Our short stacks continue to survive as we still have all nine of our final tablists with chips.
Just now one of those short stacks, Stephane Tayar, opened with a raise to 56,000 from middle position and got one caller in Miguel Proulx from the button. The flop came 
, Tayar moved all in, and Proulx made the call.
Proulx 
Tayar 
The turn brought the 
and the river the 
, and Tayar ended with nines and sixes to double up to about 250,000. Proulx meanwhile tumbles to about 700,000.
It folded to Tommy Le on the button who raised to 54,000, leaving himself just 46,000 behind. Karl Gal folded from the small blind, but Stephane Tayar made the call from the BB.
The flop came 
. Tayar checked, and Le bet the rest of his chips. Tayar thought a moment and let it go.
Le showed his hand -- 
-- as he dragged the pot. Le has 162,000 now, and Tayar 114,000 (eighth and ninth in chips, respectively).
On the first hand of the final table, Stephane Tayar was all in before the flop with 
against Michael Greco's 
. Tayar spiked a king on the flop and his hand held, pushing him up to 170,000 and knocking Greco down to 59,000.
On the very next hand, Trevor Pope raised to 40,000 from early position, and Greco reraised all in from the button. Karl Gal called from the big blind, as did Pope.
The flop came 
, Gal bet the pot, and Pope got out. Gal showed 
for a set of sevens, and Greco was in tough shape with his 
. But the turn brought the 
, giving Greco the better set, and after the 
he had more than tripled back to 201,000. Gal now has 365,000.
Patrick Hanoteau of France comes to the 2010 WSOP having made several final tables in low buy-in events in Paris, plus one previous cash at the Series, a deep run in last year's Main Event where he finished 227th for a $32,963 payday.
Today's final table marks the first significant cash for Joerg Engels of Germany.
Miguel Proulx of Quebec, Canada has just one previous WSOP cash to his credit, a 50th-place finish in the 2007 $1,500 short-handed no-limit hold'em event. Regardless of where he finishes today, his final tabling this one will mean a substantial increase in his overall WSOP earnings of $4,188 for that previous cash.
L.J. Klein of Colorado ended Day 1 as our chip leader, and remained near the top of the counts for most of the day yesterday as well. Klein has a handful of WSOP cashes to his credit already, including a 14th-place finish in this same $2,500 PLO event last year, his best previous Series performance.
Michael Greco of England is an actor and poker player who has appeared on several poker shows as well as recorded numerous tourney cashes. He's made a couple of WSOP final tables before, with his best ever finish being a third place in a $1,500 no-limit hold's event in 2009, earning $248,555 for doing so. His total tourney winnings exceed $650,000.
Tommy Le of California is better known by some as the younger brother of top poker player Nam Le, although Tommy has himself compiled an own impressive resume of poker successes. Primarily an online player, "Tommy Legend" has nevertheless earned numerous live scores as well, including eight WSOP cashes prior to this event, plus a WPT Championship final table in 2008 where he finished fifth, earning $395,725.
Prior to today's final table, Karl Gal of Germany only had a few small cashes in events in Austria, the largest being a €1,275 cash in a PLO event just a couple of weeks ago. Guaranteed at least $25,044 for making today's final table, Gal's career earnings total is about to jump considerably today.
