Our players have been back from a 20-minute break for a short time now, having taken a breather before getting back in the fast lane and trying to take each other out.

A Change in the Air?

The atmopshere at the final table is much the same as it was earlier in the day. We now have about 75 people in the stands, but several of those with seats in the No Limit Lounge are actually looking down behind the set at the tables still going in the Limit Hold’em Shootout. The crowd is still a far cry from the rowdy bunches we’ve seen for other events in the past, but they are beginning to get a little more enthusiastic when a big pot comes around. Good! The players certainly deserve their enthusiasm.

Heimiller Hanging Around

Dan Heimiller has been riding the short stack for the bulk of the day, but he managed to claw back some of the ground he needs to make up if he plans to win this event. At one point he took down four out of five pots, mostly through post-flop play.

The bad news for Heimiller is that right before the break he made an ill-timed big bet against David Daneshgar to drop a full two-thirds of his stack right back. Daneshgar had raised to $125,000 under the gun and Heimiller had called from the button to see the flop come down 10 8 5. Daneshgar led out for $205,000, and after some thought Heimiller made a raise to $500,000. Apparently Daneshgar sensed a little weakness, because he moved all-in pretty quickly. That got a fold from Heimiller, dropping him right back down to about $400,000 in chips.

Things got better for Heimiller right after the break, even though he got in behind with A 6 against Corwin Cole’s A 9. The flop was a beautiful 6 6 2, and he dodged running nines to climb back up to $900,000.

Chips Count in Large Amounts

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

If the rest of the preliminary events here at the WSOP have been American highways, this one is the German autobahn - no speed limits allowed! The action continues to move right along, taking us down to just five contenders.

Zaichenko Zeroed! (7th)

Russia’s last hope in this event has been crushed mercilessly by the evil capitalist imperialist running dog pig, Scott Sitron.

When the action folded around to Andrey Zaichenko, he shoved all-in from the button for a hefty $770,000. The common wisdom says that a move like that only gets called by a monster hand, and that wisdom proved true when Sitron called with K K. Zaichenko rolled over 9 6. As bad as things looked before the flop, they looked even worse when the first three cards came down K Q 2. The 9 left Zaichenko drawing dead, sending him home in 7th place with $112,116.

Matros Mashed! (6th)

After dropping down to the bottom of the leaderboard, Matt Matros got aggressive in position and managed to stay ahead of the blinds and antes. Sooner or later he was bound to get into a confrontation - and he did just that against his nemesis from earlier, Corwin Cole.

Cole opened with A 9 under the gun for $125,000 and made the call when Matros shipped it for $690,000. Matros flipped up A Q, leaving him in great shape, but the flop was a nightmare of K 9 4. Matros still had three outs twice, but the turn brought the 10 and left him drawing dead. He collects $148,875 for his sixth place finish.

Rouhani Claims the Lead

Farzad Rouhani came in with the shortest of the nine stacks at the table, but he's been very active today and as a result has vaulted into the chip leader's position. He's picked up several small pots from Corwin Cole in the last orbit or two to put him in the lead.

Chip Counts and the Beast

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