If I hadn't seen this with my own eyes, I would never have believed it. But after Vanessa Selbst successfully defended her NAPT Mohegan Sun title yesterday, her Team PokerStars Pro colleague Jason Mercier has just defended his High Roller Bounty Shootout title too.

According to mathematicians, that's a 27,000 to one shot. Yes, it's rigged. Obviously it's rigged.

However for something stage-managed, this looked remarkably authentic. Mercier came to the final table with the most bounty chips, having eliminated six players from his heat on Tuesday. Today, he won a further three bounties--including the crucial last one of Eugene Katchalov who he defeated heads up--and his winnings totaled $246,600.

This was Mercier's tenth major tournament victory in a career that is still only about three years old. It is, frankly, staggering stuff.

"There is no real secret to it," Mercier said. "I just try to make the right plays and do the best I can."

The heats on Tuesday had been quick-fire affairs, with a rapidly escalating structure prompting chips to fly into pots and players out the door. The reward for surviving that carnage, however, was a seat at this final table, where every bounty was now worth $10,000 apiece but picking them up was much more difficult.

After five opening levels, all nine players were still in the hunt. Stacks were evenly balanced and it seemed as though it could have gone on all night. Then something suddenly changed.

First, Joe Sweeney shoved his middle pair into Eugene Katchalov's flopped nut flush. Whoops. One down. Then Micah Raskin found tens when Jonathan Jaffe had found queens. Raskin was our second to depart.

The dust had barely settled on those two eliminations when we were looking at two more. Scott Blackman ([ad][qh]) came off third best in a three-way all in coup, also featuring Michael Pesek ([ac][kc]) and Jimmie Guinther ([qc][9s]).

Blackman busted then and there, out in seventh, and Guinther was also critically injured. He doubled his micro stack against Mercier, but couldn't continue an improbable resurgence. Instead he was all in again very soon after and Pesek this time finished the job. Pesek managed to get pocket twos to hold against Guinther's king high.

At five handed, the action barely slackened. Taylor von Kriegenbergh, who had amassed the loudest rail of supporters, also almost managed to pull off the most unlikely outdraw when he took pocket fives up against Eugene Katchalov's aces.

Von Kriegenbergh turned a set to send his supporters bounding across the tournament floor in delight. But the ace rivered to leave them sprawled on the carpet in despair.

Katchalov allowed himself a wry chuckle and a thumbs up to family on the rail, while Von Kriegenbergh knew he would have to get his short stack in the middle very quickly. He did, but his [kd][jd] was no match for Pesek's [Ad][Jc] and out went Von Kriegenbergh, pursued by his cavalry.

At this stage in the proceedings, Mercier was still ahead in the grand bounty race, but only owing to his destruction of the table in his heats, where he knocked out six opponents. He had not eliminated anyone from the final and Pesek in particular, who had slain three, was inching closer.

But cometh the challenge cometh the Mercier. The next player to fall, Jonathan Jaffe, was cut down by the Team PokerStars Pro. Jaffe had led the table for long periods today, but when he shoved for slightly more than 70,000, Mercier had a smidgen more both in terms of cards and chips.

Mercier's [ac][qs] was never behind Jaffe's [ah][9s] and that was the end of Jaffe's challenge.

With seven bounties and only three players left, Mercier was now guaranteed at least a tie of the $20,000 bounty bonus. The only person who could stop him was Katchalov, who would need to bust Pesek and Mercier to draw level.

But as the newest member of Team PokerStars Pro, Katchalov saw a perfect opportunity to prove his mettle. Lo and behold, he seized his chance - although he needed a stroke of good fortune to eliminate Pesek.

Three-handed and folded to Pesek in the small blind, he moved all in for about 70,000 and Katchalov, who had found an ace, called the shove. The problem was that Pesek also had an ace, along with a six, which was one pip better than Katchalov's [ah][5h]. But it wouldn't be a major final without an outdraw, and the [5d] appeared on the flop to vault Katchalov into the lead and send Pesek home.

With Pesek's chances in the bounty race thus extinguished, it was Team Pro v Team Pro not only for the title but for that bounty bonus too. They were pretty even in stacks (Mercier had a slight advantage) and the stage was set for a battle that might have gone on for several hours.

But there's another way to end heads up battles: Big hand against big hand. They had played less than ten hands when all the money suddenly flew into the middle on a flop of [9c][8c][7s].

Mercier had [9s][10d] (ie, top pair, an overcard and a straight draw) while Katchalov had also connected with his [7h][8s]. If there's one thing you can say about Mercier it is that he flips well. And although the [3s] wasn't an out, the [10h] on the river was.

Katchalov offered his hand, and Mercier shook it warmly. It is hardly a new thing for Mercier to walk off with a major title, but he still seems to enjoy it immensely.

"It's definitely not getting old," Mercier said.

That really is now it from NAPT Mohegan Sun. Vanessa Selbst laid down a gauntlet to Jason Mercier, and Jason Mercier rose to the challenge.

Congratulations to both of them on a remarkable, ridiculous week.

All photography © Joe Giron/www.joegironphotography.com

After calling an 8,000 pre-flop raise from Katchalov, Mercier check-raised all-in on a [9c][8c][7s] flop. Katchalov called, finding himself ahead with [7h][8s] for two pair while Mercier turned over [9s][Td] for top pair and a straight draw.

Mercier missed his outs on the turn when the [3s] fell, but the [Th] on the river made him a better two pair, tens and nines, sealing up yet another remarkable repeat win here in Connecticut.

Mercier's BSO haul totaled $246,600-- the $142,600 winner-take-all prize, $40,000 for winning his first-round table, $14,000 for the seven $2,000 Day 1 bounties he claimed (six knockouts plus his own bounty), $30,000 in final table bounties (also including his own $10,000 bounty), and the $20,000 bonus for winning the most bounties. For his runner-up finish, Katchalov collected $66,000.

In the time it took to type this post, I've been informed those odds are 27,000 to 1. And that this is Mercier's tenth live tournament win in only three years. My God.

We'll have a full wrap-up shortly. --KB

8.35pm: Trip aces
The early, small-ball, heads up encounters have tended to favour Eugene Katchalov. He flopped trip aces in one of the early hands and got Mercier to call him all the way to the river, but it was a relatively small pot.

The two of them--seasoned campaigners both--are deep-stacked and in no hurry to get this over with. This could end up being a long and fascinating heads-up battle. -- HS

8:26pm: Heads-up play begins
Jason Mercier and Eugene Katchalov are back in their seats to decide who walks away with the title. --BW

LEVEL UP. BLINDS 2,000-4,000-500

7.10pm: Dinner time
Ahead of the heads-up duel, we're now going for a one-hour dinner break. Join us the other side of 8.10pm.

7:03pm: Katchalov eliminates Pesek; Gates freaks everybody out
Michael Pesek open-shoved for around 69,000 and Eugene Katchalov made the call. Pesek held [ac][6c]. Katchalov had [ah][5h].

Just about that time, VIP Player Host Garry Gates wandered up and said, "Five a diamonds. Third card on the right."

The dealer laid out [as][qc][5d].

While we were busy freaking out over Gates' prediction, the dealer out out the turn and river [7c], and [kd]. Pesekwas gone with his $68,000 in earnings from yesterday.

Jason Mercier (269,600) and Eugene Katchalov (180,400) are now on dinner break. We'll be back in an hour. --BW

6:34pm: Mercier eliminates Jaffe, locks up at least a tie in bounty race
Following Eugene Katchalov's 6,000 opening raise, Jonathan Jaffe moved all-in for 71,500, Jason Mercier moved all-in behind him, and Katchalov folded. Mercier had him covered, leaving Jaffe's tournament life at risk.

Jaffe [Ah][9s]
Mercier [Ac][Qs]

Jaffe found no help on the [Ks][8s][6h][8d][5s] board and was eliminated in fourth place. His cash haul totaled $52,000 from his preliminary table win, the $2,000 bounty he collected in the first round, and the $10,000 bounty he earned today for eliminating Micah Raskin.

With this KO, Jason Mercier will at least tie the bounty race with seven total. (If Eugene Katchalov knocks out everyone else, he too would have seven.) Don't forget, the winner of the bounty race gets a $20,000 bonus as well as a free entry to the next Bounty Shootout, wherever it may be.

Mercier now also has the chip lead with about 180,000 as we move into three-handed play.--KB

LEVEL UP. BLINDS 1,500-3,000-400

6:13pm: Jaffe drops back-to-back pots
Jonathan Jaffe opened for 4,800 and Eugene Katchalov was the lone caller. Both players checked the [Qd][6c][Kd] flop. Katchalov led out for 7,600 when the [Jd] fell on the turn, Jaffe coming along with a call. The river was the [Kc], but Jaffe could not continue, folding to Katchalov's 10,400 bet.

Jaffe raised the next hand, opening again for 4,800. Jason Mercier made the call and they saw a [Qd][Qc][7h] flop. Mercier checked and Jaffe checked behind. Mercier did the same when the [2h] came on the turn and Jaffe took a stab at the pot, betting 6,600. Mercier called and they checked down the [7c] on the river. Mercier showed king-jack and it was good.

Between the two hands, Jaffe shed about 24,000 chips and is down to around 70,000. --KB

6:00pm: Pesek sends Von Kriegenbergh packing
Michael Pesek came in for a raise to 5,300. Taylor von Kriegenbergh pushed in his last few blinds. Pesek made the call with [ad][jc]. Von Kriegenbergh needed help with [kd][jd].

He didn't get it. The board ran out [7s][6s][9d][6c][qh], and Von Kriegenbergh was eliminated. He earned a total of $42,000 for winning his first flight table and one preliminary round bounty.

After coming into the day with only one bounty, Pesek now has four sitting in front of him. Jason Mercier still leads the bounty race with six. --BW

5:51pm: One two-outer deserves another
At last, a bit of drama!

Jason Mercier led off the action with a raise to 4,800, Taylor von Kriegenbergh moved all-in for 59,400 and Eugene Katchalov called from the big blind. Mercier folded and the cards went on their backs.

Von Kriegenbergh [5d][5c]
Katchalov [As][Ah]

The flop fell an innocuous [9c][7d][3h], but the [5h] fell from the heavens on the turn, sending Von Kriegenbergh's railbirds into an apoplectic fit of ecstasy. Their celebration, however, was short-lived as Katchalov spiked the [Ad] on the river to double up, leaving Von Kriegenbergh on less than 15,000 in chips.

"Did that really just happen?" one of the aforementioned railbirds mumbled aloud. --KB

LEVEL UP. BLINDS 1,200-2,400-4,00

5:35pm: A few words from Eugene Katchalov
Our video blogging team caught up with Eugene Katchalov at the break. Here's what he had to say. --BW

5:27pm: Von Kriegenbergh quads up, doubles up
Jonathan Jaffe came in for a raise and got the call from Taylor von Kriegenbergh. On a flop of [Td][9d][9c], Von Kriegenbergh led out for 6,500. Jaffe raised him to 14,800. Von Kriegenbergh moved all-in and Jaffe called.

Jaffe: [ad][4d]
Von Kriegenbergh: [jc][9s]

The [9h] came on the turn and have Von Kriegenbergh the double. --BW

5:21pm: Mercier doubles through Jaffe
On a flop of [3h][7h][ad], Mercier moved all-in for around 40,000 and Jonathan Jaffe called. The hands:

Jaffe: [kd][qd]
Mercier: [7d][8d]

The [5d] came on the turn, and the [9h] on the river. Mercier doubled up and is now back in contention to repeat. --BW

5:17pm: Pesek gets Guinther
Following an opening raise to 4,800 from Michael Pesek, Jimmie Guinther moved his short stack all-in and Pesek quickly called.

Guinther [Kh][8s]
Pesek [2h][2c]

The [9h][6h][6d] flop favored Pesek and although Guinther picked up a slew of outs on the turn when the [7c] fell, the river was the [3d], sealing his elimination in sixth place. Guinther's winnings totaled $36,000 from his first-round win plus the two bounties he collected in the process.

We're down to five. --KB

5:14pm: Guinther doubles, needs to do so several times more
Jason Mercier open-shoved for 47,200 with [kh][7s], and play folded around to the couple of blinds in Jimmie Guinther's stack. Guinther squeezed his [jc][4c] and got his last chip in the middle. The board ran out [2d][9s][4d][qc][ts] and Guinther doubled...which still doesn't mean much. --BW

5pm: Counts
Here are the counts as we start level seven.

Taylor Von Kriegenbergh - 59,000
Michael Pesek - 99,125
Eugene Katchalov - 76,600
Jimmie Guinther - 5,700
Jonathan Jaffe - 160,875
Jason Mercier - 47,800

LEVEL UP. BLINDS 1,000-2,000-300 IN LEVEL 7

4.45pm: Break
Players will take a 15-minute break.

4:42pm: Scott Blackman eliminated in three-way all-in
Jimmie Guinther raised to 3,600, Scott Blackman three-bet to 29,400, and Michael Pesek moved all-in for 31,225 from the big blind. Both opponents called, Guinther having both Blackman and Pesek called.

Pesek [Ac][Kc]
Blackman [Ad][Qh]
Guinther [Qc][9s]

Although Guinther hit top pair on the [9h][7h][3s] flop and remained safe when the [Js] hit the turn, Pesek scooped both the main and side pots with the [Kh] on the river to triple his stack to 99,000. Guinther was left with only 5,700 and Blackman exited in seventh place, earning a total of $36,000 for his first-round win along with three $2,000 bounties. --KB

4.25pm: End of the road for Raskin
Micah Raskin is our eighth placed finisher, coming out on the wrong side of a pair against pair pre-flop shove-fest. Jonathan Jaffe opened the pot, making it 3,600 to go. Raskin raised to 13,600 and then Jaffe shoved, covering Raskin.

Raskin called for all his chips and for the first time at this Bounty Shootout final, we saw two big hands.

Raskin: [10c][10h]
Jaffe: [qs][qc]

"We got this far, we ain't gonna quit now!" shouted Dwyte Pilgrim, supporting Raskin. But his confidence turned to despair on a flop of [9c][kh][jc]. The [5s] turned and the [4c] rivered, which meant it was all over for Raskin.

He earned $40,000 for winning his heat and a further $4,000 for two first-round bounties. But that's the end of the road for Raskin. -- HS

4:20pm: Mercier ahead! Mercier behind! Mercier wins!/
On the hand immediately following his loss to Jonathan Jaffe, Jason Mercier open-shoved for 24,600. Play folded to Michael Pesek in the big blind. He thought for several minutes before calling with [js][9d].

Mercier had [kc][9c], which was all well and good until the flop came [jh]qh][6s]. The turn, [3c], was no help. That left Mercier with only a few options, one of which, the [td] hit on the river to double him up to around his starting stack.

Color commentary's Dwyte Pilgrim asked all who would listen, "You think Jason's gonna miss six outs? You think Jason is gonna miss that? Not in this decade!" --BW

4:15pm: Jonathan Jaffe doubles through Jason Mercier
Eugene Katchalov opened for 3,800 and Jonathan Jaffe reraised to 6,000 in the cutoff before Jason Mercier made a cold four-bet to 11,700 on the button. Katchalov folded, Jaffe moved all-in for 43,500 and Mercier called.

Jaffe [Ks][Jh]
Mercier [9h] 9d]

Mercier's nines held on the [Td][Th][3h] flop, but Jaffe hit top pair on the turn when the [Jd] fell. The river was the [Ac] and Jaffe moved up to second in chips with 90,000, leaving Mercier on only 25,000. --KB

LEVEL UP. BLINDS 800-1,600-200

3:56pm: Katchalov flops nuts, Sweeney just flops
Eugene Katchalov came in for a raise to 2,400 and Joe Sweeney called out of the blinds. When the flop fell [kd][5d][9d], Sweeny moved all in for 28,300. He picked the wrong time to do that. Katchalov had flopped the nuts with [ad][2d]. Sweeney was dead to runners and stayed that way. Joe Sweeney still made a total of $50,000, $40,000 of which he earned for winning his heat, and $10,000 for five first-round bounties. --BW

3:46pm: Jonathan Jaffe doubles through Micah Raskin
Micah Raskin opened for a 2,700 raise, Jonathan Jaffe three-bet all in for 17,200 and Raskin quickly called.

Jaffe [Ah][Kh]
Raskin [As][9h]

The board ran out [4s][6d][Tc][6s][Js], Jaffe's ace-king holding up to double his stack to 38,000. --KB

3:36pm: Five pots, two showdowns
There was little notable action or significant chip movement in the last five hands, but just to give you a slice of life from our vantage point on media row, here's a look at how they played out.

1. Jimmie Guinther raised to 2,900, Jason Mercier three-bet to 7,650 and Guinther folded.

2. Michael Pesek opened for 2,900, Eugene Katchalov called, Scott Blackman called, and Joe Sweeney called. The action checked around to Blackman on the [Td][6h][3c] flop and he bet 5,000, enough to chase away all three opponents.

3. Eugene Katchalov made it 2,700 to go and Joe Sweeney was the lone caller. Both players checked the [Qs][9d][Td] flop as well as the [5c] on the turn. The river was the [8s] and Sweeney led out for 6,000. Katchalov called and turned over [Ac][Jd] for a jack-high straight, besting Sweeney's [As][7s].

4. Jimmie Guinther opened for 3,000 and both Taylor von Kriegenbergh and Joe Sweeney came along. The action checked around on the [Td][4c][3h] flop. The turn was the [8h] and Guinther led out for 6,500. Von Kreigenbergh called and Sweeney folded. Both players checked the [Jh] on the river. Guinther showed the winner with [jc][tc] for two pair and took it down.

5. Jonathan Jaffe raised to 2,800, Jason Mercier reraised to 6,600 and Jaffe folded. --KB

3:23pm: Jason Mercier knows how to play poker
We'll be honest. We watched the taping of this particular segment. It offered Jason Mercier a pop quiz on poker math, etc. The fact that we knew the answers to the questions meant one thing: this was like Jason Mercier showing up for final exams in a kindergarten class. Nonetheless...here it is. --BW

3.20pm: Structure
Plenty of players were surprised by the steepness of the structure in the opening heats, where they started with a 25,000 stack and played 30 minute levels. But this 50,000 stack and 40-minute levels has offered much more opportunity for measured play. Another way of putting it: we're still nine handed entering level five.

BLINDS UP. PLAYING 600-1,200-200 IN LEVEL FIVE

3.10pm: From the cutting room floor
Taylor von Kriegenbergh raised to 1,600 from mid-position and attracted Eugene Katchalov, in the small blind, to a flop. It came [4d][8h][2h]. Check, check. The [8s] turned and Katchalov checked again, encouraging a 3,000 bet from Von Kriegenbergh. Katchalov folded.

My guess is that that one won't make the TV edit. -- HS

2:58pm: Of course he had...the six of diamonds
Taylor von Kriegenbergh raised it to 1,600 and got calls from Scott Blackman and Jonathan Jaffe. On a flop of [3s][8h][qs]. Jaffe led out of the blinds for 2,600 and Von Kriegenbergh raised him to 5,800. Blackman mucked his hand, and Jaffe did the same. Just for fun, Von Kriegenbergh showed the [6d]. --BW

2.45pm: Mercier moving
Jason Mercier, sixth in chips at the break, has quickly set about moving up the leaderboard, winning a pot against Joe Sweeney. Mercier opened to 1,600 and Sweeney, a couple of seats to his left, called. The flop came [2c][7s][js] and Mercier bet 2,450. Sweeney called that too, taking them to a [4d] turn.

Sweeney was finally shaken off by a bet of 5,600 from Mercier. --HS

2:36pm: Action resumes
Although the first few levels lacked what we might normally define as action, under the loosest of definitions of the word, we're back in it. --BW

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 400-800-100

2:25pm: First break chip counts

Eugene Katchalov 69,350
Taylor von Kriegenbergh 69,000
Micah Raskin 65,675
Joe Sweeney 63,450
Michael Pesek 53,325
Jason Mercier 41,400
Jimmie Guinther 34,525
Scott Blackman 28,875
Jonathan Jaffe 24,400

2:15pm: Players take a 15-minute break

2:02pm: Blackman folds to Raskin's four-bet
After opening for a 1,500 raise, Scott Blackman got two callers in Micah Raskin and Eugene Katchalov before all hell broke loose on the [9s][9h][6c] flop. Katchalov checked, Blackman bet 2,200, Raskin raised to 6,000, and after Katchalov got out of the way, Blackman came back over the top for 12,000. It wasn't enough for Raskin who four-bet to 25,000 straight and after a long tank, Blackman surrendered. --KB

2pm: Blind on blind
Joe Sweeney and Micah Raskin have renewed their acquaintance in the blinds, and this time Joe Sweeney took a small pot. Sweeney raised to 1,200 from the small blind and Raskin called from the big.

They both checked the [jd][4c][9c] flop, and then Sweeney check-called Raskin's 2,200 bet on the [10h] turn. The river was [5h], which they both checked, and Sweeney's [10c][7s] was good. Raskin mucked.

It's still very quiet here. -- HS

1:54pm: Three-bet-fail
Jonathan Jaffe surrendered a good chunk of his stack in back-to-back hands where he was forced out of the pot after three-betting preflop. In the first, Micah Raskin opened for 1,500 and Jaffe reraised to 4,000, only to be met with a four-bet to 12,000. Jaffe folded and Raskin took it down. On the next deal Eugene Katchalov got things started with a 1,500 raise and again Jaffe three-bet to 4,000. This time Taylor von Kriegenbergh was the spoiler, cold four-betting to 10,500, a move that folded out both his opponents.

Undeterred, Jaffe opened the next pot and took it down without a fight. --KB

LEVEL UP. PLAYING 300-600-75 IN LEVEL 3

1.35pm: Level over
In common with the heats, the early levels haven't seen any eliminations from the final table. However the steep structure meant that players started flying out the door from about level three onwards. I'm predicting at least one elimination in the coming 40-minute level.

1:25pm: Katchalov raises out Jaffe's dark bet
Joe Sweeney led off the action with a raise to 1,200 and Eugene Katchalov called before Jonathan Jaffe put in a three-bet to 3,800. Both players called. Jaffe led out for 4,800 on the [Jc][5c][2h] flop, Sweeney folded and Katchalov made the call.

Jaffe bet 7,000 in the dark before the [9c] fell on the turn, a move that was met with a raise to 20,000 by Katchalov. Jaffe tanked for several minutes before conceding the pot. --KB

1pm: Maybe he is that good
On Tuesday night, as Joe Sweeney was stacking up five bounties and winning his heat, a friend and supporter arrived to the rail and said (with a good degree of admiration): "You must have got some help from the man upstairs because you ain't that good."

Sweeney, an amateur player, had just beaten a table stacked with some of the best professional poker talent in the game and had not looked at all out of place.

That same friend is back today to support Sweeney at the final table, and he was the most vocal in his admiration for this recent hand too.

Sweeney made a standard opening raise pre-flop and then called Micah Raskin's three bet. "No one's pushing us around Joe!" shouted Sweeney's supporter. So it proved.

The flop came [6d][4s][8h] and Raskin bet 4,000. Sweeney raised to 13,000 and Raskin called. Both players checked the [4d] turn, but then when Sweeney led for 15,000 on the [10c] river, Raskin folded.

Big--and deserved--cheers from Sweeney's rail. -- HS

LEVEL UP. PLAYING 200-400-50 IN LEVEL TWO

12:51pm: Raskin the early chip leader
Micah Raskin just moved into the chip lead after taking down two consecutive pots. In the first, he opened for 600, earning calls from Eugene Katchalov and Jimmie Guinther. Guinther checked to the raiser on the [Tc][9d][3h] flop and Raskin bet 1,200. Katchalov called and Guinther folded. The turn came the [7s] and Raskin slowed down and checked, leaving the door open for Katchalov to bet 3,000. Raskin called and the [Kc] hit the river. Raskin turned around and led out for 6,000, a bet too rich for Katchalov as he pursed his lips and folded.

On the next hand, Raskin and Guinther went heads-up to a [7c][7d][2h] flop. Guinther led out for 800, Raskin raised to 2,500 and Guinther gave it up as Raskin moved up to 60,000 in chips. --KB

12.50pm: Portents
This week is all about repeats, and superstition's Joe Giron has just noticed that Jason Mercier, looking to repeat his Bounty Shootout triumph of last year, is today occupying the nine seat, the same chair that Vanessa Selbst occupied yesterday as she completed her back-to-back main event triumph. Oooooh. What could it mean? -- HS

12:41pm: Von Kriegenbergh does a little advertising
Opening his fourth pot out of five, Eugene Katchalov made it 600 to go, Jason Mercier called from the cutoff and Taylor von Kriegenbergh three-bet to 2,000 on the button. Katchalov folded and Mercier called. The flop fell [Kh][5c][5d] and Mercier check-called von Kriegenbergh's 4,100 bet. However, when the turn fell the [6s], Mercier couldn't continue, folding to von Kriegenbergh's 8,000 bet.

Von Kriegenbergh showed the bluff, showing the [2c][4c] as he raked in the pot. --KB

12.35pm: Raskin involved
Michah Raskin, who always likes to be involved, has been playing true to form in the early stages today. After Jason Mercier raised to 400 from late position, Joe Sweeney called in the small blind. Raskin, in the big blind, raised to 1,800 and the squeeze got rid of Mercier. Sweeney called.

The flop was [3c][jh][2d] and after Sweeney checked, Raskin bet 2,100 which was enough to take it down. -- HS

12:30pm: Presto!
Eugene Katchalov opened his third pot in a row with a raise to 600, Jason Mercier looking him up from the small blind. Mercier checked over to Katchalov on the [6h][8h][6d] flop, then raised his fellow Team Pro's 800 continuation bet to 1,600. Katchalov called and both players checked down the [Ad] on the turn and the [Qs] on the river.

Mercier showed pocket fives and they were good. --KB

12:27pm: Early analysis
For a quick pre-game chat between a nice-looking woman and bloated old man, check out the video below. --BW

12:20pm: Jaffe scores first blood
Taylor von Kriegenbergh came in for a raise and set the stage for a three-bet to 1,900 form Joe Sweeney. Jonathan Jaffe was having none of that and made it 4,200 to play. Von Kriegenbergh got out of the way, but Sweeney called. On a flop of [js][3h][9h], Sweeney checked and Jaffe bet 5,800. Sweeney got out of the way, and Jaffe picked up the first pot of the day. --BW

12:15pm: Away we go
Cards are in the air with blinds starting at 100-200-25. Levels are 40 minutes long and players start with 50,000 in chips. Here's what they all look like. --KB

11.45am: Mercier also leads bounty race
In addition to the first prize of $142,600 for winning this tournament, there are also a number of other ways players can pick up additional money.

Each table winner has already taken either $36,000 or $40,000 for besting their eight- or nine-handed opening tables, and they will have also taken $2,000 for every player they have eliminated.

The value of the bounties now increases. They are worth $10,000 each. At the end of the entire tournament, the player who has picked up the most bounties will also get a bonus $20,000 in cash, plus a buy in into the next NAPT Bounty Shooutout.

Currently leading that charge is, you guessed it, Jason Mercier. He has six bounties from his opening heat. Joe Sweeney picked up five and the closest others, Katchalov and Blackman, have three.

It's still possible for everyone to win that race, however.-- HS

11.40am: Mercier aims to emulate Selbst
At almost any other tournament in world poker, Jason Mercier's achievement of making the final table 12 months after he won the same event would be enough to have commentators purring. The problem for Mercier, who will sit down today at the final of the $10,000 NAPT Bounty Shootout final and attempt to defend his own crown, is named Vanessa Selbst.

Last night, Selbst completed a remarkable back-to-back triumph in NAPT Mohegan Sun Main Events. Today, anything less than back-to-back victories for Mercier will somehow feel like a disappointment, even though his is also already a spectacular achievement.

Mercier railed Selbst to triumph yesterday. Today Selbst is back in class at law school, so Mercier will have to go it alone. He will also have to beat a field including his Team PokerStars Pro colleague Eugene Katchalov, as well as seven other players who emerged victorious from a stacked field of talent on Tuesday.

The full line up, in seat order, is:

1. TAYLOR VON KRIEGENBERGH
2. JOE SWEENEY
3. MICAH RASKIN
4. MICHAEL PESEK
5. EUGENE KATCHALOV
6. JIMMIE GUINTHER
7. SCOTT BLACKMAN
8. JONATHAN JAFFE
9. JASON MERCIER

Play is due to begin at noon.

Reporting team: Kristin Bihr, Howard Swains and Brad Willis. Photography: Joe Giron.

This time last year, the Team PokerStars Pro from Brooklyn, New York, bested a field of 716 to win $750,000 and her first NAPT Mohegan Sun title. A year later, here we are again.

This time the field was 387 players and the first prize is $450,000. That means 1,101 players have tried and failed to knock Selbst out of a poker tournament in this room and $1.2 million is the combined reward for this Uncasville immortality. (Let's not forget, in the intervening year she also won close to $1,650,000 in France.)

But let's say it again because it becomes no less remarkable through repetition: Vanessa Selbst is the back-to-back NAPT Mohegan Sun champion. No one can beat her.

"I don't know, I'm speechless," she said when asked if there would be a three-peat next year. Her supporters seem to think so. One of them carried a sign today that read: "Every year the same damn thing."

Tonight Selbst overturned a near three-to-one heads up chip deficit against Dan Shak to win. It was the first time she had ever gone to a heads-up duel without the lead, but it didn't seem to matter one jot. She had had the breaks when necessary, but was extraordinarily focused too.

"I didn't win this in my typical fashion," Selbst said. "I didn't steamroll the table. I had some luck on my side and I played a pretty good heads up game against a formidable opponent."

We started on Saturday with those 387 players, and began today with eight. Steve O'Dwyer and Aaron Overton were two of the shorter stacks coming into the final, and they were the first to fall.

O'Dwyer never really recovered from a massive skirmish with Selbst on the third hand of the day, while Overton, who had led at the end of day two, couldn't outdraw Selbst's [ah][2h] with his [kh][qd]. Those two were out in eighth and seventh respectively.

One intriguing sub-plot in this story of Selbst was the tale of Joe Tehan, the NAPT Los Angeles champion. Tehan had also made the last eight of this week's tournament, only a matter of four months since he was in the winner's enclosure himself.

According to many commentators, if anyone was going to stop Selbst, it would be Tehan. But he couldn't bring the Californian fortune to the east coast. A couple of missteps, then an unfortunate chop of a pot that should have been his, put Tehan on the short stack. When he got it in with [kd][6s] he couldn't outdraw Thomas Hoglund's [8c][8d]. Tehan went to the rail in sixth.

It was around this time that Shak really came to prominence. He won a massive pot from Selbst when he managed to spike an ace with his [ad][6h] to beat [7d][7s] and he was then able to sit back and watch as his table-mates devoured one another.

Selbst took a huge chunk from Vincent Rubianes, another player who had once soared to the chip lead in this tournament, only to be pegged back. Rubianes was then blasted to the rail in fifth by Tyler Kenney, who had been chip leader ahead of the final. Rubianes had ace-high pre-flop, Kenney only had a king. But when two more kings turned and rivered, Rubianes was rubbed out.

Thomas Hoglund Jr. had played a largely quiet final table, picking his spots to manoeuvre his short stack into the middle and slowly climb the leaderboard. But then he got it in with queen high and ran into Kenney's aces. Hoglund was the first player to earn a six figure score. Fourth bagged him $120,000.

The next major confrontation might easily have been Selbst's last. She shoved her [ac][5h] into Kenney's [ah][kd] sending her loyal followers--seven friends and one dog--to gather anxiously around the monitors. But you don't win poker tournaments without the occasional stroke of good fortune. And you certainly don't go back-to-back without a larger slice than most.

The dealer duly delivered a five on the flop, sending Poker Dog into howls of delight.

Kenney, whose entire family (but no dogs) had come to Uncasville to watch him at his first major final, was not quite so delighted. He soon found an ace and moved in with [as][7s], but Shak was lying in wait with [ah][qs]. It held.

That brought us to heads up and a battle that amply represented everything that is terrific about this game. Selbst started as the short stack, but chip, chip, chipped away until she had Shak on the ropes.

But then Shak showed his fighting spirit, doubling up a couple of times at crucial moments to keep the yo-yo exchange going for close to two hours. In the end, Selbst flopped two pair with her [kc][7c] and stayed good against Shak's single pair of sevens.

"This is seriously the most special thing in my career," Selbst said. "Maybe last year wasn't a fluke."

So, after Selbst's remarkable display today, we might as well just give her the NAPT Mohegan Sun trophy for good. She certainly seems in no hurry to hand it over.

All photography © Joe Giron/www.joegironphotography.com

On the second hand after we returned from the break, Dan Shak limped in on the button and Vanessa Selbst checked her option. The flop came down [Ks][7d][3s] and Selbst checked to Shak, who bet 300,000. Selbst raised to 625,000, Shak immediately moved all-in and Selbst just as quickly called.

Shak [Jh][7h]
Selbst [Kc][7c]

Selbst had nearly flopped him dead, Shak drawing only to running jacks against her kings up. It was all over on the turn when the [5h] hit the felt, the river falling the [2h] to seal Selbst's remarkable repeat win here at Mohegan Sun. She'll take home $450,000, while Shak earned $254,000 for his runner-up finish.

Congratulations to Vanessa Selbst on her historic run, which puts her over the $4.1 million mark in career tournament earnings and third on the Womens' All-Time Money List. Stay tuned for a full wrap. --KB

LEVEL UP: PLAYING 60,000-120,000-10,000 BLINDS IN LEVEL 30

Hands 50-59: Selbst chips away at Shak's comeback
Dan Shak's comeback was all but erased in hands 50-59. The chip counts as the players take a 15-minute break look like this:

Selbst: 8,875,000
Shak: 2,835,000

Here are the hands.

Hand 50: Selbst limped in and Shak checked his option. On a flop of [3h][tc][ks], both players checked. Shak checked the [8s] turn, Selbst bet 175,000, Shak raised to 400,000, and Selbst folded. -

Hand 51: Shak raised to 250,000 pre-flop and Selbst folded.

Hand 52: Selbst raised to 200,000 and Shak folded.

Hand 53: Shak limped in, Selbst raised, Shak folded, and Selbst showed a pair of nines.

Hand 54: Selbst limped in and Shak checked his option. On a flop of [2s][6][5h]. Selbst bet 125,000 and Shak called. The [ts] came on the turn. Shak checked and Selbst bet 280,000. Shak then raised to 680,000. Selbst made the call. The river was the [3s]. Shak bet 800,000 and Selbst called. [kd][2d]. Selbst showed [ad]td] for a pair of tens and the win.

Hand 55. The two players saw a flop of [9h][6c][ah]. Selbst checket, Shak bet 100,000 and Selbst folded.

Hand 56: Selbst raised to 200,000, and Shak folded.

Hand 57: Shak raised to 200,000 and Selbst folded.

Hand 58: Selbst raised to 200,000 and Shak called. On a flop of [kc][qc][kh], Shak checked, and Selnst checked behind. The [ad] came on the turn. Selbst bet 160,000. Shak raised to 400,000. Selbst folded and Shak picked up the pot.

Hand 59: Shak folded and Selbst won the pot.

9:48pm: Hands 40-49-- Shak doubles through Selbst, misses value on nut boat
Dan Shak managed to make a bit of a comeback over the last ten hands. He doubled up with a straight against Selbst's nut flush draw on Hand 42, but could not get paid off on the full house he turned on Hand 45. Currenlty Selbst is on 7.1 million in chips while Shak is up to about 4.6 million.

Hand 40: Selbst opened for 200,000 on the button and Shak called. Shak checked the [4h][Js][8h] flop over to Selbst, who bet 260,000. Shak folded and Selbst won the pot.

Hand 41: Shak limped in on the button and Selbst checked her option. Selbst led out for 100,000 on the [5c][Jh][Ac] flop and Shak folded. She showed the [Js].

Hand 42: Selbst limped in and Shak checked from the big blind. The flop was [8h][7c][4h] and Shak checked to Selbst, who bet 125,000. Shak raised to 375,000, Selbst moved all-in and Shak called.

Selbst [Ah][3h]
Shak [5d][6d]

Shak flopped an eight-high straight but Selbst had outs to an ace-high flush draw. She missed on the turn when the [6c] fell, and again on the river with the [Jd]. Shak doubled to just over 4 million, leaving Selbst on 7.7 million.

Hand 43: Shak raised to 250,000 and Selbst folded.

Hand 44: Selbst raised to 200,000 and Shak folded.

Hand 45: Shak raised to 250,000, Selbst three-bet to 500,000 and Shak called. The flop fell [Kc][7c][7h] and both players checked. Same story when the [Ac] came on the turn. The river was the [Td] and Shak cut out a 1,000,000-chip bet. After talking through the hand out loud and speculating about Shak's hand, Selbst decided on a fold. Good thing she did--Shak showed pocket aces for the nut boat.

Hand 46: Selbst raised to 200,000 and Shak folded.

Hand 47: Shak gave Selbst a walk

Hand 48: Selbst raised to 200,000 and Shak called. Shak led out for 200,000 on the [2h][Js][8d] flop and Selbst called. The turn was the [Qd] and Shak checked to Selbst , who bet 580,000. Shak folded and Selbst won the pot.

Hand 49: Shak raised to 250,000 and Selbst folded. --KB

9.30pm: Another ten hands

Hand 30 - Selbst limped from the small blind and Shak checked. The flop came [9c][5s][3h], which they both checked, to take them to a [ac] turn. Selbst bet 125,000, called by Shak, and the [7c] rivered. This time Selbst bet 400,000 and Shak called again, only to be shown the [3c][4c] for a flush. Selbst took it.

Hand 31 - Shak raised pre-flop to 250,000 and Selbst let him have it.

Hand 32 - Selbst raised to 200,000 and Shak called. The flop was [3c][2d][kc] and Selbst's bet took it. "Unstoppable!" bellowed one of Selbst's fan club in the bleachers.

Hand 33 - Shak folds.

Hand 34 - Selbst made up Shak's big blind and Shak moved all in. Selbst wasn't having any of that and folded. Shak still has less than two million chips. Selbst has close to nine million.

Hand 35 - Shak limped from the small blind, and Selbst raised 200,000 more. Shak called. That took them to a [8d][2d][6s] flop and Selbst bet 250,000. Shak called. The [4d] turned and Selbst fired again, this time for 300,000. Shak folded, and Selbst showed [ad][kd] for the turned nut flush. "I thought you were going to shove some time in that hand," Selbst said.

Hand 36 - Selbst open shoved, which, of course, is simply asking Shak if he fancies playing for all his chips. He didn't. He folded.

Hand 37 - Shak moves all in and Selbst calls! This could be it...

Selbst: [kc][jc]
Shak: [qh][6h]

Selbst is miles ahead, and the [4c][10d][3h] doesn't change that. The turn, however, comes [6c], which puts Shak into the lead.

Selbst still had plenty of outs, but the [10h] isn't one of them. That gave Shak the double up and he now has about 3.5 million. Most importantly, he's still alive.

Hand 38 - Selbst raised. Shak folded.

Hand 39 - Shak folded. -- HS

9:16pm: Hands 21-29-- Selbst steamrolling
How about some more hands? Here's another nine, which saw Vanessa Selbst chip up to nearly 10 million via a series of small pots, while Shak slipped to 1.8 million.

Hand 21: In a limped pot, Selbst led out for 150,000 on a [Kd][Jc][3h] flop and Shak folded.

Hand 22: Selbst opened for 200,000 and Shak called. Both players checked the [8s][5d][2s] flop. When the [Jc] hit the turn, Shak bet 200,000 and Selbst called. The river was the [5s] and they checked it down. Selbst's A-Q high was good.

Hand 23: Shak limped in on the button and Selbst checked her option. THe [Ad][Jc][7c][Ah][4s] board was checked through the turn before Selbst put in a 115,000 bet on the river. Shak folded and Selbst took it down.

Hand 24: Selbst opened for 200,000, Shak three-bet to 600,000 and Selbst folded.

Hand 25: Shak gave Selbst a walk.

Hand 26: Selbst did the same for Shak.

Hand 27: Another limped pot. Selbst check-folded to Shak's 300,000 bet on a [As][Qs][3c] flop.

Hand 28: Selbst opened for 200,000 and Shak called, only to fold to her continuation bet on a Q-5-3 rainbow flop.

Hand 29: Shak opened for 250,000 and Selbst caled. Both players checked the [Jh][6h][4c] flop. The turn came the [5s] and Selbst bet 340,000. Shak gave up his hand and Selbst took the pot. --KB

9:03pm: A brief recap
You can see the first 20 hands below, but the only one that really matters after the first 45 minutes of play is the one in which Selbst turned the tables. Selbst started off heads-up play by keeping the pots small. She won most of them, and only stumbled when she ran into Shak's very disguised quad kings. That cost Selbst a bit of her stack, but not so much that she couldn't turn Shak upside down and shake out his pockets when she played kings as straightforwardly as she could and got paid off for everything she had in front of her after flopping middle set. The chip stacks are now reversed from where they were when Shak and Selbst got heads up. --BW

8:59pm: Hands 13-20--Shak pulls quads, but Selbst now leads
In the hands below, you might just want to check out the last one. It explains how the chips now look something like this:

Dan Shak: 3.25 million
Vanessa Selbst; 8.3 million

Hand 13: Shak limped in and Selbst checked her option. On a [js][3s][ah] flop, both players checked. The dealer put out the [6c] on the turn. Selbst check-folded to a bet from Selbst.

Hand 14: Selbst limped in and Shak checked in the big blind. On the [tc][qs][4c] flop, Selbst bet 155,000. The turn brought the [ts]. Shak checked and Selbst checked behind. On the [kc] river, Shak checked again and Selbst checked behind. Shak showed [jh][4h] for bottom pair and the win.

Hand 15: Shak folded pre-flop and Selbst won the blinds and antes.

Hand 16: After the level went up, Selbst min-raised to 200,00. The flop came down [ks][kc][7h]. Shak checked, Selbst bet 210,00 and Shak called. The [8h] came on the turn. Both players checked to [2s] on the river. Shak bet 500,000 and Selbst called and let her mouth hang open a little but when Shak showed her...pocket kings...for quads.

Hand 17: Shak raised to 200,000 and Selbst folded.

Hand 18: Shak raised to 200,000 and Selbst folded

Hand 19: Shak limped in and Selbst checked her option. The flop was the [kh][7h][7s]. Both players checked and saw the [8h] on the turn. Two more checks to the [5d] on the river. Two more checks and Shak's queen-high wins it.

Hand 20: Selbst raised to 200,000 and Shak re-popped it to 600,000. Selbst didn't back down and bumped it up to 1.3 million. Shak made the call. The flop brought [ad][2s][kh]. Shak checked and Selbst fired out 800,000. Shak moved all in. Selbst snap-called with [kd][ks]. Shak held [kc][qc]. The [jc] came on the turn. The river was the [js] giving Selbst kings full and the massive pot.--BW

8.50pm: Counts
The approximate chip counts at this stage are:

Dan Shak 6,000,000
Vanessa Selbst 5,600,000

Ms Selbst is coming back. -- HS

LEVEL UP. PLAYING 50,000-100,000 IN LEVEL 29

8:40pm: Hands 11-12 of heads up play--Selbst wins a big one

Hand 11: Shak raised to 200,000 and Selbst folded.

Hand 12: Selbst raised to 175,000 and Shak called. On a [4s][jc][9c] flop, Shak checked and Selbst bet 155,000. Shak, in his first display of aggression since heads-up play began, raised to 355,000. Selbst wasn't ready to go away and made the call. The dealer put out the [9d] on the turn. Shak led at the pot for 500,000, and Selbst called. The river brought the [4d]. Shak put out a bet of 800,000. Selbst announced she was all-in and Shak went into the tank. He rested his cheek on his hands, looked at Selbst for about a minute, and folded. Score the first big one for Selbst. --BW

8:32pm: The first ten hands of heads-up play

Hand 1: Selbst took it down on the turn for a min-bet.

Hand 2: Selbst limped in. Both players checked the [jd][4s][3d] flop. On the [5s] turn, Shak bet 100,000 and Selbst called. The [9h] came on the river. 200,000 from Selbst on the river. Selbst called with a three in her hand. Shak announced eight-high and mucked.

Hand 3: Another to Slebst, uncontested.

Hand 4: Selbst limped in. Shak raised to 400,000 and Selbst folded.

Hand 5: Shak gives Selbst a walk.

Hand 6: Selbst min-raised to 160,000 and Shak called. The flop came out [ad][ts][5s]. Shak checked and Selbst bet 140,000. Shak folded.

Hand 7: Shak called, Selbst checked her option to the [qh][jc][4c] flop. Both players checked. The [3c] came on the turn. Both players checked again. The river was the [kc]. Selbst min-bet 80,000 and Shak folded.

Hand 8: Selbst raised to 160,000 and Shak called. On a flop of [2s][tc][as], Shak checked, and Selbst checked behind. The [4s] came on the turn. Shak checked, then folded to a 180,000 bet from Selbst.

Hand 9: Shak raised to 200,000 and Selbst folded.

Hand 10: Selbst Made it 160,000 and Shak folded.

8:13pm: Cards back in the air
We have an obscene amount of BBQ in our bellies and hopefully our two remaining gladiators are similarly sated after the one-hour break. Action has just resumed, and Poker Dog has taken front-row seat alongside Team Selbst. --KB

7pm: Schedule change
We're going to take a one-hour dinner break. Play will resume at 8pm. Join us, and Poker Dog, after the break!

6:55pm: Heads-up chip counts

Here's how our final two are stacked going in to heads-up play:

Dan Shak 8,650,000
Vanessa Selbst 3,025,000

6:48pm: Tyler Kenney eliminated in third place
Dan Shak opened to 200,000 and Tyler Kenney moved all-in. Shak snap-called with [ah][qs]. Kenney was in rough shape with [as][7c] and didn't improve on the [9h][jh][8h][tc][4h] board. Kenney banks $170,000 - and a hug from Vanessa Selbst.

There is going to be a ten-minute break before we begin heads-up play. Approximate counts have Dan Shak with a 8.6 million to 3 million lead.--BW

6:38: Kenney's river raise shakes Shak
Dan Shak and Tyler Kenney limped in from the blinds and saw a [Qs][6d][5d] flop. Shak checked, Kenney bet 100,000 and Shak made the call. Both players checked the [4h] on the turn. The river fell the [3s] and Shak tossed in another 100,000-denomination chip only to watch Kenney raise to 325,000. Shak quickly folded and Kenney took down the pot. --KB

6:09pm: Selbst doubles, poker dog scored with assist
Tyler Kenney opened to 200,000 from the button and short-stacked Vanessa Selbst shoved for 1.2 million from the small blind. Dan Shak folded, but Kenney made the quick call with [ah][kd].

Selbst was in bad shape with [ac][5h]. Selbst's rail squeezed up to the flop-cam monitor. Included in the rail is a labrador retriever service dog that has become the de facto mascot for Team Selbst today. One of Selbst's friends muttered, "Come on, poker dog."*

The dog must have done the trick. Selbst hit a five on the flop.

Kenney couldn't find a king on the turn or river and Selbst is back up to 2.5 million. --BW

*Later immortalized in song by falsetto's Brad Willis.

6pm: Break counts
Here are the three handed chip counts at the latest break:

Dan Shak: 6,950,000
Tyler Kenney: 3,525,000
Vanessa Selbst: 1,280,000

LEVEL UP. BLINDS 40,000-80,000-10,000

5:46pm: Shak looking unbeatable
Tyler Kenney came in for a raise to 140,000 and got calls from both Vanessa selbst and Dan Shank. On a [8c][8h][qd] flop Selbst and Shak both check-called a 160,000 bet from Kenney.

The [9d] turn drew a check from Selbst, but this time Shak came out betting 250,000. Kenney gave up, but Selbst raised to 750,000. Shak made the call.

When the [ks] fell on the river, Selbst checked. Shak didn't think for long before moving all-in. Selbst wasted no time in folding and gave up the giant pot to Shak.

Players are now on a 15-minute break. --BW

5:40pm: Selbst takes it sans showdown
Tyler Kenney limped in on the button and Vanessa Selbst made it an additional 135,000 to go from the small blind. Dan Shak folded and Kenney made the call. The [Js][7d][6s] flop saw Kenney call Selbst's 155,000 bet, which both players followed up with checks when the [3c] fell on the turn. The river was the [4h]. Selbst bet 365,000 but it was too rich for Kenney, who mucked his hand. With that pot, Selbst is back up to 2.3 million while Kenney fell to 3.8 million. --KB

5.25pm: Thomas Hoglund Jr. out in fourth, winning $120,000
Tom Hoglund Jr., who has done a good job of staying out of trouble and moving into the final four, could go no further. He is out in fourth, winning $120,000 for his week in Connecticut.

Hoglund shoved his short stack all in from the button and was called by the mighty towers of Tyler Kenney. Kenney also had the best hand when they were showndown:

Hoglund: [qh][9s]
Kenney: [as][7d]

Both players flopped pairs on the [ac][qd][6h] board, but Hoglund couldn't get any further help on the [5c] turn and the [8d] river and that meant he was sent to the rail. -- HS

5.05pm: Rubianes out in fifth, winning $90,000
Vincent Rubianes was close to a triple up, but now he's close to the cash cage. He is out.

Tyler Kenney opened to 140,000 and Dan Shak called. Sensing that potential triple up, Vincent Rubianes decided this was his chance and moved all in for 155,000.

The flop came [3c][4d][2d] and Kenney bet 160,000. Shak mucked, leaving Rubianes and Kenney to decide the former's tournament life.

Rubianes: [ad][7c]
Kenney: [Kh][10c]

At this stage it looked good for a potentially life-saving moment for Rubianes. He only had a few outs to fade on turn and river. Howevever, both turn and river were horrible for him, coming [kd][ks], and that was that for Rubianes.

He is out in fifth for $90,000. -- HS

4:59pm: Selbst doubles through Rubianes
On the shortstack and down to 1.2 million in chips, Vanessa Selbst open-pushed for around 1.1 million with [kd][jh]. Vincent Rubianes called her with [8d][8c]. From the rail came the call of "One Time Chip!"

The flop came down [kh][2h][7h], leaving Rubianes with just one out...until the turn came the [ks]. The opened up one more out for Rubianes. It didn't hit. The [4c] came on the river and Selbst doubled to around 2.3 million. The hand left Vincent with 150,000. He'll be all in before I hit publish on this post. --BW

4:50pm: Moving pictures

4:45pm: Shak seizes the chip lead, doubles through defending champ
On Day 1 of this event, we reported a hand where Dan Shak, quite literally asleep in the small blind, woke up to ace-six and ultimately called his opponent's re-shove, doubling his stack. The hand once again proved to be lucky for the New York City futures trader, as it just gave him a double-up through (formerly) second-in-chips Vanessa Selbst.

Selbst opened for her standard twice the big blind raise to 120,000, Shak three-bet to 400,000 and Selbst moved all-in. Shak didn't waste too much time in calling, revealing [Ad][6h] to Selbst's [7d][7s].

Although Selbst's pair held on the [Th][8c][4h] flop, the [Ah] on the turn left her drawing to only a single out as Shak picked up the nut flush draw. The river was the [9d] and Selbst shed about two-thirds of her stack, leaving her on 1.2 million while Shak vaulted into the chip lead with over 4 million.

Meanwhile, Vanessa Selbst's normally enthusiastic rail has been temporarily silenced. --KB

4:36pm: Small flop, small(ish) pot for Kenney
Tyler Kenney opened for a raise to 140,000 and got one caller in Vincent Rubianes. The flop fell [3d][2s][2h] and Rubianes checked to Kenney, who made a 140,000 continuation bet. Rubianes called, and the [6d] came on the turn. Rubianes checked a second time, Kenney made it 325,000 to go and it was enough to fold out Rubianes, our hooded leader adding a few more chips to his growing stack. --KB

4.30pm: Five for it
Welcome back to Connecticut, where there are five players still in the hunt for NAPT glory.

On the final hand of the past level, the NAPT Los Angeles champion Joe Tehan was eliminated, ending his hopes of becoming the first two-time NAPT champion.

But Vanessa Selbst, the only other player with that chance at the start of the tournament, could still pull it off. She not only remains at the final table, she is also the chip leader.

The full counts of the remaining five are as follows:

Vanessa Selbst: 3,230,000
Tyler Kenney: 3,200,000
Dan Shak: 2,135,000
Tom Hoglund: 1,590,000
Vincent Rubianes: 1,550,000

Blinds are now 30,000-60,000, meaning each small blind is now the equivalent of a starting stack in this tournament.

Reporting team: Kristin Bihr, Howard Swains and Poker's Brad Willis. Photography: Joe Giron.

Tehan's exit leaves Vanessa Selbst as the only remaining former NAPT champion at the final table. --BW

4.10pm: Shak finds some support
After a routine blind steal from Dan Shak, the audience around the ESPN feature table went nuts. It might have been a touch on the ironic side, but for the time being Shak's appeal for supporters (see 3.56pm) seems to have worked. -- HS

4.05pm: Selbst takes challenge to other champion
Tom Hoglund limped under-the-gun, which was one way of enticing the two former NAPT champions in from the blinds. Vanessa Selbst made it up from the small blind and Joe Tehan checked his option.

The flop was all diamonds: [5d][kd][4d]. Selbst bet 115,000, Tehan called and Hoglund folded.

The turn was the [10c], and Selbst again fired at it. She bet 170,000 and again Tehan called. This one was getting intriguing.

The [9h] rivered, and Selbst wasn't done yet. This time she bet 290,000 and after a couple of minutes' thought, Tehan called again. Selbst showed [ks][5h] for kings up, and Tehan folded.

That gain of about 600,000 put Selbst back up very close to the lead. Tehan is the shortest of short stacks. -- HS

3:56pm: Shak's only fan
As a hand between Joe Tehan and Vanessa Selbst played out at the table, Dan Shak wandered over to the rail and stood in front of a quiet Nick Binger.

"I've got a problem here," Shak said. You're my only fan."

At issue was the amount of cheering going on for all the players at the table...except Dan Shak.

"I didn't think you wanted me to cheer," Binger said.

"It's either that or you gotta find some slot players and bring them in here to cheer," Shak begged.

As of this minute, Binger has taken a deep interest in something on his iPhone.--BW

3:49pm: Chop bails Kenney out
Tyler Kenny limped on the button, which didn't seem at all scary to Joe Tehan. He shoved for 845,000 more from the big blind. After dwelling on the bet for a few moments, Kenny made the call with [kc][qh]. 'Twas not the best of decisions. Tehan held [ad][qs]. But wait! What's that board? Well, sure enough, it went [ah][ks][2c][js][td] for the chop. Tehan was not best pleased.

As you were. --BW

3:40pm: Yup, that'll do it
As she's prone to do, Vanessa Selbst opened for a raise to 100,000 and was called by Dan Shak and Tom Hoglund in the blinds. Hoglund led out for 225,000 on the [6c][5h][4h] flop and Shak quickly raised to 600,000. The move folded out Selbst and after a brief tank, Hoglund gave his hand up as well.

Shak showed [2h][3h] for the flopped straight and a straight flush redraw, worthy of the raise indeed. --KB

3.30pm: Shak on the rise
Buoyed after picking up a few chips from Tyler Kenney when he hit top pair kings, Dan Shak again raised pre-flop to 100,000. This time he was up against Vincent Rubianes, who called from one seat to Shak's left.

The flop was [qh][2h][kc] and Shak wasn't so keen. He checked. Rubianes checked back at him. The [qs] turned and now Shak bet 125,000, which Rubianes called.

The river was [8c] and Shak again bet 125,000. With a smirk, Rubianes thought through a few of his options. Eventually he decided to call, but was shown [kd][jd] for two pair, which was good.

That's the second hand in succession that Shak took with a pair of kings, and he's now approaching the two million mark. -- HS

3:22pm: Kenney exacts his revenge on Rubianes
Just moments after Vincent Rubianes stole the chip lead from Tyler Kenney, Kenney looks to have taken it back.

Kenney called a raise to 110,000 from Rubianes and they saw a [2d][ts][jd] flop. Rubianes led for 135,000 and found himself raised to 310,000. Rubianes made the call and then checked the [6s] on the turn. That opened the door to a 435,000 bet from Kenney. Again, Rubianes called. Rubianes checked the [qh] turn. Kenney put out a bet (the amount of which wasn't announced) and Rubianes insta-mucked.

Kenney now has more than 3 million and the chip lead again. --BW

3:09pm: Kenney loses the chip lead, Rubianes tops 3 million
Vincent Rubianes opened for a 130,000 raise and Tyler Kenney made the call. Rubianes led out for 165,000 on the [Td][7s][6s] flop and Kenney looked him up. The turn brought the [5s], and Rubianes fired a second time, making it 415,000 to go. Again, Kenney called (drawing his brother Bryn and friends over to the flop-cam to sweat the river). It was the [8d], and both players checked.

Rubianes turned over two black kings and claimed the 1.5 million-chip pot. He's up to about 3.2 million while Kenney slipped to 2.5 million. --KB

2:49pm: First break chip counts

Tyler Kenney 3,275,000
Vanessa Selbst 2,830,000
Vincent Rubianes 2,435,000
Tom Hoglund 1,345,000
Dan Shak 1,235,000
Joe Tehan 610,000

2.38pm: Break time
Players are now taking their 15-minute break.

2.35pm: Shak shaken down by Hoglund
From under-the-gun, Tom Hoglund opened to 100,000 but couldn't get it past Dan Shak, one seat to his left. Shak three bet to 300,000 and that persuaded all others out the way.

It came back to Hoglund, who moved all in for about 900,000 and Shak called, with something close to double that in his stack.

Hoglund: [as][ks]
Shak: [ac][qd]

So Hoglund was ahead at the start, and he only managed to tighten his grip on the hand with the [ad][6h][2d] flop. The [kh] completed it in his favour, and he doubled up.

Accurate counts for the six remaining players will be with us momentarily as they go on their first break of the day. -- HS

2:29pm: Selbst ousts Overton in seventh place
With the action folded around to him in the small blind, table short-stack Aaron Overton moved all-in and Vanessa Selbst made the call.

Overton [Kh][Qd]
Selbst [Ah][2h]

Selbst hit top pair on the [Ac][Th][6s] flop while Overton found a small ray of hope with a gutshot straight draw. One of his four outs disappeared on the turn when the [3h] fell giving Selbst a flush draw, and the rest vanished when the [5s] hit the river. Overton departed the table to polite handshakes all around, collecting $50,000 for his seventh-place finish. --KB

2.10pm: Steve O'Dwyer out in eighth, winning $32,230
Steve O'Dwyer, who was down to only 10,000 in chips on day three but rallied all the way to the final table, is the first player eliminated today.

Play was folded all the way to Vincent Rubianes in the small blind. He peeked and moved all in, essentially simply asking O'Dwyer if he wanted to call for his tournament life. O'Dwyer saw an ace and decided that was good enough. The hands:

Rubianes: [qd][10s]
O'Dwyer: [ah][7d]

O'Dwyer will know that the best hand pre-flop does not always stay like that to the end, and so it proved on this occasion. By the time all five cards were out - [2c][jc][qh][qc][10d] - Rubianes had made a boat, which beats ace high most days.

Bye bye to Steve O'Dwyer. Rubianes has about 2.5 million now. -- HS

1:50pm: Hoglund doubles through Tehan
Season 1 NAPT Los Angeles champion Joe Tehan came in for a raise to 80,000 and short-stacked Thomas Hoglund moved all-in. Tehan considered his call for a couple of minutes before deciding to take a shot with [2c][2d]. Bad news. Hoglund held [qc][qh]. The board ran out [kh][kd][6h]tc][4d] and Hoglund doubled to just under a million chips. Tehan is now down to around 600,000. --BW

1.30pm: Kenney comes to the party
Tyler Kenney, who has started this final table in a muted fashion (he can; he's the chip leader) finally put out a raise. He made it 82,000 and Joe Tehan asked whether he really wanted to play, re-raising to 220,000.

Kenney was pretty emphatic in his response, raising all in. With dreams of a double NAPT title fading like Marty McFly's family in a tattered photograph, Tehan folded and brought them all back to life. -- HS

1:26pm: O'Dwyer survives second clash with Overton
Down to 149,000 in chips, Steve O'Dwyer moved all-in and Aaron Overton made the call, this time having his opponent surely covered. Although Overton again had the best of it with [Ac][8h] to O'Dwyer's [Kd][3s], O'Dwyer hit a king on the river to make top pair and double up to 367,000. --KB

1.15pm: O'Dwyer dives, Overton doubles
Short stacks collide! Steve O'Dwyer had allowed himself to get a little short and was forced to move all in from the button. Aaron Overton was also very low on chips and so when he called from the big blind, it wasn't immediately clear who covered whom.

One thing was for sure, Overton had the best hand with [ah][kd] to Overton's [ac][7h]. And once the tournament officials had done the requisite cutting and counting, it was evident that O'Dwyer had the bigger stack. (Something you would have known because you're keeping an eye on our regularly updated chip-count page).

So it was Overton under threat and soon it seemed even more perilous. The flop came [7d][3d][10h], to hit O'Dwyer's pair.

But this one wasn't over yet. Once the [4d] turned, Overton now had a flush draw too. And he was send bounding to his rail on the [9d] river. "I was all in twice yesterday with the nine of diamonds!" Overton bellowed in delight. He has a new favourite card.

Meanwhile Steve O'Dwyer is now down to fumes, with only about 153,000. Overton returns to the position of authority he has held for the past few days. -- HS

LEVEL UP. BLINDS 20,000-40,000-4,000

1:06pm: Rubianes won't. be pushed. a. round.
Vanessa Selbst may be able to bully Steve O'Dwyer into a fold, but she is dealing with a different customer in the form of Vincent Rubianes. Selbst came in for a raise to 60,000 and Rubianes re-raised to 160,000. Selbst, perpetually undaunted, made it 425,000. Rubianes took just a few seconds before moving all-in. Selbst snap-folded and Rubianes scored first blood on last year's champion. --BW

12:55pm: Selbst cuts down O'Dwyer
On the third hand of play, the action folded around to Steve O'Dwyer in the cutoff. He put in a min-raise to 60,000 and Vanessa Selbst re-popped it to 215,000 total. O'Dwyer called and they saw a [6s][9d][Jc] flop. Selbst checked and O'Dwyer checked behind. The turn brought the [Kh] and Selbst thought for quite a while before settling on a 220,000 bet. O'Dwyer made the call and they went to the river which fell the [3c]. Selbst quietly declared herself all-in and O'Dwyer tanked for a solid ten minutes, an audible sigh escaping his lips before he made a tortured fold.

"You're too good. I couldn't put you on a hand," O'Dwyer said as Selbst raked in just over 40% of his chips. O'Dwyer is down to 585,000 while Selbst is sitting on 2.725 million. --KB

12:41pm: A look at your final table
Here's a look at the final table players on their last opportunity to smile before putting on their game faces. --BW

12:35pm: Cards in the air
As expected, the over took it, but play is finally underway. --KB

12:30pm: Getting closer-er
It looks like we might be getting close to started. The gallery is full, the players are getting their pictures take, and the media are at the ready. We'll be started in just a matter of minutes. --BW

12:16pm: Getting closer
Six of our final eight are in their seats and the other two are being miked up by ESPN. We'll set the over/under at a 12:30pm start (though I'd still take the over). --KB

11:26am: Final table to commence at Noon(ish?)
We've said it before and it certainly bears repeating this morning-- if you're suffering from a profound sense of deja vu when it comes to this final table, you're hardly alone. In a stunning repeat of events, Vanessa Selbst ended Day 3 of the NAPT Mohegan Sun as the chip leader, lost the lead on Day 4, and will arrive at the final table sometime in the next hour in second position. Today, Selbst is looking to make history not only as the first repeat NAPT champion (a tour that is only five events old, mind you) but as the first player to win the same poker major in back-to-back years. Remarkably enough, Selbst isn't the only player at this final table pursuing a second NAPT title. Season 1 Los Angeles champion Joe Tehan is looking to do the same. Both of them will have their hands full, though, with a formidable group of challengers including Steve O'Dwyer, Vincent Rubianes, and chip leader Tyler Kenney threatening their record-breaking runs.

Today's final table will be filmed for broadcast on ESPN and as these things go, we're nearly a lock for a late start this morning. Cameras are being positioned, the felt meticulously cleaned, and the players are trickling in following their pre-game interviews. We'll be here with wall-to-wall coverage until someone lays claim to the shiny silver trophy and the $450,000 grand prize.

Here's a look how our final eight stack up:

Seat 1: Joe Tehan (1,238,000)
Seat 2: Thomas Hoglund, Jr. (541,000)
Seat 3: Dan Shak (1,571,000)
Seat 4: Vincent Rubianes (1,711,000)
Seat 5: Steve O'Dwyer (1,032,000)
Seat 6: Tyler Kenney (3,021,000)
Seat 7: Aaron Overton (373,000)
Seat 8: Vanessa Selbst (2,249,000)

Reporting team: Kristin "change100" Bihr, Howard "Horseradish" Swains, Brad "Otis" Willis
Photography: Joe Giron

Brother to well-known grinder Bryn Kenney, Tyler Kenney has $163,000 in career live tournament earnings, most of it coming from a $90,000 cash at a $5,000 event in Las Vegas. Keep in mind, Kenney is new on the live scene and has posted seven live cashes in just the past year. Now he has his shot at an NAPT title and a chance to deny two people their second win on the tour.

Vanessa Selbst, a woman who has spent the last 12 months controlling the poker world like a small army of marionettes, is poised to put on one of the greatest shows of her career. Almost exactly one year removed from the day she won the first NAPT Mohegan Sun title, the Team PokerStars Pro has put herself in position to secure a repeat championship. She is second in chips on the way to the televised final table. On Day 3 of the NAPT Mohegan Sun main event, Selbst made taking the chip lead seem easy. Today she spent most of the day in control. It was only as Day 4 drew to a close that Kenney took over the chip lead.

The European Poker Tour has clawed its way through nearly seven full seasons without a repeat winner. Selbst is aiming to win twice inside of just a few NAPT events. It's an achievement that is punctuated by another startling fact: she isn't the only one who could pull off a second NAPT championship tomorrow.

It's been only five months since Joe Tehan won the NAPT Los Angeles event in November. This week, he's followed Selbst's lead all the way to the final table. Anyone wondering if tournament poker is still a skill game need only look at Selbst and Tehan. To paraphrase Mike McDermott, "What are they? The luckiest two people on the NAPT?"

Though it drew fewer than 400 players, the NAPT Mohegan Sun field was probably the toughest of any NAPT main event yet. It was packed with professional tourney grinders who know their stuff better than most people on the tournament circuit. The final eight stand witness to the difficulty of making it this far. They will sit down tomorrow as follows:

NAPT Mohegan Sun main event final table

Seat 1: Joe Tehan (1,238,000)
Seat 2: Thomas Hoglund, Jr. (541,000)
Seat 3: Dan Shak (1,571,000)
Seat 4: Vincent Rubianes (1,711,000)
Seat 5: Steve O'Dwyer (1,032,000)
Seat 6: Tyler Kenney (3,021,000)
Seat 7: Aaron Overton (373,000)
Seat 8: Vanessa Selbst (2,249,000)

If you'd like to see how they did it, we have the blow-by-blow in our NAPT Mohegan Sun Day 4 live updates.

For all the other scoreboard-y information you might want and some added entertainment, see any of the links below.

That should keep you busy until noontime tomorrow when we'll be back to see if Selbst or Tehan can score another NAPT title, or if the tour will get a new name on its list of champions.

We'll see you then.

All photography © Joe Giron/www.joegironphotography.com

Hochman [Qh][Th]
Rubianes [Ad][Qd]

It was over for Hochman on the turn, the board running out [5h][Jd][5s][Ac][Td]. He'll take home $26,000 for his ninth-place finish.

The final eight are currently bagging and tagging their chips. We'll have official chip counts and a full wrap shortly. --KB

LEVEL UP. BLINDS 15,000-30,000-3,000

7:01pm: Final table redraw
Here's how the final nine have taken their seats.--BW

Seat 1: Corey Hochman
Seat 2: Joe Tehan
Seat 3: Thomas Hoglund, Jr.
Seat 4: Dan Shak
Seat 5: Vincent Rubianes
Seat 7: Steve O'Dwyer
Seat 7: Tyler Kenney
Seat 8: Aaron Overton
Seat 9: Vanessa Selbst

6:53pm: Stefanski bubbles (unofficial) final table
The televised final table of NAPT events is eight-handed, but the unofficial final table comes together with nine players remaining. That has just happened after Tyler Kenney came in for a raise from the button. David Stefanski shoved all in for a little more than 400,000 from the small blind. His [ac][tc] looked good until Kenney turned up [as][kd]. Kenney's hand held up and Stefanski left in 10th place. --BW

6:38pm: Hoglund doubles, Fernandez departs
Thomas Hoglund made a stand, moving all-in for 310,000 with pocket queens and David Stefanski looked him up with [As][Qh]. The ladies held and Hoglund chipped up to 660,000.

Meanwhile, one table over, Jacobo Fernandez got the rest of his chips in the middle preflop with [Kh][Qs] and Joe Tehan made the call with pocket jacks Again, the pocket pair was good and Fernandez hit the rail in 11th place. --KB

6:32pm: Selbst doubles Overton, loses chip lead
Tournament short stack Aaron Overton moved all-in for his last 350,000 and Vanessa Selbst made the call, turning over [7c][7s]. Overton showed [9d][Td] and hit a nine on the flop, doubling his stack to 740,000.

For the first time all day, Selbst has fallen below 2 million in chips and out of the top spot.--KB

6:25pm: Selbst can't bluff Shak
After taking a bit of a tumble by doubling up Vincent Rubianes, Dan Shak has regained most of those lost chips. Vanessa Selbst limped in from the small blind and Shak checked his option from the big. Selbst led out for 28,000 on the [Qd][7h][5c] flop and Shak made the call. The turn brought the [8h] and Selbst loaded another bullet, making it 63,000 to go. Shak called again, and they went to the river which fell the [Th]. Selbst bet 157,000 and Shak quickly called.

"You got it," Selbst said, as Shak turned up [Qs][7c] for two pair.

Shak is back up to 1.45 million while Selbst slipped to 2.45 million. --KB

6:13pm: Rubianes doubles through Shak
Vincent Rubianes' downward slide today has ended. After starting Day 4 with more than a million in chips, Rubianes was down to half of that. He finally just got all-in with Dan Shak. Rubianes held [ah][ks] to Shak's [td][tc]. Rubianes made his pair on the flop and got back up around where he started the day. --BW

BLINDS UP, PLAYING 12,000-24,000-2,000 IN LEVEL 23

5:30pm: Kenney climbing
A pair of pots late in the level have pushed Tyler Kenney up to second in chips. In the first, Steve O'Dwyer opened for 43,000 from the cutoff, Kenney three-bet to 115,000 on the button and O'Dwyer made the call. Both players checked on the [As][3s][9s] flop, then did the same when the [8s] hit the turn. The river fell the [5h] and O'Dwyer check-called Kenney's 125,000 bet. Kenney turned up [Qs][Qh] for the flush and O'Dwyer mucked.

A few minutes later, O'Dwyer opened again for 43,000, Kenney flat-called and Thomas Hoglund made it 143,000 to go from the cutoff. O'Dwyer folded and Kenney called. Hoglund led out for 150,000 on the [Kc][7c][2d] flop, earned a call, then made it the same amount when the [4d] came on the turn. Hoglund called again and both players checked the [5d] on the river. Kenney showed [Kd][Th] for the win and vaulted to 1.85 million in chips. Hoglund was left with 350,000.

Players are now on a 15-minute break.

5:01pm: Selbst leaves Overton on the short stack
Vanessa Selbst opened for a min-raise to 40,000 from early position, Aaron Overton three-bet to 122,000 from the big blind and Selbst made the call. Overton led out for 202,000 when the flop fell [Qh][7c][3d] and after about a minute in the tank, Selbst moved all-in.

Overton elected to save his remaining 260,000 and folded. Selbst is up to 2.7 million.--KB

4:44pm: Plouffe go poof
(Yes, we've been waiting to use that headline for a couple of days now). Steve O'Dwyer opened to 44,000 and got a flat call from Tyler Kenney. That opened the door to a 431,000 shove from Philippe Plouffe. O'Dwyer must have had something on Plouffe, because he made the call with [as][9c]. Kenney got out of the way, and Plouffe turned up [8c][tc]. The board ran out [kc][[4s][jh][kh][7h] and Plouffe exited in12th place. --BW

LEVEL UP. BLINDS 10,000-20,000-2,000

4:09pm: The kids might call this a "level"
This hand wasn't so remarkable for the betting sequence or the result, but for the sheer amount of time Corey Hochman took to make his decision. As the final seconds ticked off Level 21, Hochman opened for 32,000 in the cutoff and Steve O'Dwyer called on the button. The flop came down [As][Ks][4c] and Hochman checked to O'Dwyer, who bet 42,000. With the ESPN cameras trained on his face, Hochman began mumbling something about putting O'Dwyer specifically on the [8h][Th] and sat in the tank as the 15-minute break ticked away.

"Seriously, this might take the whole break," Hochman said. O'Dwyer remained stone-faced as his opponent hemmed and hawed.

After six and a half minutes ticked off the clock, Hochman finally settled on a raise to 125,000. O'Dwyer snap-folded and headed off for what was left of his break showing no signs of tilt as Hochman continued to mug for the cameras. --KB

4:02pm: Matte's day is done
With just minutes to go before the third break of the day Jean-Philippe Matte took his half-average stack and got it in the middle with [ad][9d]. It was a bad spot. David Stefanski was sitting with black kings, flopped his set, and put Matte out in 13th. Players are now on a 15-minute break. --BW

3:50pm: Updated chip counts
Head over to the NAPT chip count page for fresh-from-the-oven updates on our 13 remaining players. Vanessa Selbst is still atop the pack with 2.5 million, with Dan Shak in second with 1.68 million. --KB

3:29pm: Another scalp for Selbst
The wheels could still come off, but for now Vanessa Selbst is ruling the day. She just opened for 38,000. When Ara Melikian shoved for 176,000, Selbst snap-called with [ac][kc]. Melikian was way behind with his meager [kh][qh]. The board ran out [8c][8d][7s][ts][6c] and Melikian was gone in 14th place. --BW

3:14pm: Gibbons gutted
Following an opening raise to 35,000 from Phillipe Plouffe, David Stefanski three-bet to 85,000 on the button, only to be met with a shove from Joseph Gibbons in the big blind. Plouffe gave up his hand and Stefanski called. Stefanski had Gibbons dominated with [Ad][Ks] to his [Kc][Tc], the board running out [5h][5d][7h][9d][Qc] to send him home in 16th place. --KB

3:05pm: Phillipe Plouffe doubles through Joseph Gibbons
Phillipe Plouffe's stack has been rising and falling faster than the Dow Jones index today. Only minutes after busting Taylor von Kriegenbergh, Plouffe saw nearly all those chips go "poof" when he played a massive pot against David Stefanski right before the last break, Stefanski claiming all but 189,000 of Plouffe's stack. However, Plouffe is back on the rise after doubling through Joseph Gibbons in dramatic fashion.

Gibbons limped in, as he's prone to do, and Plouffe moved all-in for 265,000. After a long tank, Gibbons made the call and turned up the best hand-- pocket nines against Plouffe's [Kc][8c]. The [Qh][6c][2h] flop agreed with Gibbons, as did the [4d] on the turn, but the [Kd] spiked on the river, saving Plouffe's tournament life.

"Yes!" Plouffe exclaimed.

"F**k!" cried Gibbons, before apologizing for his profanity.

Gibbons is down to 300,000 while Plouffe is back up to 555,000. --KB

2:55pm: Redraw
With 16 players remaining, here's how they are seated now. --BW

Table 1
1. Aaron Overton
2. Vincent Rubianes
3. Vanessa Selbst
4. Dan Shak
5. Nenad Medic
6. Joe Tehan
7. Jacobo Fernandez
8. Ara Melikian

Table 2
1. Philippe Plouffe
2. Jean-Philippe Matte
3. David Stefanski
4. Thomas Hoglund Jr.
5. Joe Gibbons
6. Corey Hochman
7. Steve O'Dwyer
8. Tyler Kenney

2:54pm: Overton ousts Olivier
Aaron Overton opened for 36,000 on the button and Olivier Busquet three-bet to 65,000. Overton called the extra 29k, and they went heads-up to a [Ad][Js][5d] flop. Busquet checked, Overton bet 45,000 and Busquet called. The turn brought the [Kd] and Busquet moved all-in. Overton snap-called, revealing [Kc][Jd] to Busquet's pocket queens. The [3s] on the river sent Busquet to the rail in 17th place while Overton hit the million-chip mark.

With 16 players remaining, they're re-drawing for seats on two tables.--KB

2:48pm: Players are back in action
The third level of the day is underway. A fresh chip count is up on our chip counts page (just see that little black box on the right).--BW

LEVEL UP. BLINDS 8,000-16,000,2,000

2:12pm: Plouffe busts Von Kriegenbergh in 18th
Following a 27,000 opening raise from Taylor von Kriegenbergh Phillipe Plouffe moved all-in for 276,000 and Von Kriegenbergh made the call for his last 271,000. Unfortunately, his [Ad][Tc] was dominated, as Plouffe tabled the [Ah][Qc]. No help on the board for Von Kriegenbergh and he departed in 18th place. Plouffe can cool down a bit now, he's up to a far healthier 586,000 in chips. --KB

2:07pm: Plouffe steamy
Philippe Plouffe is not a weak man. He looks like the type of guy that could handle himself in a bar fight. RIght now is not the time to cross him. Moments ago, Corey Hochman came in for a raise to 26,000. Plouffe made it 80,000 to play. Hochman moved all-in for 348,000 and Plouffe snap-called with pocket kings. Up again Hochman's [as][kh], Plouffe was in good shape until the [ah] hit on the flop. Suffice it to say, the five-foot radius around Plouffe is now a place you enter only if you are collecting hazardous duty pay. --BW

2:00pm: Selbst invites Busquet to value-town, Busquet declines
Vanessa Selbst opened for 27,000 from under-the-gun and Olivier Busquet called from the big blind. Both players checked the [Ac][9s][7d] flop. The turn came the [5d] and Busquet checked again. Selbst bet 38,000 and Busquet came along. When the [Qh] hit the river, Busquet checked to Selbst who made it 48,000 to go. After a long think, Busquet folded. Selbst flashed the [6d][8h] for the turned straight.

"I was hoping to get some value there," she said. Busquet confessed to having a suited ace in diamonds for top pair on the flop and a flush draw on the turn. --KB

1:52pm: So long, Sandhu
Joe Tehan came in for a raise to 26,000 from the cutoff. Sukh Sandhu had 102,000 more and moved all-in. Tehan made the call with [9h][th]. Sanhu held [5c][5s]. He looked good on the [ac[2s][8d] flop, but that [js] turn and [qd] river ended his day in 19th place. --BW

1:35pm: Adam Geyer out in 20th
Adam Geyer met his tournament end following a battle of the blinds that saw him get the rest of his chips in the pot with [As][Tc] against David Stefanski's [Ad][Jd]. Stefanski hit top pair on the turn, the board running out [7h][8c][2s][Jd][6d] to send Geyer to the rail. Stefanski is up to 745,000. --KB

1:20pm: Tryba's day ends
An early-days chip leader, Chris Tryba could go no further than 21st place. The end came just now when he opened to 20,000. Jacobo Fernandez three-bet to 60,000. Tryba shoved for 184,000 total, and Fernandez made the call. Tryba's [6s][6h] was behind [jc][jh]. The board ran out [7c][8c][8s][as][8h] and Tryba headed for the rail. --BW

1:11pm: Back in action
The 21 remaining players are back in their seats and ready to play at 6,000-12,000-1,000. --BW

1:04pm: A few words from our chip leader
If you were wondering what was on Vanessa Selbst's mind as she sat down today with the chip lead, here's a little peek. --BW

LEVEL UP. BLINDS NOW 6,000-12,000-1,000

12:57pm: Battle of blinds ends Loman
Kyle Loman was down below 200,000 and in desperate need of a double-up. With [ah][jc] in the small blind, he didn't figure to get a better chance. Unfortunately for Loman, Steve O'Dwyer woke up with [ac][kc] in the big blind. O'Dwyers hand held and Loman left in 22nd place. Players are now on a 15-minute break. --BW

12:55pm: Phillipe Plouffe doubles through Adam Geyer
On the last hand before the break, Adam Geyer opened for 23,000 and got a call from Joe Tehan in the cutoff before Phillipe Plouffe shoved from the small blind. Geyer re-shoved and Tehan folded.

It was a standard race, Plouffe's [Ac][Jh] up against Geyer's [8h][8c]. Plouffe flopped a jack and turned an ace to double his stack to 440,000 while Geyer fell to 385,000. --KB

12:38pm: Eric Froehlich eliminated in 23rd place, Selbst nears 2 million
And the rich get richer.

Vanessa Selbst opened for 22,000 from the cutoff and Eric Froehlich made the call from the big blind. Froehlich checked the [Tc][9d][2d] flop over to Selbst, who made it 28,000 to go. Froehlich called, and the [Qc] landed on the turn. Froehlich checked, Selbst bet 62,000, Froehlich moved all-in, and Selbst snap-called, revealing a set of deuces. Froehlich needed serious help with [Js][Th] but he could not fill his straight draw on the river, the [Jh] falling instead to give him a no-good two pair. Froehlich hit the payout desk in 23rd while Selbst's stack crested the 2,000,000 mark. --KB

12:28pm: Jonathan Schroer eliminated in 24th place
Jonathan Schroer, our man of a thousand quirks (resting his head on the table during all-ins, scooting his chair three feet back from the table to peer at his hole cards) is Day 4's first casualty. After Thomas Hoglund opened for 21,000, Schroer shoved from the cutoff, only to have Dan Shak re-shove right behind him on the button. Hoglund folded and the cards went on their backs, Shak with pocket tens and Schroer with [Ad][Kc]. Schroer could not catch up on the [9h][5h][3c][Qd][6c] board and departed in 24th place, while Shak's stack rose to 670,000. --KB

12:21pm: Busquet takes it with a four-bet
Following Jean-Phillipe Matte's opening raise to 21,000, Nenad Medic made it 56,000 to go from middle position. The action folded to Olivier Busquet in the big blind, who made a cold four-bet to 100,000. Matte quickly folded and Medic, after quite a long tank, did the same.--KB

12:18pm: David Stefanski doubles through Joe Tehan
Adam Geyer opened for 22,000 from under-the-gun, Joe Tehan flat-called and David Stefanski moved all-in from the big blind. Geyer folded and Tehan called.

Stefanski: [As][Ks]
Tehan: [Ah][Qh]

No disasters for Stefanski on the [Ad][8c][4s][Jd][5d] board and he doubled to 322,000, leaving Tehan on 380,000. --KB

12:15pm: Joseph Gibbons doubles through Jacobo Fernandez
Jonathan Schroer led off the action with a raise to 22,000 and Joseph Gibbons called on the button before Jacobo Fernandez made it an additional 65,000 to go from the small blind. Schroer folded and after a long tank, Gibbons called. The flop came down [Kd][9c][7c] and Fernandez moved all-in,having Gibbons significantly covered. He snap-called, turning over [7d][7s] for bottom set while Fernandez revealed [As][Ks]. The set held through the [Tc] on the turn and the [2s] on the river, doubling Gibbons to 215,000. --KB

12:10pm: Play underway
The final 24 players have kicked off play for the day. As the cards went in the air on Table 1, the players started calling out their ages. Nenad Medic thought he was getting old at age 28. Olivier Busquet, on his way to 30, said he had Medic beat. The old man at the table, Jean-Philippe Matte, quietly informed them he was the senior member of the table at 30 years old. I've never felt so aged and decrepit. --BW

As we set up our gear this morning, a polite young man approached the media desk, asking where on the PokerStars Blog he could find the post containing the overnight chip counts.

"All I can find is last year's, when Vanessa Selbst was the chip leader," he said.

We informed him that no, he was not hallucinating, he had indeed found the correct post and that Selbst was once again the overnight chip leader following a Day 3 that saw the field trimmed from 74 to the 24 that will unbag their chips in about thirty minutes' time. Today's mission? To play down to a final table of eight that could very well include defending champion Selbst. Stacked at 1,406,000, she has a 383,000 lead over second-in-chips Vincent Rubianes, the only other player who has crossed the seven-figure mark.

For a full look at the chip counts and today's table draw, click over to the NAPT Mohegan Sun Day 4 seating assignments. We'll also be tracking the first day of the $10,000 Bounty Shootout, which is about to start its first flight over on the ESPN set.

Stick around, it's going to be a jam-packed day of poker up here in the Connecticut woods. We'll be underway at Noon with 48 minutes remaining in Level 19.

Reporting team (in order of 12-oz. cocktails consumed last night): Kristin "change100" Bihr (2), Brad Willis (0). Photography: Joe Giron

74 players returned to the felt for Day 3, 18 of them unfortunately departing without a penny to show for their work. Among them were Todd Terry, Greg Dyer, David Robinson, Ronnie Bardah, last season's 12th-place finisher Alan Sternberg, and Team Online's Andrew Brokos, whose pocket jacks fell to Andrew Weisner's ace-king. The bubble burst only a few minutes into Level 16. Nick Binger had already seen his pocket aces snapped off when four spades appeared on the board, making Adam Junglen the nut flush with [As][Qd]. The two tangoed again in the bubble hand, Binger getting his stack in before the flop with [Qs][Qh] against Junglen's [Ac][Jh]. Everything looked fine for Binger until an ace spiked on the river to crack his queens.

"Bubbling builds character," Binger told us after the dust had settled. "I have this reserve of character that just keeps growing and growing." We wish we shared his zen attitude, as at least one of us has the tendency to hurl objects and punch walls in that very situation.

Three Team Pros survived the bubble-- Greg DeBora, Victor Ramdin, and defending champion Selbst. Our blonde Canadian friend was the first of them to depart, DeBora losing a race with pocket sixes against Christopher Kirkwood's ace-queen to go out in 49th place. Ramdin, after a trademark up-and-down day followed him out the door a short time later. Following an 18,000 under-the-gun raise from Joseph Gibbons, Adam Geyer called on the button and Ramdin put the squeeze on from the small blind, moving all-in for his last 53,500. Nenad Medic tanked for an age in the big blind before four-bet shoving for 206,000, a move that folded out both Gibbons and Geyer. Ramdin's [Tc][Td] couldn't catch Medic's [Jd][Js] and he exited in 31st place.

Aside from Vanessa Selbst's remarkable run at back-to-back titles, another one of the day's headlines belonged to Steve O'Dwyer. Down to only 10,000 in chips with an hour left to play on Day 2, O'Dwyer managed to grind his stack back up to the 108,700 he bagged up at the end of the night. Today, nothing could stop him. He started the day by doubling up through mega-stacked Aaron Overton with pocket aces again [Ah][Kc]. He knocked out Jesse Kremer when he flopped a set of sevens against [Ah][Qh] and did the same to Michael Quibble when he picked up pocket aces and Quibble shoved with sevens. With 36 players remaining, O'Dwyer lead the pack with 770,000 and finished Day 3 with a formidable 507,000.

O'Dwyer's reign at the top didn't last long. The bullet train that is Vanessa Selbst vaulted to 833,000 in chips after getting maximum value when she turned a straight with [7d][8d] against Jean-Phillippe Matte's pocket jacks. It wasn't quite the OMG she did WHAT moment like last night's five-bet shove with [4d][8d], but it sure did the job.

For a while there, we thought the Day 3 chip lead would certainly belong to Vincent Rubianes, a man with a traffic-stopping head of hair who cashed this event last season in 71st place. Rubianes arrived this morning with an average stack and steadily built it all afternoon, reaching a high-water mark of 1.4 million after eliminating Ruben Costa in a million-chip pot. He'd play another one by night's end, this one a game-changer involving our defending champion.

Olivier Busquet led off the action with a raise to 21,000. Rubianes three-bet to 55,000 before Selbst four-bet to 109,000 on the button. Busquet folded and Rubianes called. The flop fell [Tc][5d][2c] and Rubianes checked to Selbst, who bet 129,000. He made the call and they went to the turn which landed the [Jc]. Both players checked. The river was a fourth club, the [3c] and Rubianes checked a third time, leaving the door open for Selbst to bet 296,000. After a long, tortured tank, he made the call. Selbst turned over [Kc][Ks] for the second-nut flush and Rubianes mucked. The pot gave Selbst the chip lead with 1,406,000 while Rubianes slipped to 1,023,000, still good for second place.

We'll be back tomorrow at Noon when our 24 contenders play down to a final table of eight. If you missed any of the action today (or would just like to re-live it), click on either of the links below.

That's all for now. There's some Chinese food and a karaoke bar waiting for us.

All photography © Joe Giron/www.joegironphotography.com

6:36pm: Selbst ends day with chip lead
Last year's NAPT Mohegan Sun champion has ended Day 3 with the chip lead after a massive hand against Vincent Rubianes.

It began when Olivier Busquet came in for a raise to 21,000. Rubianes made it 51,000 to play. With the button, Selbst bumped it up to 109,000. Busquet got out of the way, but Rubianes called.

On a flop of [2c][5d][tc], Rubianes checked-called Selbst's 129,000 bet. On the [jc] turn, both players checked. When the river brought the fourth club, the [3c], Rubianes checked again. Selbst took her time in betting, but finally settled on 296,000. Rubianes sat tortured. He threw his head back and looked into the ceiling. When he emerged for his tank, he announced a call.

Selbst turned over [ks][kc]. Rubianes said, "It's good," and shoved his hand toward the muck.

We're still counting up the chips, but there is little doubt Selbst will enter Day 4 with the chip lead.

Moments later, Leonard Cortellino got [ks][qc] all in against Sukh Sandhu's pocket fours. The pair held and we were down to the final 24. A full wrap-up and chip counts are on the way. --BW

6.20pm: A quarter left
In short order, we've also lost the short-stacked Gerald Aiello and Eracles Panayiotou, leaving us with 25 players left. One more needs to perish and day is done. -- HS

6.15pm: Rubianas crushes Costa, breaks a million
At the recent break, Vincent Rubianes told reporters that his chip count was 980,000, then nodded agreeably when someone piped up: "Good day." It has just got even better for Rubianes because he has sent one of the other mighty stacks, Ruben Costa, to the rail in a massive pre-flop confrontation, worth more than a million chips.

Eric Froehlich opened, making it 24,000 and Rubianes raised to 55,000. Costa announced that he was all in - a stack of 450,000 - and although Froehlich folded, Rubianes called!

Rubianes: [kd][ks]
Costa: [10c][10d]

The board bricked, Costa was sent packing and Rubianes has close to 1.5 million, which puts him massively in the lead. -- HS

LEVEL UP. PLAYING BLINDS OF 5,000-10,000-1,000 IN LEVEL 19

5.55pm: Level over
That's the end of level 17. There will now be a 15-minute interlude.

5:50pm: Junglen can't beat kings
Joe Tehan came in for a raise to 19,000. Adam Junglen pushed for about 100,000 more. Tehan made the quick call with [kh][kc]. Junglen's [ac][js] was behind and never caught up. Tehan flopped a set that held and sent Junglen out for a $10,500 cash. --BW

5.45pm: Ebanks busts
There are no more details than what you see there in the headline. Joe Ebanks is out. -- HS

5.40pm: Can anyone stop Vanessa Selbst?
We've said it before and we'll say it again: something about Mohegan Sun agrees with Vanessa Selbst. She is now very close to the chip lead on day three after doubling up to 833,000 through Jean-Philippe Matte.

Selbst flat-called a pre-flop raise from Matte, taking the two of them to a flop of [5s][9c][3d]. Matte checked, Selbst bet 32,000, and Matte called. The pattern repeated on the [6h] turn. Matte checked, Selbst bet 63,000, Matte called.

And how about one more time? The [3c] rivered and Matte checked, Selbst moved all in for 296,000, which Matte called. Selbst tabled [7d][8d] for the turned straight, which had become much better than Matte's pocket jacks.

Selbst is relentless, we already know that. But back-to-back here would be some achievement even for her. -- HS

5.30pm: Ramdin bites the dust
Vanessa Selbst is the only remaining Team PokerStars Pro in the field, which is the long way to say that Victor Ramdin has been eliminated.

This hand sounds a lot more complicated than it really was, and involved a lot of hand-wringing and chin scratching from four players, before shaking down to be a pair versus over-pair.

It started when Joseph Gibbons opened under-the-gun to 18,000. Adam Geyer called on the button, before Ramdin announced that he was all in for his last 53,500 from the small blind.

Nenad Medic was probably expected to fold his big blind at this spot, but he actually agonised for a good long while before announcing that he was all in too, for 206,000. Gibbons seemed interested, but folded. Geyer never seemed interested, and folded too.

That left the two of them:

Ramdin: [10c][10d]
Medic: [jd][js]

"I need a ten," said Ramdin, but it soon proved that that was the last thing he really wanted. The flop came [qc][as][kd] and Ramdin quickly corrected himself. "I want a jack." But verbal declarations are binding, and the [10s] turned, as Ramdin has first desired, but it now gave Medic a decisive straight.

The [3s] was not one of the chop cards, and Ramdin hit the rail. -- HS

5.15pm: Gibbons doubles, Junglen slips
It is going nuts now out there with huge pot following huge pot and players milling all over the place as they try to consolidate the final 32 around four tables. Ad Dan Shak et al heaved their mighty stacks over from their broken table, Adam Junglen and Joseph Gibbons were involved in a pot, which bucked the general bust out trend. In fact Gibbons doubled up.

Vincent Rubianes started it, raising to 25,000. Gibbons called from a couple of seats to his left and, in the small blind, Junglen eaised to 64,000. Rubianes folded but Gibbons moved all in for 145,500, which Junglen called after a moment of thought.

Junglen: [jd][jh]
Gibbons: [kh][qh]

The flop sent Gibbons fist-pumping to his rail. It came [7c][4s][qs]. The [ah] turn changed nothing, and neither did the [10c] river.

Gibbons now has about 300,000. Junglen is down to 140,000.

About two seconds after this, Matt Matros bust from another table, bringing us down to 31. -- HS

5:14pm: Royalty no match for Geyer
Bryan Leskowitz did all he could today, but his all-in with [ks][qd] couldn't outrun Adam Geyer's pocket tens. The board ran out [8s][9d][ah][[8c][ad] and Leskowitz headed to the cage in 33rd place. --BW

5:12pm: Rubianes running the table
With the board reading [Tc][4d][Kd][Js] on the turn, Vincent Rubianes checked to Adam Junglen, who bet 32,000. Rubianes called, and the [Jh] hit the river. Rubianes checked again, Junglen bet 48,000 and Rubianes raised to 212,000. Junglen folded with a small sigh, saving the 280,000 he had behind while Rubianes moved into the chip lead with 785,000. --KB

5:10pm: Mermelstein is going to Mexico
It looks like Andrew Mermelstein will make that wedding in Mexico after all. After opening from the button, Mermelstein faced a three-bet from Dan Shak in the small blind. Mermelstein called, and they saw a J-T-8 flop. Shak moved all-in, having his opponent covered and Mermelstein made the call, turning up J-8 for top and bottom pair. Shak showed pocket aces. Mermelstein, however, was drawing dead on the turn when Shak spiked another ace to make top set. Shak filled up on the river when the board paired tens and Mermelstein was off to the payout desk, then the airport.

The pot took Shak up to 525,000.--KB

5pm: Tryba ousts Kirkwood, back beyond 300,000
The day one leader Chris Tryba is still in this one, and has now knocked out Christopher Kirkwood, all but doubling up in the process. Tryba limped from early position, which also prompted Joe Tehan to limp. Kirkwood didn't smell anything too suspicious and shoved from the small blind for about 140,000. Tryba snap called. (Tehan did not.)

It was pair versus pair, but Tryba's queens were better than Kirkwood's sevens. The board bricked and Kirkwood was sent packing. There was only the odd 40,000 difference between the stacks but Tryba's was the bigger and is now at 300,000+. -- HS

4:58pm: Geyer smells a rat, Weisner smells the rail
On a [7d][6d][5s] flop, Andrew Weisner moved all in for 92,500. Geyer thought for several minutes before making the call with [kc][5d]. Weisner turned up the flush and straight draws with [ad][4d]. Somehow, the pair of fives held and Weisner is gone. --BW

4.55pm: Right back at ya
The problem with three bets is that sometimes people four bet right back at them - as Taylor von Kriegenbergh could no doubt attest. It happened to him in back-to-back pots against Olivier Busquet and then Ruben Costa, costing him about 100,000 chips total.

First up, Busquet opened to 20,000 from early position and Von Kriegenbergh, in the big blind, made it 55,000. Busquet now four bet to 96,000, which left Von Kriegenbergh smiling and muttering: "That's an illegal bet" as he folded.

On the next hand, Costa raised from the button to 17,000 and Von Kriegenbergh bumped it to 45,000. Costa slid out 100,000 straight, and Von Kriegenbergh was forced to fold again. Costa showed [kh][8h].

All three players still have between 350,000-450,000, so there's no need for panic just yet. -- HS

4:48pm: Updated chip counts
Get 'em while they're fresh! Chip counts on all 36 of our remaining players are up on the NAPT chip count page. Over the last level, Steve O'Dwyer moved into the lead with 770,000 while Victor Ramdin is the shortest stack in the room right now with 66,500. --KB

4.40pm: Take a longer break
First hand back after the break, and Vincent Rubianes has sent David Weisberger back to the hall. Rubianes raised to 19,500 pre-flop in late position, Weisberger shoved behind him and Rubianes snap-called.

Rubianes had aces; Weisberger had [ad][jh] and could not catch up. Weisberger is our 37th-place finisher. -- HS

LEVEL UP. BLINDS 4,000-8,000-500

4:24pm: A vulture's view of Victor Ramdin
It all began when Adam Geyer opened for a raise and Victor Ramdin moved all-in. He only had [ad][tc], but it was probably going to be enough to beat Geyer. The problem was Gerald Aiello in the big blind who woke up with pokert queens. Aiello had 54,500 in his stack and Ramdin was left crippled.

Ramdin laughed and told Aiello, "That was a raise and a re-raise. You were supposed to fold!"

That's when the vultures started to circle. Ramdin would be gone soon, and his demise would be late afternoon snack.

Ramdin was all-in on the next hand for 7,500. Called in two spots, Ramdin looked ready to find something to do tonight. The Team Pro was holding ace-king and didn't improve. His opponents couldn't beat ace-high.

"Oh, baby," Ramdin declared. "Ship that cheese!"

On the next deal, Ramdin was under the gun and all-in again. "Here we go. This is a real hand, folks." Play folded around to the big blind. "Don' fold," Ramdin implored. "You're pot-committed. Just call dark. I'm not going to be pissed."

Ramdin got the fold he wanted. "Thank you," he said. "I had eight-high." He showed it. It was Vanessa Selbst's [8d][4d]

Now in the big blind, Ramdin warned, "You guys know I'm pot-committed, right?"

Everything Ramdin says is a lie. Or the truth. It's hard to figure out which or when. He folded to a raise, and then folded to a raise in the small blind. With 30,000 in his stack, he pulled the button in front of him and folded to a raise. He did the same when he was in the cutoff.

"If I bust here, I'll go ship the Super Tuesday," Ramdin said.

"Victor," I interrupted. "Today is Monday."

"I'll have to stick around then," he said.

Finally, on the last hand before the break, Ramdin pushed out 28,500 in chips. "All of it, guys," he said. "This could hurt your stack."

One player folded. "Nit," said Ramdin.

Another player folded. "Another nit," Ramdin said.

Andre Weisner was having none of it. He moved all-in.

"Show me ace-queen," Ramdin said. Weisner turned over [as][qs].

Ramdin tabled pocket threes. The board tan out [jh][tc][2h][7c][ts] and Victor Ramdin was back where he started.

"Oh, baby," Ramdin said again. "I love this game." --BW

4:20pm: Heimowitz hits the road
Once again, ace-queen has yielded quite a nice pot for Adam Junglen. This time, Lonnie Heimowitz shoved for his last 80,000 from the button with [Ah][9h] and Junglen made the call from the big blind with [Ad][Qh]. Junglen's kicker played on the [Ac][Jh][3c][4h][Kd] board and Heimowitz exited in 38th place.

Junglen, meanwhile, is up to 540,000. --KB

4:12pm: Nenad Medic doubles
With the action folded around to him on the button, Christopher Kirkwood opened for 14,500 and Nenad Medic moved all-in for 106,000. Kirkwood didn't take long to make the call, turning up [Ah][Td] to Medic's [8s][8c]. The eights were safe on the [Qc][3h][2c][4c][6d] board and Medic doubled to just short of 225,000. --KB

4.10pm: Kenney trims the beast's claws
Olivier Busquet described Joe Ebanks as "a beast" earlier on today, referring to Ebanks' ability to cling on to tournament life when times are bad and then suddenly burst forward to earn bundles of chips when the opportunity arises. Ebanks has been a short stack for a couple of days, but then suddenly had more than 200,000 on a recent trip round the room.

He pushed Eric Froehlich off a couple of pots to get those chips, but just as it seemed he could do no wrong, along came Tyler Kenney to stop him in his tracks.

Ebanks raised to 13,500 from the hijack, something he's been doing from all positions on regular occasions. Kenney called in the cut off. The flop came [jh][7h][6c] and Ebanks bet 18,000. Kenney called. The turn was [9h] and Ebanks led 41,000 at that, which spurred Kenney into gear.

Kenney, sitting the other side of the dealer, asked Ebanks how much he was playing behind. Ebanks mutely pushed his chips forward a little for Kenney to see. "How much is that?" Kenney sought confirmation. The dealer did the necessary and said Ebanks had about 164,000 more.

Kenney thought for a while but then cut out a raise to 93,000, which sent Ebanks deep into the tank. He dwelled for a good long while before folding. "You going to show?" Ebanks said.

Kenney didn't seem that he had intended to, but was persuaded to flip over a [7s]. Ebanks nodded and on they went. -- HS

3:54pm: Sweeney's swan song
Ara Melikian opened for 13,500 and the action was folded around to Joe Sweeney, who moved all-in for only a few thousand more. Melikian quickly called with [Ah][Kh], while Sweeney's tournament life was at stake with [Qh][Th]. The [Tc][6h][2h] flop was juicy for both players, Sweeney hitting top pair while Melikian picked up the nut flush draw. The turn was the [8c], but the [As] spiked on the river to send Sweeney home in 39th place. --KB

3:39pm: Adieu, Lachance and Whalen
On back-to-back hands we've lost Ludovic Lachance and David Whalen. Lachance got his last few chips in with [as][qc] vs. Matt Matros' [jd][9c]. The board, [6d][8h][5d][7d][ad], ran out a straight for Matros, and Lachance was gone.

One table over, David Whalen was shoving with [ad][td] to Ara Melikian's [ah][kh]. Melikian held, and Whalen is gone. --BW

3:32pm: Markholt finally falls to Selbst
Vanessa Selbst seemed to be making a habit of doubling up Lee Markholt today. It happened more times than we could count. Nonetheless, at some point in the last half an hour, Markholt somehow lost a majority of his chips.

Just now, his last few antes went in the pot. Both he and Selbst had a jack. Markholt's deuce kicker couldn't hold up against Selbst's eight and he's gone. --BW

3.30pm: Two (vaguely) interesting facts
The day one and day two end-day chip leaders, Chris Tryba and Aaron Overton, are sitting next to one another.
Jacobo Fernandez and the aforementioned Overton are now out front alone, with about 780,000 apiece. -- HS

3:25pm: Junglen busts Papola
Jeff Papola took a coinflip for his tournament life, getting the rest of his chips in the middle before the flop with pocket sevens against Junglen's A-Q. Big Chick once again proved to be a lucky hand for Junglen (it cracked Nick Binger's aces in the first level), as he rivered the [Qs] to eliminate Papola in 43rd place. --KB

3:20pm: Plouffe flops the nuts
Phillipe Plouffe opened for a 13,500 raise from the hijacks, Matt Matros three-bet to 35,000 and Plouffe made the call. Both players checked the [Kc][6c][5c] flop and checked again when the [Ad] fell on the turn. The river was the [3s] and Plouffe led out for 45,000. After a minute or so in the tank, Matros made what looked to be a reluctant call.

Plouffe showed [Ac][Qc] for the flopped nut flush and Matros mucked.

"If it had been a low flop, you would have got it all," Matros said as Plouffe stacked up the pot. Matros is down to 215,000 while Plouffe is hovering around the 400,000 mark. --KB

3:15pm: Steve O'Dwyer and the anti-slowroll
Following an opening raise from Steve O'Dwyer, Michael Quibble moved all-in, and with the following declaration, O'Dwyer beat him into the pot.

"I have aces, I call."

O'Dwyer's [Ac][Ah] held up against Quibble's [7s][7d] on the [Kc][9h][Ts][4s][Kh] board and O'Dwyer vaulted to 556,000 in chips while Quibble departed in 44th place. --KB

3.05pm: Leaders
We enter level 17 with 45 players remaining. Aaron Overton started today out front, and he remains there still with close to 800,000 in chips. However there are a few other players creeping up behind him, including the following:

Reporting team: Kristin Bihr, Howard Swains and Brad Willis. Photography: Joe Giron.

Whalen raised to 12,000 from the button, but was met with resistance from Ara Melikian in the big blind. Melikian three bet to 30,000. Whalen announced that he was all in, covering Melikian, who shrugged as though he had no choice but to call. He had made the right decision.

Whalen tabled [10s][4s], up against Melikian's [qh][qs]. And the board ran [8h][ad][jc][js][8c], which was no good for the under-cards.

Melikian had 151,500, and doubled it. Whalen was chopped to about 150,000 of his own. -- HS

2:39pm: Now that we're in the money...
With the bubble now behind us, the remaining players have at least $7,500 to play around with tonight. So, we asked them if they were going to start splurging, what would they do?--BW

2:36pm: O'Dwyer: "I can't be stopped"
Steve O'Dwyer opened from under the gun with[7c][7d] to 12,500. Jesse Kremer wasted no time pushing all-in. O'Dwyer wasted no time in calling to see Kremer's [ah][qh]. The [7s] flopped and Kremer headed for the rail. --BW

2.25pm: George straightened out
Taylor von Kriegenbergh, Olivier Busquets and Gil George were at a flop - [6h][9d][7s] - but it was only Busquets who had a decision. The reason for that was that with about 120,000 already in the middle, George was all in for about 180,000 total and Von Kriegenbergh had already called. Busquets had to decide if he wanted to call too. He didn't, and he had made a wise choice.

George showed his [9s][10s] for top pair, with a gutshot. But one of his outs was in the hand of Von Kriegenbergh, whose [5s][8d] represented the made straight.

The turn and river bricked and George was gone. Von Kriegenbergh added another couple of hundred thousand to his stack, and he now has more than 400,000. -- HS

2:25pm: Wong follows DeBora out the door
The bust outs are happening faster than we can write them now. The two most recent are Jerry Wong who fell victim to Steve O'Dwyer. That happened just moments after Team PokerStars Pro's Greg DeBora lost a race with pocket sixes versus Christopher Kirkwood's ace-queen. --BW

2:15pm: Bad luck Bernard
Bernard Lee just departed the room, muttering to himself after his pocket tens fell to Thomas Hoglund's pocket sevens. All the chips went in before the flop, Hoglund flopping a set as the board ran out [7d][2s][5c][9d][6h]. And apparently, this underpair-beats-overpair scenario had played out before.

"Are you kidding me? Second time this hour!" Lee exclaimed as he departed the table. --KB

1:51pm: Junglen gets Binger again, Binger bubbles
It's not been too many minutes since Adam Junglen cracked Nick Binger's aces after hitting a flush. Now, he's just done it again, using [ac][jh] to crack Binger's [qs][qh]. They were all-in pre-flop and Binger was good until the [ah] hit on the river.

With that, the money bubble broke. The final 56 players now cash for at least $7,500.

"I keep telling people, bubbling builds character. I have this reserve of character that just keeps growing and growing," Binger said. --BW

1.45pm: Kenney doubles, here comes the bubble
As hand-for-hand play approaches - the sign of the bubble - Tyler Kenney has just doubled up through Olivier Busquet. Kenney raised to 12,000 from mid-position and Busquet made it 27,500 from the small blind. The next bit happened in a flash: "I'm all in," said Kenney. "Call," said Busquet, but then: "Ouch."

Busquet had [9d][9c], Kenney had [10d][10s] and the board brought another ten. Kenney lived to fight on with about 150,000. Busquet has something like that too. -- HS

BLINDS UP, PLAYING 2,500-5,000-500 BLINDS IN LEVEL 16

1:22pm: Jeff Papola doubles through Corey Hochman
As most of the field departed for break, Jeff Papola check-raised all in on a [Td][7d][5s] flop for his last 98,700. After a long tank, Corey Hochman called with [Ac][Th], his top pair, top kicker leading Papola's open-ended straight draw with [6c][8c]. The turn blanked with the [3s], but Papola binked the [9d] on the river to double up to 355,000. Hochman was left with 300,000. --KB

1:20pm: Markholt doubles through Selbst
Vanessa Selbst looked like she really didn't want to call. After she put in a preflop reraise to 23,200, Lee Markholt shoved for an additional 31,600. Selbst sighed and called, turning over [Ad][9h] while Markholt tabled pocket queens. The board ran out [Jd][8s][3d][Ts][2s] and Markholt doubled to 110,000. Selbst is still quite healthily-stacked at 315,000. --KB

1:18pm: Ronnie Bardah eliminated
Most of Ronnie Bardah's remaining chips went "poof" in a preflop all-in, his [Ad][Qs] falling to Greg Ostrander's pocket queens. Bardah was left with only 11,000 and although he was able to double up once, he made his last stand with king-queen only to run into Ruben Costa's ace-queen. Although Bardah flopped top pair on the [Kd][Ts][3s] flop, Costa picked up a flush draw on the turn with the [9s] and filled his gutshot straight draw on the river with the [Jd], sending Bardah to the rail. --KB

1:10pm: Ramdin rebounding
After a first level that saw Victor Ramdin lose most of his stack, the Team PokerStars Pro has pulled another of his patented rebounds. This time he four-bet shoved in his last 71,000 into the middle. Ciaran Begley-Cater struggled with whether to call.

"Seven more players until the money," Ramdin said.

"I'm not really concerned with that," Begley-Cater said. "I'm just looking for a better hand to go out on."

He finally decided to call with [ac][qc]. This time Ramdin had [as][ah] and the aces held. Ramdin had his man covered by half an ante. Begley-Cater is gone. Ramdin is now back close to 200,000.--BW

1:02pm: Broke-os
Andrew Brokos was the last player in the field flying the mighty red spade for Team Online, but has unfortunately played his final hand at the NAPT Mohegan Sun. Brokos opened from the hijack, Andrew Weisner three-bet to 32,500 from the cutoff and Brokos shoved for his remaining 110,000. Weisner made the call with A-K and hit top pair on the [Kh][7d][5d][Td][Qc] board to outrun Brokos' pocket jacks.

Weisner is up to 270,000. --KB

1pm: Lee peers to the heavens
While about 60 heads were fixed downwards, peering at cards and chips, Bernard Lee's face was staring skyward in obvious dismay. He had just taken pocket jacks against Ronald Eaton's pocket nines, all in pre-flop. Eaton spiked a nine on the turn to outdraw Lee and double up.

It's hardly terminal for Lee, who still has about 150,000. Eaton's double puts him narrowly into six figures too. -- HS

12:52pm: Junglen cracks Binger's aces
Adam Junglen opened for 10,000, Nick Binger reraised to 26,100 and Junglen four-bet shoved for his remaining 97,000. Binger snap-called with pocket aces, leaving Junglen in dire shape with [As][Qd].

The all-spade flop, [8s][4s][2s], however, gave Junglen the nut flush draw and to a few cries of "so sick," filled it on the turn with the [Js]. The meaningless river card was the [Tc] and Junglen doubled to 203,000. Binger was left with 137,000, but there were no hard feelings.

"I did the same thing yesterday to a guy in a huge pot," Binger said. "Only fair." --KB

12:49pm: Terry=toast
After shoving his heart out since the start of play today, overnight short stack Todd Terry has met his tournament end. Terry moved all-in for his last 30,000 or so from UTG+1 and Ludovic Lachance made an easy call from the big blind with [Ah][Kh].

"I have three outs," Terry said as he turned over [As][8s].

Terry was drawing dead on the turn, the board running out [Kh][7d][3c][Ad][Kd] to send him home. --KB

12:42pm: Fernandez rush continues
This is one of those "must be nice" days for Jacabo Fernandez. It's not been half an hour since he picked up aces versus Victor Ramdin's top pair and took the Team Pro for a third of his stack. Just now, Adam Junglen came in for a raise to 9,500 from the button. Ramdin three-bet from the small blind to 23,000. Fernandez sized up both his opponents' stacks. He covered them both. That decided, he moved all-in. Junglen snap-folded. Ramdin took his time, but did the same. Fernandez flashed [ks][kd] and pocketed another 33,000. Ramdin looks less than pleased. --BW

12.40pm: (Un)Happy Eyster, Greg DeBora
Greg DeBora has been slowly moving through the gears in this tournament, and he is now a force having eliminated Kevin Eyster. Eyster was an overnight short-stack and moved it all in in late position, a total of something like 55,000.

DeBora found pocket sixes and called, racing against Eyster's [jc][9c]. The board only helped DeBora when it came [4h][7s][6s][4s][9s]. That put the Team PokerStars Pro Canada beyond 200,000. -- HS

12:33pm: Brindise rides roller-coaster, crashes
William Brindise's day didn't start out too badly. He almost immediately doubled up with pocket aces against Jonathan Schroer's pocket queens to take his stack past the 130,000 mark. Only a few hands later, the two got involved again, Schroer making a raise from middle position and Brindise three-betting to 21,500 only to have Schroer move all-in for 68,500. Schroer rested his head on the table while Brindise tanked (a move that worked quite well for him yesterday, and was finally roused when Brindise declared "You win, wake up!"

Brindise, however, did not fare as well against Joseph Gibbons. The two got their stacks in preflop, Brindise with [Ah][Qh] against Gibbons' [Qd][Qc]. The board brought no help for Brindise, and he shipped all but 9,500 of his chips across the table. Those chips went in the middle on the very next hand, his [6s][7h] up against Joe Ebanks' [Ad][9s]. Although Brindise picked up a flush draw on the [Ah][8h][5h] flop, he couldn't fill it, the turn and river falling the [Js] and the [2c] to send him to the rail. --KB

12:32pm: Treys still don't beat kings
Michael Clark started the day with a mere 46,600 and needed an early double up if he was going to make the money. He went for it with pocket threes. Too bad for him that Matt Matros was sitting on pocket kings. Nothing silly happened, and Clark is gone short of the money. --BW

12.30pm: Even Overton can't crack aces
Aaron Overton's day has already been eventful, and we're not even 30 minutes into it. The overnight chip leader arrived slightly late, munched down a granola bar, was mistaken for a 22-year-old by Joe Tehan, pushed Ben Nakhoul off a pot and then doubled up Steve O'Dwyer.

The first few parts of that story perhaps aren't that fascinating, but the last part is more interesting - particularly for Mr O'Dwyer and his fans.

O'Dwyer opened from middle position to 9,000 and Overton, on the button, took a while before re-raising to 35,000, for the second pot in a row. Everyone folded back to O'Dwyer, who went into the tank before moving all in for close to his starting stack of 108,000. Overton snap-called.

Overton: [ah][kc]
O'Dwywer: [ad][ac]

The board blanked and the aces held, putting O'Dwyer up beyong 200,000. Overton slipped to about 500,000, which is still enough to keep him comfortably in the chip lead. He is, however, mortal. -- HS

12:23pm: Bad start for Ramdin
The day is not starting as Victor Ramdin intended. He just lost more than a third of his stack after getting it in three ways with [qd][jd] on a [jh][3c][2c] flop. The bulk of that money went to Jacobo Fernandez who held [as][ad]. The much smaller main pot slid to Ciaran Begley-Cater, who was sitting with [qc][jc]. Begley-Cater started the day with only 35,000. He tripled up on that hand when the [9c] came on the turn. Fernandez still pulled 101,000 from Ramdin in the side pot. Ramdin is now back down to around the average stack. --BW

12.20pm: Double down
Greg Dyer and Alan Sternberg, both short stacks at the start of play, are out. Details to follow. Or not, depending on whether any of my colleagues saw the action. (Get your money on "not".) -- HS

12.15pm: Early skirmishes
Play is under way almost right on cue, and action is already brisk. On table nine, Dan O'Brien has been the early aggressor, taking down two small pots.

In the first one, Jerry Wong opened for 9,000 in early position, which Philippe Plouffe called a couple of seats to his left. O'Brien, on the button, made it 25,100 and squeezed them both out.

Next hand, O'Brien raised to 8,000 in the cut off and Michael Quibble called in the big blind. The flop came [qd][9h][10h] and after Quibble checked, O'Brien bet 6,800.

Quibble raised, asking an 18,000 chip question. But O'Brien responded by sliding in 31,200 - and that was enough.

On a neighbouring table, Todd Terry, the overnight short-stack, doubled up very early. Ludovic Lachance made it 8,500, Terry moved in for his 26,000 total and after a small dwell, and everyone else getting out the way, Lachance called.

"If you took that long, I feel good," said Terry, showing [as][9s]. That started ahead of Lachance's [ah][2h] and stayed there all the way on a [4d][ks][kh][5s][8c] board. Terry remains. -- HS

11.30am: The race to 50
In PokerStars Blog land, the race to 50 was won at a canter by our photographer Joe Giron. Some time ago, the erstwhile hellraiser hung up his cans of hairspray and calf-hugging stonewashes to enter his dotage amid the snarks of the poker fraternity. This time last year Giron celebrated his half-century with a night in a Connecticut motel, a bag of Atomic Fireballs and a bump on the head.

Today at Mohegan Sun, we start another race to 50. From a starting field of 387 at the $5,000 Main Event, only 74 remain. The target by close of play tonight is 24 players, which means we need to shed 50. That's what this long-winded introduction is basically labouring its way towards saying: day three of this tournament requires us to lose 50 players until it is done.

The first hurdle will be the money bubble. Only 56 players will be paid, which means 14 players returning this afternoon will not receive any remuneration for their week's efforts. Play tends to slow as that landmark approaches, but once its done we could race to a conclusion. However it plays out, it should be a thriller.

Play is due to start at noon.

Reporting team: Kristin Bihr, Howard Swains and Brad Willis. Photography: Joe Giron.

If you're not familiar with the name Aaron Overton as its applies to the poker world, you can be forgiven. To date, that name has been associated with just two cashes in major tournaments, the biggest of which was a $20,000 139th place cash in this year's PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. The man from Philadelphia, a dark horse at the outset of the NAPT's Season 2 event at the Mohegan Sun, is working to make you remember his name.

As the lights go down on Day 2, Overton sits atop the leaderboard with 598,700 in chips, well enough to get him to the money on Day 3. He has a 200,000 chip lead on his nearest challenger Aaron Mermelstein (382,500), a man who has been trying to get to a wedding in Mexico and can't seem to lose his chips.

When play began Sunday afternoon, 230 people had a chance at the Season 2 title. As the bags make their way toward their overnight home in lockdown, fewer than 80 players have a reason to come back here tomorrow. In a field as tough as this one has been, you're bound to recognize many of the names.

A year ago tomorrow, Vanessa Selbst and Mike Beasley fought heads-up for the first NAPT Mohegan Sun title. Selbst snagged it and carved her own path to the stables of Team PokerStars Pro. Today, Selbst again firmed up her reputation as one of the most unpredictable players in poker.

In one of the last hands of the night, she five-bet shoved an average stack into the middle with [8d][4d]. She ran right into aces and crushed them after making a straight on the river. "I haven't done that to somebody in a long time," she said. "I do stupid (stuff) sometimes." So, tonight there remains the chance Selbst and Beasley could repeat their performance from Season 1. Selbst enters Day 3 with 339,200. Beasley is right where he was last year at this point with a near average stack.

It's just been one month since Team PokerStars Pro Victor Ramdin won The Big Event at The Bicycle Casino. Today he rode his trademark Ramdin Roller Coaster to its highest peak. He will return on Monday with 296,100, good for one of the top spots on the leaderboard. He and fellow Team PokerStars Pro Greg DeBora (164,400), and Team Online's Andrew Brokos (127,200) are all set to return for tomorrow's fight for one of the 56 spots in the money.

We've posted some selected chip counts over on our NAPT Mohegan Sun chip counts page. At some point in the very near future, we expect the full overnight chip counts. You'll find them in the same place.

Selbst will be the only Vanessa sitting down on Day 3. After finishing in tenth last year, Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Rousso stormed through the first day and half of this year's main event, only to end up finishing out of the money, a victim of Day 2's finishing chip leader, Overton. She joined PokerStars flag-bearers Jonathan Duhamel, Joe Cada, Jason Mercier, PatPezzin, and George Lind III on the rail.

If you'd like to see the nitty and gritty of Day 2, click on any of the links below.

Levels 9 & 10
Levels 11 & 12
Levels 13-14

If that's not enough to keep you busy, check in with the superlative reporting from EPT Berlin. The wrap was so good, they wrote it twice.

NAPT Mohegan Sun play will resume Monday at noon ET when the remaining players return to fight for the final 24 seats. Join us then for live coverage and all the Aarons you can handle.

All photography from Mohegan Sun is ©Joe Giron/www.joegironphotography.com.

We'll have a full wrap shortly.--KB

8:51pm: Selbst's five-bet shove...
No time to do this hand justice, as players are starting to bag their chips, but with just a couple hands left to play, Vanessa Selbst five-bet shoved for a better than average stack with [8d][4d]. She ran straight into aces. And she got there for a pot worth more than 300,000. The board ran out [jd][6d][5c][5s][7s]. "I have not done that to someone in a long time," she said to us. To her shell-shocked opponent, she said, "It was a great play. You got me. I thought you had nothing and you owned me. I don't know what to say. 'm sorry, but I'm not really sorry." --BW

8:45pm: Stop the clock
The clock was just stopped with ten minutes remaining in Level 14 and a card drawn to determine how many hands will be played before the players bag and tag. Tonight's magic number was a five, ergo five more hands and we'll call it a night.--KB

8:43pm: Binger doubles (and then some)
Adam Geyer opened for a raise, Nick Binger flat-called from middle position and the cutoff moved all-in for 16,500. Geyer four-bet to 75,000 and after a long think, Binger moved all-in for just over 80,000. Geyer quickly called the small balance, turning over [Ah][Kd]. The cutoff showed [As][Js] and Binger tabled [9c][9h].

It looked like curtains for Binger as the flop came down [Ac][7c][6c], but he spiked a set on the turn with the [9s]. The river fell the [Qd] and Binger more than doubled to 190,000. The cutoff was eliminated and Geyer was left with 270,000.--KB

8:25pm: Ramdin snaps off aces, hijinks ensue
Never underestimate the power of the [9d][5d]. Victor Ramdin sure doesn't.

After opening the pot for 7,000, Ramdin faced a 20,000 three-bet from Steve Happas in the small blind. Ramdin made the call and they saw a [8d][3d][2c] flop. Happas instantly moved all-in for his remaining 52,400 and Ramdin made the call, turning over the aforementioned [9d][5d] for a flush draw. Happas tabled [As][Ac].

"Come on, no diamond," Happas said, turning away from the table. He remained in that position as the dealer burned and turned the [7h]... and the [Qd].

"Dude, he hit a diamond," said one of their tablemates, prompting Happas to finally turn around.

Happas so loudly bellowed an expletive the entire room nearly stopped and two floor supervisors began charging over, only to discover there was no penalty to give since the culprit had busted.

"Now you know. If you reraise me I'm not going to fold the nine-five of diamonds," the ever-jovial Ramdin chuckled as he stacked up the pot. He's currently sitting on just over 300,000 in chips. --KB

8.10pm: Froehlich doubles
Joe Tehan, who won on the NAPT in Los Angeles last year, is still ploughing away here today. But he has just been forced to ship about 23% his stack to Eric Froehlich after making a speculative pre-flop raise and being priced in to call Froehlich's shove.

Froehlich only had about 26,000 or so and Tehan probably felt he had to call, even though he was only holding [qc][4c]. Froehlich's [10s][10h], with which he shoved from the small blind, stayed good.

Tehan still has about 80,000 and Froehlich about 60,000. -- HS

8pm: The power of the big stack
Aaron Overton is edging up towards half a million chips, and with that kind of stack you can do pretty much anything you please. Doesn't Overton know it. He's pushing around everyone on his table, including the well-stacked David Weisberger and Adam Geyer.

Geyer first. There was about 18,000 in the middle and a flop of [3d][6c][5h] already dealt. Geyer, who was in the big blind pre-flop, checked and Overton, who was on the button, bet 10,300. Geyer called.

The turn was [6d] and Geyer led for 18,000. Overton casually shot out a raise to 36,600 and after a moment to think about it, Geyer folded.

A few hands later, it was Weisberger's turn to be muscled out. There was a flop of [ac][kc][6h] out and Weisberger, who would have been in the big blind pre-flop, bet 11,000. Overton, who was in mid-position, raised to 26,000, which was called.

The turn was [2c] and Weisberger checked now, which only prompted a bet of 37,300 from Overton. Weisberger couldn't fold quick enough. -- HS

7.55pm: Keating over Junglen in battle of the blinds
With the action folded around to him in the small blind, Alex Keating opened for a raise and Adam Junglen looked him up from the big blind. The flop came down a rather dangerous [Jd][Jh][Th]. Keating led out for 8,000 and Junglen called. Keating slowed down and checked when the board double-paired on the turn with the [Td]. Junglen fired out 10,500 and Keating called. The river was a complete blank with the [2s] and Keating checked again. This time, Junglen checked behind.

Junglen had only king-high with [Kc][9s], Keating's pocket aces good to take it down. --KB

7.45pm: Schroer finds new seat, finds good call
Some players take a long time over their decisions for seemingly no reason at all, dwelling for camera time or just to be a nuisance, then emerging with a bad fold or a worse call.

No one is ever going to describe Jonathan Schroer as the quickest player in the world, but here's the thing we've learnt from watching him at a few tournaments now: when he's pondering something, he really does have a tough decision to make. What's more, he usually emerges with the right answer.

He has now moved to the table featuring Eric Froehlich, Alex Wice and Kevin Eyster and was put to the test almost immediately. Folded to Schroer on the button, he peered over to the tournament board to ascertain the new blind level, peeked at his cards, then back to the tournament board. Then he raised to 7,000.

Froehlich, in the small blind, pretty much instantly moved all in, covering Schroer, onto whom the decision quickly returned. Schroer now really went into the tank, peering again at the tournament board, making calculations on his fingers, looking at his cards again.

When he finally said: "Call" (for all his 70,000 chips) the intonation suggested that having done all the maths this was the decision he had to make, whether or not he really wanted to.

He turned over [6s][6c] and Froehlich showed [ah][5c]. At least three voices at the table said the same thing: "Good call."

The board ran out [qs][8h][6c][jc][7h] and Schroer doubled to about 140,000. He is an unconventional presence at the table, but there's a lot to this guy's game.

Froehlich, meanwhile, is now a short stack. -- HS

LEVEL UP. BLINDS 1,500-3,000-300 IN LEVEL 14

7:11pm: Binger folds to the five-bet
Nick Binger opened for a raise to 6,000, Aaron Overton flat-called on the button and Adam Geyer put the squeeze on, three-betting to 21,200. Binger responded with a four-bet to 45,500 that folded out Overton. Geyer, however, moved all-in, putting Binger to the test for the 175,000 he had behind.

After several minutes in the tank, BInger gave up his hand and Geyer took down the pot. He's up to 340,000.--KB

7.05pm: Schroer survives once more
Jonathan Schoer's tournament continues, although he's just needed to outdraw Joseph Gibbons to stay alive. After Gibbons limped from early position, Schroer bent down and peeked at his cards, determining that they were good enough to wager his last 30,000 behind. Gibbons called.

When they went on their back, Gibbons was leading with [10d][10h] against Schroer's [ac][9c]. And even the flop of [6h][9s][8d] didn't change that. However the [ah] on the turn proved to be decisive and the [kh] river irrelevant.

The table broke immediately after, and Schroer had to cart about 60,000-odd to his new assignment. -- HS

6:52pm: Ramdin falls off O'Dwyer's Christmas card list
Victor Ramdin is on a late-day heater that has his stack over the 300,000 mark. The latest victim is Steve O'Dwyer. Ramdin came in for a raise, then called O'Dwyer's three-bet to 15,000. Ramdin checked dark to the [9c][qd][kd] flop, and O'Dwyer checked behind. On the [th] turn, Ramdin bet 20,000 and O'Dwyer called. The river was the [ah]. Ramdin put out 35,000 and O'Dwyer grudgingly called to see Ramdin's [jc][jh]. --BW

6.50pm: Beasley clings on
Mike Beasley has just hit a two-outer to stay in the hunt for a back-to-back Mohegan Sun final table - although he is still on the shorter side of healthy.

Beasley seemed to be heading home when Alan Sternberg's [qs][10s] had hit a queen on the [7h][qh][7d] board. They were all in at that point, with Beasley showing [10d][10h]. The [10c] turn was therefore very good news indeed for last year's runner up.

He doubled his short stack to about 30,000. -- HS

6.40pm: Rousso roasted by Overton
Vanessa Rousso is out, having had a torrid time of the past few levels, she just ran into Aaron Overton's monster and was sent to the rail.

I only arrived on the turn to find this board [7c][4c][2h][9h] and about 40,000 in the middle. Both players checked. Overton bet 37,700 on the [7s] river and after a moment's hesitation, Rousso shoved all in for about 95,000 total.

Overton couldn't call quick enough, and Rousso instantly said: "You got it." Overton didn't need to be told that. He tabled [9c][9d] for the turned set and rivered boat. Rousso hit the rail.

There's still one other Team Pro Vanessa in the field. Ms Selbst is still comfortable at around 200,000. Aaron Overton is now leading this tournament on his own, however, with in the region of 430,000.-- HS

6.25pm: Geyer gets Trelski, moves beyond 300,000
Adam Geyer is now one of the very big stacks here having dispatched Mike Trelski. It was pair versus pair but Geyer's was bigger. Kings, if you really want to know.

Trelski flat called from early position and Vanessa Rousso also called. Geyer, however, raised to 9,000 from late and only Trelski called. They went to a flop of [6d][7h][4d] and then it all went nuts.

Trelski checked, Geyer bet 15,000, Trelski raised to 43,000, Geyer shoved and Trelski called. Their stacks were very similar - about 140,000-ish each. But there was a disparity in the hands: Geyer had [kh][kd] and Trelski had [8d][8s].

The bigger overpair stayed good on a [9c][9h] river and Geyer is now a force. --HS

6:14pm: Ramdin's playground
Victor Ramdin's chip stack--no matter the tournament--is like a carnival ride. Sit on its top and you might get motion sickness by the end of the day. Today has been no different. Each time we've walked up today, he's had big bets in front of him, bets he was eventually forced to give up after four-bet shoves. Just now, he won a battle of the blinds with [ac][ts] on a [2s][tc][7h][9h][th] board. He got paid on every street for his [ac][ts] and is now on 175,000. "I'm on the seesaw today," he confessed. --BW

6:12pm: Nick Binger and the not-quite-all-in
This was an interesting one, and the final ruling required a consultation with at least three floor supervisors, with a little help from Vanessa Rousso.

With the board reading [Ac][Ad][Ks][Ts], Nick Binger bet out and Mike Trelski slid in a tall stack of blue 5,000-denomination chips totaling 75,000. Binger, believing the raise had set him all-in, quickly called and both players turned up their hands, Binger's [As][Td] for aces full up against [Qh][Js] for the turned straight. The dealer burned and turned the [7s] on the river, but after counting down the stacks, she discovered that Binger actually had Trelski's raise covered by 10,000.

"Floor!"

After much discussion (Is it a dead hand? Does Binger get a one-round penalty for prematurely exposing his hole cards?) it was Vanessa Rousso (along with the lead supervisor) that figured out the correct ruling. The 75,000 bet stood, and the river card was pulled back into the deck, which was re-shuffled.

Binger was then given the opportunity to bet, which of course, he did.

"Oh I don't know, I think I have to lay this one down, I've got that full house read on you," his opponent quipped.

Since there was no malicious intent when it came to exposing their hands, neither player was penalized and Binger took down the pot. He's up to 167,000. Trelski is still in it as well, with 81,000. --KB

6.10pm: Level 13
Of we go again for level 13. We have 108 players left and two more levels in the day, including this one. It seems likely we'll get down to about 80 at the close, leaving us with a race to 24 on Sunday.

The leaders right now are similar to the leaders at the start of the last level: Aaron Overton and Jerry Wong. We began the last post with a picture of Overton, so here is Wong. -- HS

Reporting team: Kristin Bihr, Howard Swains and Brad Willis. Photography: Joe Giron

5:39pm: DeBora (more than) doubles
Greg DeBora is not the type of guy who goes away easily. When he finished yesterday, it was at his peak for the day. He hadn't done much throughout this afternoon until just now. Facing a raise and call in front of him, DeBora three-bet from the button with [qd][qc]. That's when the big blind isolated with big slick. Heads-up, DeBora flopped his set and now has an above average stack. --BW

5:22pm: Overton reigns over Rousso
Big-stacked Aaron Overton came in for a raise to 5,100 and got the call from Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Rousso. On a flop of [td][6c][2c], Overton led for 8,200 and Rousso min-raised him to 16,400. Overton took his time but eventually called. Both players checked the [5s] on the river. When the [jc] fell on the river, Overton bet 22,400. Rousso looked pained, but made the call. Overton showed her [kc][kh]. Rousso exhaled in a big, long breath and said, "I couldn't fold for that much. Perfect sized bet." --BW

5:18pm: D'Ags trips up
We only caught this one as the river card fell, all the money having gone in on the turn with the board reading [4d][9h][9d][Js][Ac]. John D'Agostino showed [Qs][9s], having outdrawn Mehrdad Yousefzadeh's [Kd][Kc] . Yousefzadeh was eliminated (after bellowing a loud "You gotta be kidding me!") while D'Agostino chipped up to 60,000. --KB

5:13pm: E-Scho no mo'
Following a middle position player's opening raise to 4,500, Erica Schoenberg three-bet to 10,000. Her opponent shoved and Schoenberg called all-in for her final 40,000 or so. Schoenberg turned up [Ah][Kh], but could not outrun pocket sevens on the [Th][8d][3s][Js][2c] board.

After Schoenberg departed, one of her tablemates not in the hand (we'll withhold his name to avoid the angry ire of any potential wives or girlfirends) remarked, "Oh my God! I can concentrate now. She's even more beautiful in real life." --KB

5.05pm: Young guns shot down
James Collopy and Derek Lerner have both busted in the past 30 minutes. There are now 110 players left. --HS

5.00pm: Trelski trims Rousso
Vanessa Rousso, it has seemed for some time, can do no wrong at Mohegan Sun. Even in the following pot, during which she clearly tried something that didn't quite work, she did not lose anything massive to Mike Trelski's aces.

It started when Trelski made it 6,000 from the cut off. Rousso called from the small blind and the two of them were heads up to a flop of [9h][6h][7c]. Rousso check-called Trelski's 12,000 bet and they then went to a [5d] turn.

Rousso checked again and Trelski bet 15,000. Rousso now tried to convince her opponent that she had him beat, min-raising to 30,000. Trelski called.

The river was [7c] and they both checked, after which Trelski flipped the aces. Rousso tapped the table and mucked.

Trelski has about 160,000 now; Rousso a little more than that. It's getting interesting out there. -- HS

4:55pm: Jeff Madsen not pleased
Jeff Madsen now has a lot more time to play Little Wings on his iPhone. After ursing his short stack for more than three hours today, we was down to 17,500 in his stack. Lee Markholt came in for a raise to 4,800 from the button. Madsen shoved it in from the small blind. Markholt took less than a minute to call with [kd][jd]. Madsen was in decent shape with [ad][qc]...until the [ks] hit on the river. Madsen said nary a word. He stood quickly, grabbed a bag full of food trash from under his chair, and walked out of the tournament room like he had a plane to catch. --BW

4:36pm: Back in action
With three levels left to play today, the Mohegan Sun main event is back in action. --BW

LEVEL UP. BLINDS 1,000-2,000-200

4:22pm: Break time
Players are now on a 15-minute break.

4.20pm: Hair v hood; hood good
Jonathan Schroer first came to our attention at Snowfest on the EPT last year, when he made the final table and finished sixth. Vincent Rubianes, meanwhile, first came to our attention right here at Mohegan Sun, where he made a deep run through that monstrous field and finished 71st.

Schroer was notable for a few idiosyncrasies at the table -- pulling his hood up and going down all but horizontal to the table to peek at his cards. Rubianes was notable for his extraordinary hair. Today they are both on the same table in this field, and they have just clashed in a heads up pot that ended up doubling Schroer.

Rubianes, with slightly trimmed hair this year, made it 3,200 from early position and Schroer went through those familiar motions before raising to 9,600 from the big blind. Rubianes raised all in, covering Schroer, and that prompted Schroer to double check his cards.

Satisfied he had seen what he thought he had seen, Schroer shoved all his chips forward. Rubianes showed [ah][kh] and Schroer tabled [as][ad], apologising for the time it took him to call. "I just wanted to make sure I didn't have ace-four or something." Rubianes shrugged.

Even if he had had ace-four, Schroer still would have won. The board ran [6c][8s][7h][4d][jc] and that doubled him up to more than 45,000. Rubianes still fights with about the same. -- HS

4:18pm: George Lind eliminated
On a flop of [6s][3c][2s] David Weisberger put George Lind to a decision for the rest of his chips and after a long tank, he made the call. Lind turned over [Qd][Qc], but the ladies were no match for Weisberger's flopped straight with [4s][5d]. Lind was in dire shape and found no help on the turn or river, which fell the [9d] and the [Ad] to send him to the rail.

"Oh well. I'm stubborn!" Lind said with a shrug as he made his exit. --KB

4:15pm: Selbst breaks 200,000
Vanessa Selbst, by her own admission, is running good today. She just knocked out another short-stack, this time flopping a flush with [qd][2d] on a [8d][5d][3d] flop. That held up against pocket jacks, and Selbst is up to 225,000. --BW

4:07pm: Distractions
While the poker tournament continues, it's not an exaggeration to say about half the eyes in the room are glued to The Masters on cell phones, iPads, and the big projection displays on the walls. Two eyes that are otherwise occupied belong to Jeff Madsen. He's being nursing a short stack all day long and is keeping himself distracted with the iPhone game "Little Wings." As a fellow addict, I found myself drawn to Madsen's dedication to the game (I can't seem to nail ten cloud touches in a game, despite many hours of trying). Current betting is whether Madsen's iPhone battery outlasts his chip stack. The iPhone is currently favored 2 to 1. --BW

4:00pm: Ramdin runs a bluff... or so he says
A middle position player opened for 3,200 and the action folded around to Victor Ramdin, who three-bet to 8,600. The MP player re-popped it to 22,000 and Ramdin practically beat him into the pot. The flop came down [Kh][8s][5h] and the action was checked to Ramdin, who bet 25,000. The MP player called and they went to the turn, which fell the [7d]. The MP player checked, and Ramdin instantly moved all-in for just short of 100,000. After a long tank, his opponent folded.

"My first bluff of the day!" Ramdin exclaimed as he showed the [5c] and raked in the pot. He's up to 210,000. --KB

3.35pm: Back for more
As has been noted on several occasions, last year's event at Mohegan Sun was dominated by Vanessa Selbst. But Vanessa Rousso also made a very deep run, finishing 10th, as did Alan Sternberg (12th), Al Melville (fifth) and Mike Beasley (second).

Well, each of them seems to like this reservation water because they're all still involved on the second renewal. Rousso has about 220,000, Beasley has 78,000 and Sternberg 105,000. As for Melville, well, at the time of starting this post, he was still around. Now I'm not so sure.

(Selbst, of course, is also still going strong. She's up close to 200,000 as well.)--HS

3:30pm: Re-building credibility
As my esteemed colleague Brad Willis reported a few hours ago, Aaron Mermelstein is taking an... interesting strategy when it comes to Day 2, as he has a friend's wedding to attend in Mexico on the day of the final table. Mermelstein promised to mix it up today in an effort to either go big or go to Mexico and had worked his stack up to 220,000 before losing back-to-back pots.

Mermelstein made a small raise from middle position and Matt Waxman defended his big blind. The flop landed [Tc][6d][3s] and Waxman checked to Mermelstein, who bet 5,600. Waxman came along. The [9c] hit the turn and Waxman checked again. This time, Mermelstein checked behind. Same deal on the river, which fell the [8d].

"You were the last aggressor. You show first," said Waxman.

"I've got a pair," said Mermelstein, tabling [2c][2d].

"Well I have two pair," Waxman declared, showing the [8h][9d]. "It's good you got to a showdown with that had. You have to build your credibility back up after showing down that 8-3. You're raising pairs again, nice hand."

On the next deal, Mermelstein opened for a raise again and again, the big blind defended. The flop came down [Tc][Qc][5c] and the big blind checked to Mermelstein, who bet out. The big blind shoved for 38,000 and Mermelstein called.

He was back to his old tricks, turning over [6c][9c], but this time his marginal hand had flopped a flush. His opponent, however, was drawing very, very live with [Ac][Ah]. The turn blanked with the [Td], but the [4c] rolled off on the river to make the big blind the nut flush.

Although Mermelstein took a decent hit on those hands, he's still well above average with 175,000. --KB

3:26pm: Table 17 finally breaks
After starting the day with 25 tables, the tournament field has finally been reduced to the point at which Table 17 can break. For a period of time today, Table 17 had six of he top 20 players in its seats. Now they've been scattered across the tables to pillage what's left of the field. --BW

3:24pm: Mortensen loses a chunk
Carlos Mortensen (aka The Chameleon) just shipped about 40,000 across the table when his pocket sevens couldn't outrun Joseph Cappuccio's pocket eights. Mortensen still has about 65,000 to play with. --BW

3.15pm: Weisner sends two to the rail
Andrew Weisner has just shot up to about 140,000, knocking out two players after finding aces at precisely the right time. One of the vanquished was the former PCA champion Poorya Nazari, who had queens, but is now looking for alternative entertainment for the rest of the day. -- HS

3.05pm: Level 11
Two levels have passed already and four remain. The big tournament board is showing that 153 players are still alive, meaning close to 70 perished in the opening exchanges of day two.

We're tracking the big stacks and notables over on the chip-count page, where it seems as though Aaron Overton leads the way.

2:50pm: Mercier (inexplicably) loses
I was in the middle of watching a hand with Vanessa Selbst when one of the floor guys (thanks again, Peter) pulled me over to Jason Mercier's table where the Man Who Wins Everything was all in with [as][kc] against Russell Crane's [ah][qc]. Destiny had other things in mind for Mercier. The [qd] came on the flop, Mercier didn't catch up, and the Man Who Wins Everything lost. --BW

2:34pm: Ron Eaton hooks 'em
Ron Eaton opened for 2,500 from the cutoff, the button shoved with a short stack and Ben Bianco re-shoved behind him, having both Eaton and the button covered. Mistakenly believing the action was complete, the button turned over [9h][9s] even though Eaton had yet to act. His decision somewhat easier now, Eaton made the call with [Jh][Jd]. Bianco revealed [As][Kh].

The board ran out [7c][6c][3s][8d][6s], Eaton's jacks holding to triple his stack to more than 120,000. The button was eliminated and Bianco was left with only a few big blinds. He was eliminated a short time later.

"If you'd seen my hand too, would you have called?" Bianco asked.

"Yeah, probably" replied Eaton as he stacked up the pot. --KB

2.30pm: Overton overall
Aaron Overton is sitting to the right of George Lind III. But that hasn't exactly seemed to check his progress today, as Overton has now amassed something like 260,000 chips, which is very close - if not the overall - chip lead.

One table along, Alex Wice is also going exceptionally well. Wice is a force on all continents and this year has final tables to his name on the EPT and at the PCA. At Mohegan Sun this afternoon, Wice is now up to about 195,000, and has Eric Froehlich, Erica Schoenberg, Pat Pezzin and Matt Mattros for tablemates. -- HS

2.10pm: Cada kissed
Joe Cada has busted NAPT Mohegan Sun - at least that seems to be the most likely explanation why the 2009 World Series champion was last seen loitering around the last three tables of the ladies event.

That didn't seem to be entirely Cada's choice. He had been called over there by one of the competitors in order to get a hug and a picture. But that set off a domino effect of cooing ladies, all wanting the same thing.

Cada duly obliged with a big grin until the ladies had had their fun. He then headed out the door rubbing away the lipstick from that procession of pecks on the cheek. -- HS

2:04pm: Swingy Selbst
Vanessa Selbst reports she's down to 110,000. Via Twitter she tells us she is..."Turning pairs into bluffs on the river and running into hands that I was ahead of on the turn," --BW

1.55pm: Grimes ground down
Al Grimes showed us all in Los Angeles last year how far you can ride a short stack if you play it right. He clung on and clung on during the final table in Compton to take $250,000 for third place.

Grimes isn't going to repeat that score, however. Greg Ostrander has seen to that. On a flop of [8h][10h][7s], Grimes got his last 8,000 or so in the middle and was called by Ostrander. Grimes had [ac][10c], but Ostrander had [7d][8d].

There were big whoops from the table on the [ah] turn. But it wasn't done. The river was [7c] and Ostrander went back into the lead. Grimes headed home. --HS

1:50pm: "Little Man" can't get away
With a substantial pot already built from a preflop raising war, Jeff Papola and Mike Sica went heads-up to a [Ks][Qc][5h] flop. Papola led for 16,000, Sica raised to 50,000 and Papola three-bet shoved for 72,000 total. Sica made the call, turning over A-K, but was far behind Papola's top two pair with [Kd][Qd]. The turn and river fell the [2h] and the [4s], no help to Sica, and he shipped all but 20,000 of his stack over to Papola, who is now sitting on about 175,000. --KB

1:33pm: Back to your seats
The players are headed back to their seats for Level 10. --BW

LEVEL UP. PLAYING BLINDS OF 600-1,200-100 IN LEVEL TEN

1.20pm: Gibbons takes some from Mermelstein
The embarrassment of riches on table 17 - as described at embarrassing length by brevity's Brad Willis at 12.43pm below - means that those players will be sharing some big pots among themselves this afternoon. Joseph Gibbons, already chipped up himself, just took Aaron Mermelstein for a good few thousand more during this intriguing hand.

There was a good pile in the middle and three players - Mermelstein in the small blind, Gibbons mid-position and James Frangoulidis on the button - looking at a flop of [kc][3h][kh].

Mermelstein checked, Gibbons bet 6,000 and Frangoulidis folded. Mermelstein called. The turn came [qh] and Mermelstein check-called Gibbons' 10,000 bet. That brought the [as] river. Mermelstein checked again, and Gibbons announced that he was all in, for a stack of something like 80,000.

Mermelstein seemed to ponder for a bit, but then folded, saying: "I didn't like that river." Whether or not that was true is open for anyone's interpretation, but it's fair to say that Gibbons probably did. He flipped [ah][ac] for the rivered boat, almost certainly hoping someone else could have had a flush or at least a king. -- HS

1:14pm: Busquet boosted
All the money went in on the turn, the board reading [Ks][8c][6h][7c]. Olivier Busquet turned up [8s][8h] for a set while Michael Farris was praying for a four, a nine, or a club with [Ac][5c]. The river, however did not comply, falling the [2d] to eliminate Farris and give Busquet a rather substantial chip infusion; he's up to 146,000. --KB

1:00pm: Team Pro update
Here's a quick rundown on how the the PokerStars flag-bearers are doing at this hour.--BW

Victor Ramdin: 131,000
Vanessa Rousso: 150,000
George Lind III: 36,500
Jason Mercier: 37,000
Vanessa Selbst: 135,000
Joe Cada: 40,000
Jonathan Duhamel: Out
Greg De Bora: 44,300
Pat Pezzin: 37,000
Andrew Brokos: 59,600

12:43pm: The Ballad of Table 17
Nobody at Table 17 knows Aaron Mermelstein has to be at a wedding in Mexico. None of the other eight players there know he's been playing fast and loose for the past few levels because he really didn't intend to be here today. The Day 2 players weren't standing with us last night as Mermelstein said, "I've just been messing around. I need to leave for Mexico tomorrow (Sunday)."

What Mermelstein hasn't said to anyone at Table 17 is that he's playing like a man with nothing to lose. If the story he's telling is true, Mermelstein's only intention for today is to finish with the chip lead or no chips at all.

"The final table is on my boy's wedding day," he said.

The people who once sat at Table 25 know all of this. They saw Mermelstein play with abandon for the first half an hour today. Those players--including Season 1 NAPT LA champ Joe Tehan--sat waiting for a hand to pick off Mermelstein's silliness. It never happened. Tehan shook his head when the table broke. Short-stacked Michael Dolle seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. Meanwhile, Mermelstein wandered off with his rack of chips. He was in search of Table 17.

Mermelstein finished Day 1 just two spots off the lead. With 147,000 in his stack, there wasn't much doubt he was going to have to either miss his flight or start losing chips. Now, he was sitting down at Table 17 to a chorus of, "No! Not another one!"

Table 17's random draw made it the table to watch even before Mermelstein arrived. Seat 9, David Weisberger, thought he had a great stack until he saw the rest of the table.

"This table had five of the top 20," Weisberger said as Mermelstein sat down. "Now it's six."

That table includes Victor Ramdin who eyed Mermelstein warily. "Are you sure you have the right table?" Ramdin asked.

Greg Dyer simply shook his head. "Lotta chips on this table," he said.

"That's a good thing," Mermelstein said. "Somebody is going to walk away with a lot of chips."

Here's the rub. Although Mermelstein had previously been really chatty about the Mexican wedding, he didn't mention it once he reached Table 17. Instead, he just started playing like he had been at Table 25. A slick check-raise on Lee Markholt added another 12,000 to the kid's stack.

I don't know if there is a Mexican wedding. I don't know if Mermelstein is running some fifth level angle on the room. I only know that his table is the one to watch right now. --BW

12:46pm: The rich get richer
Although overnight chip leader Chris Tryba lost a bit of his stack in the early going, Jerry Wong, the man closest behind him at the end of Day 1, just crossed the 200k mark. On a flop of [5h][4h][2s], Jason Deutsch got the rest of his stack in with [Qh][Jh] for two overs and a flush draw and Wong looked him up with pocket tens. Deutsch missed his 15 outs, the turn and river falling the [4s] and the [9c].

"What do you have now, a million?" quipped Bryan Paris as Wong stacked up the pot.

Not yet, but the 223,000 he's sitting on now is good for the current chip lead. --KB

12:40pm: Paging Tyson Marks!
2010 WCOOP Main Event champion Tyson Marks limped in to Day 2 with only 12,000 in chips, but has yet to take his seat on Table 14. Anyone know his room number and want to give him a call? --KB

12:38pm: Junglen can't bluff Rousso
Adam Junglen led off the action with a raise to 2,400 and Vanessa Rousso made the call from the cutoff. The flop landed a soaking-wet [Qd][Th][9c] and both players checked. The turn brought a blank, the [2s] and Junglen led out for 3,600. Rousso made the call. The river was the [3c] and both players checked it down.

"You got it," said Junglen as Rousso turned over [As][9s] for a winning third pair. --KB

12:35pm: The king is dead, long live the king
Danny Suied, who sported quite the regal crown atop his head yesterday, arrived for Day 2 sans royal headwear and with only 6,300 in chips. He took a stand with A-6 during the first orbit, but unfortunately ran into David Weisberger's pocket tens. Although Suied found a six on the flop, he couldn't improve any further and made an early exit. --KB

12.30pm: Three all in; two World Champs
Joe Cada and Jonathan Duhamel are on the same table today. Or, to be more precise, they were on the same table because Duhamel is now out. Cada, however, has all but tripled up, coming out on top in a three-way all in. Here's how it went:

Cada opened to 2,200 from mid-position and Duhamel, in the hijack, shoved for his last 20,000 or so. Akos Molnar, on the button, also shoved for about 40,000, covering both the World Champs. Cada called and so three hands went on their backs:

Cada: [ad][ks]
Molnar: [ah][qh]
And, in a world of hurt, Duhamel: [kd][qd]

The board completely blanked. It came [4d][4h][9c][6h][3s] and that gave the lot to Cada. Duhamel disappeared. -- HS

12.25pm: Madsen moves up, Gregg clings on
As tends to happen at these times, the short stacks are getting them in the middle and frequently either doubling up or flying out the door. Jeff Madsen just despatched his neighbour, Yakov Hirsch, to get up to about 50,000 - and he also crippled Tony Gregg in the same pot in a three-way all in.

The very next hand, Gregg got his last 7,100 in the middle pre-flop and was called by Omar Taveras. Gregg, best known for his second place at the PCA a few years back, was armed with the mighty [jh][2h] for his pre-meditated shove. Taveras had [ac][qc].

However the board was favourable to Gregg. It came [2c][3s][8s][7s][5s] and with an ironically clenched fist, Gregg's deuces doubled him up and kept him alive with about 15,000. -- HS

12:16pm: Early double for Dolle
One of Day 1's top players Aaron Mermelstein (who told us last night, he really needs to be getting to a wedding in Mexico soon) came in for a raise to 2,600. Andrew Weisner made the call from the small blind. Michael Dolle had started the day with 17,000. Sitting on the button, he pushed all in for his last 15,100. Mermelstein got out of the way, but Weisner ultimately made the call. The hands:

Dolle: [9h][9d]
Weisner: [7s][7d]

The board ran out [qc][kd][4s][6s][6h] and Dolle scored the early double. --BW

12.10pm: Rousso continues good form
Vanessa Rousso ended yesterday playing great and hitting cards - and she's started off in the same vein today. She was heads up with Romeo Boogaard and they were already to the turn.

The board read [7s][jc][3h][ac]. Rousso bet 3,000 and Boogaard called. The [10s] rivered and Rousso bet 7,000. Boogaard sighed and called that too.

Rousso showed [kh][qs] for broadway. Boogaard explained his call by showing [ah][10h] for the rivered two pair. Rousso took an early small pot, and is moving on up once again. -- HS

12.05pm: Go!
They're off. -- HS

Ah, there you are.

It's day two on the North American Poker Tour. For fans of symmetry, it's actually day two of the second event of season two, so that's 2-2-2. Fun. If you go for that kind of thing.

Play is due to get under way at noon and the schedule for the action is six 75-minute levels, with a 15 minute break between each.

Chris Tryba leads the field, from Jerry Wong. The complete chip-count details are available on the chip-count page, and we'll have the seat draw up momentarily too.

Join us for the action imminently.

Reporting team: Kristin Bihr, Howard Swains and Brad Willis. Photography: Joe Giron.

Players started with 30,000 chips, and by day's close Tryba had multiplied that almost six times. He finished with 173,400, which gives him some breathing room ahead of Jerry Wong, who has 165,000.

Tryba might not be a household name, but the man has form: he has listed tournament scores dating back to 2003 and won six figures in Atlantic City last month. He also took the last of Eugene Katchalov's chips, so he's hardly scared of tangling with the best.

However this tournament is due to last four more days, and despite what seems to be happening at Augusta National at the moment, pillar-to-post winners are almost unheard of in this game.

Perhaps it would be better to be in the chasing pack, from where portents are more favorable. At this time last year, the Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Selbst was in second spot after day one and went on to win. Tonight, well what do you know? Another Vanessa - this time Vanessa Rousso - is in a similar position. She has 125,800 after a startling late charge vaulted her into the top echelons.

Ms Selbst isn't done yet, however. The defending champion remains in the hunt, with 87,600. And there are also three World Champions--Jonathan Duhamel (23,800), Joe Cada (18,400) and Carlos Mortensen (107,400)--still battling, alongside some of the other biggest names in the game.

Victor Ramdin, who was an early chip leader, has 123,300 at the end of the day's play. Jason Mercier, who won the Bounty Shootout last year, has 30,900. Team Pro Canada's Pat Pezzin (49,700) and Greg De Bora (41,200) are all still alive, as are Team Online's George Lind III (34,100) and Kevin Thurman.

Play resumes at noon ET tomorrow.

All photography from Mohegan Sun is ©Joe Giron/www.joegironphotography.com.