We are just into Level 6 with the blinds at 200/400 and an ante of 50. The average stack has just pipped above 9,000 as we are under 300 players remaining. There are two players duking it out for the chip lead right now, and it's a close fight. Both Ramy Zakaria and Andrew Cohen are sitting right at 35,000 in chips, with Zakaria possibly having just a few-hundred-chip edge over the field.
Ramy Zakaria works at the Palomar Club in San Diego, California, while Cohen is a bartender at the Nine Steakhouse here in town at the Palms. We'll be keeping a close eye on these two men for the rest of the day, as they have secured the top two spots on the leader board here in the middle stages of Day 1.