hi/Lo round in a three-way pot against Al Barbieri and one other player. "Sugar Bear" Barbieri led the betting all the way to the river, where he folded to Darden's all-in bet on a board of . Darden is up to 7,900.
It's a small (very small) double-up for Paul Darden in the hold'em round. He was all in preflop with pocket sixes and called by a player with Big Slick. The flop was gave Darden a sweat, , but there was no further harm as the rest of the board ran out . The small double-up pushed Darden's count up to 3,200.