Hand #14: Jess Dioquino opened for 34,000 from the button but then folded when Eric Baldwin moved all in from the small blind.
Hand #15: Jacob Jung opened for 35,000 from middle position and swiped the blinds.
Hand #16: Matt Waxman took down the pot with a raise to 32,000.
Hand #17: Robert Dreyfuss opened for 33,000 from early position and Amit Makhija opted to look him up from the big blind. Both players checked the flop and then Makhija check-folded to a bet of 52,000.
Hand #12: Jason Koon opened for 35,000 from early position only to have Brent Hanks three-bet to 94,000 from middle position. Jess Dioquino then four-bet to 320,000 from the big blind, Koon folded and Hanks moved all in. Dioquino called with the , and Hanks held the same hand with the . The board ran out and they chopped it up.
Hand #13: Amit Makhija opened for 35,000 in middle position and Eric Baldwin defended from the big blind. Both players ended up checking it down as the board ran out and Makhija won the pot with the , which bested Baldwin's .
Hand #8: Action folded to Brent Hanks in the small blind and he raised to 45,000, which Amit Makhija called from the big. The latter then called a bet of 53,000 from the former on the flop before both players checked the turn and river. Hands tabled the for ace high, and Makhija showed the same with the . Chop it up.
Hand #9: Tuu Ho raised to 32,000 from late position and Jason Koon called from the cutoff. Jacob Jung came along from the big blind and it was three-way action to the flop, which all three players checked. When the dealer burned and turned the , Jung checked, Ho bet 60,000 and Koon called. Jung got out of the way and then Koon called a bet of 80,000 on the river. Ho tabled the for a straight and it was good as Koon mucked his hand.
Hand #10: Robert Dreyfuss raised to 33,000 under the gun and swiped the blinds and antes.
Hand #2: A raise and take it put an end to the hand.
Hand #3: Matt Waxman opened for 32,000 from the cutoff and Eric Baldwin called from the big blind. Both players checked the flop, and then Baldwin led out for 40,000 on the turn. Waxman made the call and then both players returned to checking on the river. Baldwin tabled the for ace-jack high, but it was no good as Waxman had a pair of queens with the .
Hand #4: Another raise an take it won the pot.
Hand #5: Jason Koon opened for 35,000 under the gun and the rest of the players folded.
Hand #6: Amit Makhija opened for 35,000 in early position only to have Eric Baldwin three-bet all in for 260,000 from the button. The blinds both folded and then Makhija did the same. Pot to Baldwin.
Hand #7: Action folded to Eric Baldwin and he won his second consecutive pot by raising to 32,000.
Hands #1: Brent Hanks opened for 32,000 from middle position and Jacob Jung called in late position. The rest of the field got out of the way and it was heads-up action to the flop. Hanks was first to act and fired out 40,000, but he ended up folding when Jung moved all in for 190,000.
On one of the first hands of the unofficial final table, Jess Dioquino opened for 36,000 under the gun and cleared the field all the way to Scott Yelton, who moved all in for about 128,000 from the big blind. Dioquino made a quick called with the and was racing against the of Yelton.
The flop was fairly interesting as it gave Dioquino a set but also delivered Yelton a flush draw. Unfortunately for the latter, neither the turn nor river helped him and became the tenth-place finish, just missing out on the official final table.
The unofficial final table of ten is comprised of some big names. As previously mentioned they have over $4 million in combined WSOP winnings. That made us curious to learn about the five amateurs at the table, who it turns out have a combined $2,968 in winnings.
Today will mark the first cash for four of the five amateurs (Jess Dioquino cashed for $2,968 for a 221st-place finish in the 2008 39th Annual World Series of Poker Event #49 $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em.
The dealer just dealt for the button, and it will begin on Amit Makhija in the nine seat. Despite having the biggest chip stack and best position to start, he didn't win the first hand. That honor went to Robert Dreyfuss who opened for 42,000 under the gun and took it down.
The players are in their seats here at the secondary feature table. The rail is already starting to fill as the players receive the rundown on the live stream process.
One of the men on the rail is Steve Baldwin, the father of Eric Baldwin. He flew in from Wisconsin this morning to surprise his son and support him in his attempt to capture a second WSOP bracelet.