We've hit the end of the level, and we need to color up those pesky orange T1,000 chips. The players have stepped off the stage for a 15-minute break, and we'll be back with a fresh batch of chip counts in just a moment.
Under the gun, Matt Waxman open-shoved for his last 157,000 lonely chips. Bobby Toye made the call next door, and the rest of the table folded out of the way to let Waxman battle heads-up for his tournament life. He needed some help:
Waxman:
Toye:
The flop was not at all a good one for the at-risk player, but the turn did give him one out to the chop. He needed to find the case six in the deck to stay alive, but the filled out the board to send him on his way.
It was another good run for Waxman here this week, but he'll have to settle for just one ring this Circuit season. This final table appearance is good for another $14,324 in the bank, and we're down to our final seven players.
The race for Casino Champion is led right now by Brian Walsingham, who has 100 points. He's only cashed twice at this New Orleans WSOP Circuit stop, but both of those cashes have proved to be winners. First, Walsingham won Event #4: $355 No-Limit Hold'em that had 423 players. Second, Walsingham won Event #8: $1,085 No-Limit Hold'em with 356 entrants. Those two wins earned Walsingham $26,801 and $78,604, respectively.
Here's how the top five spots in the race for Casino Champion currently look.
Place
Player
Points
1
Brian Walsingham
100
2
Lawrence Wayne
75
3
Walter Wright
65
4
Daniel Galindo
60
5
Tom Franklin
55
Besides this Main Event, there are two more events on the schedule. Event #10 is a $355 No-Limt Hold'em event and Event #11 is the $10,000 Regional Championship. Both of those are ring events and could still affect the points race for Casino Champion. Even if Walsingham fails to win Casino Champion at this stop and earn an automatic bid, the 120 points he holds overall could be good enough alone to get him into the $1,000,000 National Championship at the end of the month.
Josh Evans still remains in the Main Event here and has already earned 15 points on this stop. With eight players currently remaining, he's guaranteed to add another 35 points to that, but we'll have to wait and see how far he can go.
Todd Wood opened to 68,000 from middle position, and Scott Zakheim three-bet shoved for 577,000 total. Wood gave it a look before mucking, and Zakheim moved to 722,000 with that little pot from the chip leader.
Todd Wood raised to 67,000 from middle position, and Jim McBride three-bet shoved for 395,000 total. When the table passed back around to Wood, he made the call with his massive stack and a chance at the knockout. It was a flip:
McBride:
Wood:
The appeared right in the window, and the flop was a disaster for McBride. He could not find his two-outer on the turn or river, and he has been eliminated in 9th place. It was his third career WSOP-C final table, and this one's good for a payday of $11,441.
Wood is up to 2.35 million now with just about a third of the chips in play.
Josh Evans raised to 68,000 to start the action, and Todd Wood called from the cutoff seat. On the button, Billie Payne squeezed the last 290,000 of his chips into the middle, enough to fold Evans without incident. Wood made the call, though, and he was drawing live for the knockout.
Showdown
Wood:
Payne:
Payne's ace managed to hold strong as the board ran through . He's not going anywhere just yet, doubling up to 729,000 and knocking the chip leader down a peg. Wood is still doing just fine, though, sitting pretty with 1.9 million now.
Well, Lance Craig can't be faulted for getting his money in with pocket kings before the flop. It would prove to be his undoing. The pot began with him opening to 65,000, and Todd Wood three-bet to 135,000. With in the hole, Craig took pause before shoving all in for about 405,000. Wood snap-called, and Craig couldn't believe the sight of the across the felt. "The chip leader gets aces," Steve Frezer announced over the mic. "That's not fair."
It wasn't, and the flop was no help to Craig. He found paint on the turn, and the opened up another four outs for him to stay alive. He needed a jack or a king to double, but the river was another painted tease. The filled out the board, and Craig could not catch up.
That's the end of the road for the former software engineer from Grapevine, Texas. He'll pocket $9,263 for his efforts over the past three days, his biggest cash on record.
For Wood, it's a case of the rich getting richer. The knockout pushes him up to 2.1 million, and he's opened up quite the lead on the pack.
In early position, Matt Waxman raised to 60,000, and the table passed around to the short stack. From the cutoff, Billie Payne three-bet shoved for 226,000 total, and Waxman spent about three minutes in the tank before mucking his cards with a frown.
Waxman is now the shortest stack at the table with 320,000 left. Payne pips ahead of him, stacking 367,000 chips after dragging that pot.
Scott Zakheim made it 60,000 to go from middle position, and he found one call from Lance Craig who matched the bet from the hijack seat.
The flop came , and both players checked to the turn. Zakheim checked again, and Craig fired 140,000 at the pot. Zakheim check-raised all in for 389,000, and that sent Craig into the tank. He took a couple long minutes to consider before releasing his cards into the muck.
On the third hand of the day, Zakheim takes the first big bite. He's up to 750,000 now, sliding Craig back to 475,000.
flop was not at all a good one for the at-risk player, but the 
turn did give him one out to the chop. He needed to find the case six in the deck to stay alive, but the 
filled out the board to send him on his way.
appeared right in the window, and the 
flop was a disaster for McBride. He could not find his two-outer on the 
turn or 
river, and he has been eliminated in 9th place. It was his third career WSOP-C final table, and this one's good for a payday of $11,441.
. He's not going anywhere just yet, doubling up to 729,000 and knocking the chip leader down a peg. Wood is still doing just fine, though, sitting pretty with 1.9 million now.
across the felt. "The chip leader gets aces," Steve Frezer announced over the mic. "That's not fair."
filled out the board, and Craig could not catch up.
, and both players checked to the 
turn. Zakheim checked again, and Craig fired 140,000 at the pot. Zakheim check-raised all in for 389,000, and that sent Craig into the tank. He took a couple long minutes to consider before releasing his cards into the muck.