A lot of times you’ll see the stands empty out as players at a final table are eliminated, but that’s not the case tonight. With the ESPN cameras rolling and the fans filling up the No Limit Lounge, the atmosphere definitely has a championship quality to it. Any pot that involves two players facing down, no matter how many streets they might actually see, will result in cheering from one portion of the crowd or another. It’s a virtual guarantee that this place is going to go nutso when we find our winner at the end of the night.

Glantz Gone! (4th)

Matt Glantz came in on the short stack today but managed to bide his time well. As it turned out, all that time was borrowed - he’s been knocked out in fourth place.

It was Omaha-8 that proved to be Glantz’s undoing. Scotty Nguyen raised before the flop and Glantz called from the big blind. When the flop came down Q 6 5, Glantz led out and Nguyen raised; Glantz called all-in with K J 10 10, while Nguyen turned up A 2 7 K.

It looked like things might go chop-chop, but the A on the turn gave Nguyen a pair of aces with the nut flush draw. The 5 fell on the river, giving Scotty the nuts on both ends of the hand, sending Glantz home in fourth place with $568,320.

Lindgren Leaps Back In

Erick Lindgren found himself third on the leaderboard after Matt Glantz’s elimination, holding on to just $1,000,000 in chips, but he wasted no time getting back in the mix. He won eight of the first thirteen hands after the cards got back into the air, most of them in the Razz round, and boosted himself back up to $2,200,000. There’s still a long way for him to go, but with the limits this big just a few good hands are all it really takes to jump ahead.

DeMichele Dominant

While Lindgren has managed to climb back into the match, it's Michael DeMichele who's running the show right now. He isn't firing at every single pot, but he's playing smart, aggressive poker against two players who aren't giving anything away. Things continue to go his way, and he's solidifying his lead at the moment.

Goodbye Mr. Chip Counts

Here are the current chip counts as reported by WorldSeriesOfPoker.com:

We’re back from dinner and the atmosphere has changed a bit thanks to the fact that all Vegas restaurants are more than happy to serve alcohol at the drop of a hat. Scotty Nguyen has been extremely animated since his return, laughing out loud at the slightest provocation and generally playing the role of Life of the Table. That makes for great entertainment in the crowd, but we have to wonder if it was the best idea for Scotty.

Berman Bombed! (5th)

It didn’t take long after coming back from dinner to knock out another player. This time it was Lyle Berman who found himself on the wrong side of the tracks in a Razz hand.

Matt Glantz brought it in with a king showing and Berman completed to $80,000 with a 7 showing. Scotty Nguyen called, and Michael DeMichele raised. Glantz declined, and Berman made it three bets; Nguyen then bumped it to four bets, and DeMichele made it five bets total. Berman called all-in and Nguyen called to make a side pot. He and DeMichele went down to the river, betting and calling, with the boards like so:

Nguyen: (x-x)-7-A-A-J-(x)
DeMichele: (9-7)-3-4-5-8-(2)
Berman: (x-x)-7-3-9-10-(x)

Berman stood up and started putting his jacket on before anyone ever turned up their cards; DeMichele took down a huge pot with his 7-5, Nguyen mucked, and berman went off to do his interviews and collect his $444,000 prize.

Cheers, Mate!

Of all the remaining players, Scotty Nguyen is certainly the sentimental favorite. It's easy to understand why, given the former world champ's magnetic personality and flair at the table. Erick Lindgren also has a fairly substantial cheering section, including pros Gavin Smith, Layne Flack, Chris Bell, Bill Edler, and Peter Feldman.

Chip Counts and Juice

Here are the current chip counts as reported by WorldSeriesOfPoker.com: