Play has been relatively tight of late on the first table, with Marcel Luske playing plenty of pots and controlling the table while Rostislav Tsodikov and Steve Zolotow have made up good ground today. Blair Rodman and Jens Voertmann are playing very snug, while Todd Brunson is now the short stack of the table.
Mickey Appleman was all in on fifth street with a draw to a 10. Harman had a made nine. Appleman did not improve his hand and is our 13th place finisher.
Todd Brunson completed the bet showing the and Steve Zolotow raised showing the . Brunson caught the on fourth while Zolotow caught the . Brunson checked and Zolotow bet out. On fifth, Brunson caught the , while Zolotow caught the . Brunson again checked and after Zolotow bet yet again, Brunson folded.
Zolotow then held up his two hole cards to show the table saying, "I actually represent!" Although we were unable to see his hole cards, the reaction from the players indicated he had in the hole.
Rostislav Tsodikov and Marcel Luske was involved in a hand that was bet on every street by Tsodikov and called by Luske. On the river, Luske checked to Tsodikov who made a long sqeeze. He then proceeded to bet. Luske made the call.
Tsodikov: ( )
Luske: ( )
Luske's nine was no match for Tsodikov's seven. Tsodikov pulls the the 200,000 chip pot as Luske pats the table.
For the most part, players are feeling each other out right now. While it is true that they have played together the last two days, we are now at the end-game stage of the tournament, and players are seeing where they stand at their tables in regard to being able to dictate the action. There haven't been many huge pots yet. The larger pots are right now tending to be in Omaha-8, but most have been chopped so far.
The last two pots have been won at showdown on table 15 with pocket nines (the hand with which Phil Hellmuth won the 1989 Main Event). First, Doug Ganger won a pot that was bet on every street with , and then two hands later, Steve Zolotow picked off a bluff from Marcel Luske with .
During the hands, players were ordering drinks. David Levi ordered some type of coffee with sugar. He made a point to tell the cocktail server to "make it quick," as he points to his short stack.