6:25pm–Here are your final eight by seat number. We’re on a dinner break.
1. Noah Jefferson (USA) 350K
2. Jonas Helness (Norway) 700K
3. Paul King (England) 160K
4. Mark Teltsher (England)
5. Graham Clarkson (Scotland)175K
6. Kirill Gerasimov (Russia) 58K
7. Istvan Novak (Hungary) 100K
8. Dale Greenleaf (England) 160K
6:06pm–It appears Frank Callaghan has departed in ninth place. We’ll now be on a break for a meal and the TV table prep.
5:58pm–Um. Blinds are actually 5000/10000/1000. And Henning Granstead of Norway has just departed. Shortstacked, Granstead moved in his last 72,000 with JT. American Noah Jefferson insta-called wih ATs. An ace on the flop sealed the deal. Granstead placed tenth.
5:37pm–As my dad likes to say, “Lord knows I’ve been wrong before.” Contrary to the last post, blinds will now be 6000/12000.
5:25pm–During a quick break, it’s safe to say we have two people that, barring some massive bad luck, should make the final table. Mark Teltsher (London) has more than 670,000 in chips. Jonas Helness (Norway) has around 600,000. Blinds, I believe, are going to be 4000/8000 with a 400(?) ante.
5:17pm–Tony Bloom just suffered a rough beat to be eliminated in 11th place. He came in for a raise, was re-riased by chipleader Jonas Helness. Bloom pushed all in. Helness thought for several minutes before grudingly calling. Bloom had two black kings. Helness had AQ. The flop gave Helness aces up. The turn opened up a flush possibility for Bloom’s king but the needed club didn’t come.
5:03pm–Young Tom “holdem_nl” Dwan has been eliminated in 12th place when his AK ran into…AK. It just so happened the board made his opponent a flush.
4:57pm–Daniel Burke has been eliminated in 13th place. His jacks ran into a pair of queens.
4:48pm–V. Kanwar has been eliminated in 14th place. All on in a seven-high flop with J7, he ran into Granstead’s TT.
4:24pm–David Shallow has been eliminated in 15th place.
4:17pm–Jeff Bensinger has been eliminated in 16th place. Kirill gerasimov raised in early postion. Granstead pushed all in. Bensinger pushed all in behind him. Gerasimov folded. Bensinger had aces to Granstead’s kings. A king on the flop sent Bensinger packing.
3:55pm–Tilt at Table T. American Jeff Bensinger has most of his table on tilt. After having his kings cracked by Bensinger’s AJ, opponent David Shallow went into a slow burn that was only further heated by Bensinger’s table talk and what Shallow perceived to be Bensinger’s rooting against him. Bensinger said he was simply rooting for his friend, but it has not soothed the international relations. Bensinger later suffered a bit of an ugly beat himself. After the player to his right moved all in with A5 suited. Bensinger isolated with JJ. An ace and two spades on the flop crippled Bensinger. In the meantime, Denmark’s D. Smitsbertelsen got all in with an open-eneded straight draw and missed. He left in 18th place. Richard Gryko left shortly thereafter, out in 17th.
3:21–We need a ticker instead of a blog. The players are busting too fast. Ram Vaswani is out in 19th place. How? Couldn’t tell you. I was typing up the last bust out. When I asked Ram what happened, he answered simply, “Lost a couple of pots and that was that.”
3:17pm–Jaime Ponte has been eliminated in 20th place. In with pocket sevens against AJ, an AQJJQ board does him no favors.
3:06pm–Robin Keston has been eliminated in 21st place. All-in with AQ, he’s up against A4. An ace and fouru on the flop spell the high-rolling Englishman’s demise.
3:02pm–Stewart Brown has been eliminated in 22nd place. All-in, his A6 was outkicked by AQ. The Inside Edge HomeGame Qualifier is headed back to Scotland.
2:57pm–John Caldwell has been eliminated in 23rd. Shortstacked,, he got in with A4 versus QQ and couldn’t find an ace.
2:52pm–Anthony Girasou has been eliminated in 24th place. He pushed all-in on the first hand of the day with pocket queens. Tom Dwan called with A9 and spiked an ace on the river.
In just moments, the final 24 players will begin their run for the final table. Instead of fancy narratives today, you’ll get just the facts (and perhaps a few pictures). Expect quicker updates and a lot of action today. Here are the final 24 players and their chip counts. Updates will be above.
Mark Teltsher (London) 232,200
J. Helness (Norway) 190,200
Kirill Gerasimov (Russia) 175,100
Paul King 174,400
V. Kanwar 170,300
H. Granstead 149,800
David Shallow 133,700
Tony Bloom (England) 133,200
Daniel Burke (USA) 116,000 — PokerStars qualifier
Tom “holdem_nl” Dwan (USA) 113,900 — PokerStars qualifier
D. Smitsbertelsen (Denmark) 104,100
Robin Keston (England) 100,200
Ram Vaswani (England) 89,500
Stewart Brown (Scotland) 72,500 — PokerStars/Inside Edge Home Game winner
I. Novak 66,800
J. Bensinger (USA) 57,800 — PokerStars qualifier
Graham Clarkson (Scotland) 52,800 —PokerStars qualifier
Anthony Girasou 47,800
N. Jefferson 47,300
D. Greenleaf (England) 32,200
R. Gryko (England) 29,800 — PokerStars qualifier
John Caldwell (USA) 29,000 —PokerStars qualifier
Jaime Ponte 23,500
Frank Callaghan (Ireland) 21,900
