Blinds: Ante 15,000, Bring-in 20,000, Limits 60,000-120,000

Notable Eliminations:
Brandon Adams – 2nd Place – $243,958

Big Hands

The Master Wins 7th Bracelet, Adams Gets Runner Up ($243,958)

Men Nguyen and an extremely low-stacked Brandon Adams agreed to put it all in blind and they watched helplessly as the cards fell. The hands were:

Adams: (A3)-QQ54-(9)
Nguyen: (96)-10KJ6

Seeing that Adams had a pair of queens, the Master took his last card face down as his groupies on the rail crowded around to see him peel up the corner. A queen would give Nguyen a straight, or a king would give him a better pair than Adams’ queens.

“King!” The announcement came as the crowd exploded into celebration. The K was turned over and Men Nguyen earned his 7th bracelet and $394,800 in prize money.

Adams capped an impressive day going from among the low stacks at the start of the day to runner up of the event, taking $243,958 for his work.

Blinds: Ante 10,000, Bring-in 10,000, Limits 40,000-80,000

Players Remaining: 4 out of 150

Average Chip Count: 1,125,000

Tournament Leaderboard:

1. Men Nguyen — 2,150,000
2. Brandon Adams — 980,000
3. Steve Billirakis — 750,000
4. Nikolay Evdakov — 480,000

Notable Eliminations:

Big Hands

Aces For Adams

Men Nguyen completed and Brandom Adams raised, with the Master calling. Adams bet first on 4th street and got a call. Nguyen bet first on 5th street and got a call. Both players checked 6th street and Adams led out on the river. Their hands:

Adams: (AA)-26J6-(J)
Nguyen: (X-X)-53510-(X)

Adams’ two pair was good and Nguyen mucked. Nguyen still had the chip lead after the hand, with 2.1 million in chips, but Adams was climbing into contention with 925,000.

Cassidy Falls in 5th Place ($86,461)

Short-stacked and with his back against the wall, Joe Cassidy was heads up with Nikolay Evdakov and got it all in on 4th street. The hands were:

Cassidy:(47)-76108-(Q)
Evdakov: (39)-6942-(A)

A pair of nines was good enough for Evdakov to send Cassidy to the rail in 5th place.

Blinds: Ante 5000, Bring-in 7000, Limits 25,000-50,000

Players Remaining: 6 out of 150

Average Chip Count: 750,000

Tournament Leaderboard:

1. Men Nguyen — 1,250,000
2. Nikolay Evdakov — 900,000
3. Brandon Adams — 850,000
4. Michael Mizrachi — 620,000
5. Steve Billirakis — 570,000
6. Joe Cassidy — 490,000

Notable Eliminations:

Vladimir Schmelev – 7th Place – $55,991

Big Hands

Schmelev Hanging On

In a three-way pot against Michael Mizrachi and Nikolay Evdakov, Vladimir Schmelev was all in on 5th street, and his opponenets checked down the rest of the action. They showed:

Schmelev: (A6)-A1089-(7)
Evdakov: (Q2)-57KQ-(MUCK)
Mizrachi: (Q4)-102A4-(MUCK)

Schmelev is hanging tough at this final table, following a 2nd place finish in the $50,000 Players Championship.

Mizrachi Takes Some From Evdakov

After leading out on 4th street, Michael Mizrachi was raised by Nikolay Evdakov and made the call, putting himself all in as the lurking Men Nguyen folded. Their hands were:

Mizrachi: (AQ)-A58Q-(X)
Evdakov: (J10)-JQ64-(MUCK)

The Grinder’s two pair took the pot and he took a sizable pot to increase his stack to around 600,000.

The Master Goes Straight To The Top

Men Nguyen raised and Vladimir Schmelev re-raised and the two were heads up. Schmelev bet on 4th street and Nguyen called. On 5th street Schmelev check-raised the Master and Nguyen called. Schmelev bet the last two streets and Nguyen raised on the end. Schmelev called and they showed down.

Nguyen: (Q-9)-K108J-(2)
Schmelev: (X-X)-A763-(X)

Nguyen took the pot and jumped to 1,150,000 in chips. Schmelev dropped to 115,000 and eliminated soon after.

Schmelev Out in 7th Place ($55,991)

In a 5-way pot, Men Nguyen led out on 4th street, Steve Billirakis folded and Vladimir Schmelev re=raised. Nikolay Evdakov and Brandon Adams folded and Nguyen re-raised Schmelev all in.

Nguyen: (88)-JA3A-(Q)
Schmelev: (K4)-3453-(10)

Nguyen’s two pair took the pot and sent Schmelev to the rail in 7th place.

Blinds: Ante 4000, Bring-in 5000, Limits 18,000-36,000

Players Remaining: 7 out of 150

Average Chip Count: 562,500

Tournament Leaderboard:

1. Nikolay Evdakov — 1,170,000
2. Brandon James — 800,000
3. Vladimir Schmelev — 740,000
4. Men Nguyen — 630,000
5. Steve Billirakis — 600,000
6. Michael Mizrachi — 300,000
7. Joe Cassidy — 190,000

Notable Eliminations:
Dan Heimiller – 9th Place – $38,676
Sirous Jamshidi – 8th Place – $46,206

Big Hands:

Heimiller Stays Alive, Temporarily

Short-stacked Dan Heimiller got all in chipped up nicely. The cards were:

Heimiller: (K-J)-A-A-2-J-(Q)
Evdakov: (2-9)-9-5-6-J-(X)

With the win he had around 115,000 in chips, but around 15 minutes later he was eliminated.

Nguyen Busts Heimiller in 9th Place ($38,676)

Men “The Master” Nguyen completed the final table when he got Dan Heimiller all in. Their hands were:
Heimiller: (AJ)-310Q9-(4)
Nguyen: (87)-A610A-(J)

Heimiller was out in 9th Place, and the final 8 were moved to the feature table.

Evdakov Takes Chip Lead

Nikolay Evdakov and Sirous Jamshidi called Vladimir Schmelev on 3rd street, and Schmelev folded when Jamshidi led out on 4th street. Evdakov continued calling Jamshidi on every street, before slowing and check-calling when Evdakov bet on the end. Their cards:

Evdakov: (89)-J672-(10)
Jamshidi: (X-X)-K10AJ-(X)

Evdakov’s straight took it down, pushing his stack to around one million and dropping Jamshidi to 220,000 in the process.

Adams Moving On Up

Brandon Adams, Vladimir Schmelev and Sirous Jamshidi all went the distance in a hand that saw Schmelev complete and lead out on 4th street, Jamshidi lead out with a bet on 5th street, and the rest of the action being checked down. Their cards:

Adams: (67-6393-(8)
Schmelev: (X-X)-Q58J-(MUCK)
Jamshidi: (X-X)-7JQK-(MUCK)

Two pair earned Adams the pot, pushing his stack to 800,000. Jamshidi’s already short stack dwindled to around 140,000.

Sirous Jamshidi Busts in 8th Place ($46,206)

Sirous Jamshidi was all in on 5th street and Brandon Adams called with a pair of aces. They held up and Jamshidi was gone in 8th place. Their cards:

Adams: (A2)-AQ5J-(6)
Jamshidi: (89)-81037-(Q)

Adams was among the chip leaders following the hand.

Blinds: Ante 3000, Bring-in 3000, Limits 12,000-24,000

Players Remaining: 9 out of 150

Average Chip Count: 450,000

Tournament Leaderboard:

1. Vladimir Schmelev — 1,040,000
2. Nikolay Evdakov — 850,000
3. Brandon Adams — 550,000
4. Michael Mizrachi — 450,000
5. Sirous Jamshidi — 430,000
6. Steve Billirakis — 340,000
7. Joe Cassidy — 310,000
8. Men Nguyen — 270,000
9. Dan Heimiller — 130,000
10. Ray Dehkharghani — 40,000

Notable Eliminations:

Eric Buchman – 12th Place ($32,909)
Ray Dehkharghani – 11th Place ($32,909)
Todd Barlow – 10th Place ($38,676)

Big Hands:

The Grinder Clashes With The Master

Entering the action late, Men Nguyen was heads up against Michael Mizrachi. Nguyen bet on 4th street and the Grinder raised. Nguyen called, and did the same when Mizrachi bet on 5th street. When Mizrachi bet on 6th street, Nguyen took some time to think over the hand, eventually folding and giving the pot to Mizrachi. Their hands:

Mizrachi: (X-X)-7910K
Nguyen: (X-X)-965K

The Grinder lost a previous hand to the Master, but this hand put his chip stack back around 450,000.

Buchman Busts In 12th Place ($32,909)

A short-stacked Eric Buchman completed on third street and was called by the chip leader, Vladimir Schmelev. Buchman led out on 4th street and bet again, getting called. Schmelev connected for a pair of eights on 5th street and put Buchman all in. Buchman called and didn’t improve his buried pair of 4s, busting in 12th place.
The hands were:

Schmelev: (49)-10885-(Q)
Buchman: (44)-Q597-(K)

Shortly after, Schmelev was the first to surpass one million in chips. Looks like he’s ready for another final table at the 2010 WSOP.

Dehkharghani Crippled, Out In 11th Place ($32,909)

Brandon Adams entered the day short on chips, but has since chipped up and in the process knocked out Ray Dehkharghani.

Ray called a raise from Adams on 3rd street, then called Adams’ bet on 4th street. Ray bet out on 5th and 6th street and was called. On the end, Ray slowed down and checked. He didn’t look too happy when he called Adams’ final bet. Their hands were:

Dehkharghani: (X-X)-42K7-(MUCK)
Adams: (J4)-J328(J)

Adams’ trip Jacks took a nice pot and was no longer among the short stacks, holding 400,000 in chips. Shortly after Dehkharghani got all in, again against Adams, and Adams hit a flush to send Dehkharghani out in 11th place.

Barlow Falls in 10th Place ($38,676)

Todd Barlow got all in in a three-way pot and couldn’t improve upon his pair of nines, falling to Joe Cassidy’s two pair. The hands were:

Barlow: (9-9)-J-2-10-8-(3)
Cassidy: (K-K)-5-5-J-9-(10)
Nikolay Evdakov: (X-X)-A-3-6-Q-(X)

With Barlow’s elimination, the final 10 are set.