The final 35 players return from the last break of the day to begin Level 29, with increased blinds of 35,000-70,000 and a 10,000 ante.

The average chip stack is a little more than 1.9 million, which is worth about 27 big blinds.

Here’s a look at some of the updated chip counts:

David Diaz  –  5,230,000  (74 bb)
Daniel Navarrete  –  4,030,000  (57 bb)
Derek Buonano  –  4,000,000  (57 bb)
Mike Chiappetta  –  3,850,000  (55 bb)
Steven McKoy  –  3,700,000  (52 bb)
Kevin Ho  –  3,600,000  (51 bb)
Chad Eveslage  –  3,425,000  (48 bb)
Oscar Ortiz  –  2,350,000  (33 bb)
Brian Phillis  –  1,500,000  (21 bb)
Marlon Ballentine  –  1,200,000  (17 bb)
John Liu  –  1,200,000  (17 bb)
Mike Beasley  –  1,100,000  (15 bb)
Michael Tait  –  1,000,000  (14 bb)

Daniel Navarrete moved into second on the leaderboard after eliminating Pedro Rios. They had gotten it all in preflop with Navarrete’s pocket aces dominating the pocket nines of Rios. The board brought quad fours (Q-4-4-4-4), and Navarette won the pot with one of his aces as the kicker.

Action will continue tonight until the field reaches the final table (very unlikely) or the end of Level 31 (about 2:35 am EDT).

The players returned from their 15-minute break to begin Level 26, with increased blinds of 20,000-40,000 and a 5,000 ante.

With 76 players remaining, the average chip stack is nearly 900,000. Here’s a look at the top 10 on the leaderboard:

1.  Michael Ortiz  –  2,550,000  (63 bb)
2.  Jaime Campos  –  2,370,000  (59 bb)
3.  Jeff Yeh  –  2,300,000  (57 bb)
4.  Steven McKoy  –  2,215,000  (55 bb)
5.  Pedro Rios  –  1,950,000  (48 bb)
6.  Peter Walsworth  –  1,700,000  (42 bb)
7.  Brian Reinert  –  1,650,000  (41 bb)
8.  Oscar Ortiz  –  1,600,000  (40 bb)
9.  Angelo Miele  –  1,485,000  (37 bb)
10.  David Diaz  –  1,450,000  (36 bb)

Jeff Yeh catapulted up the leaderboard after winning a pot worth 2.3 million against Mike Beasley in a preflop aces-vs.-queens situation. (Beasley’s queens never improved.) Beasley is still in the tournament, but short-stacked with about 440,000 (11 big blinds).

As the next break approaches, there are 83 players remaining in Event 1 ($350 No-Limit Hold’em), with an average chip count around 817,000 (27 big blinds). These players are all guaranteed at least $2,136.

Here’s a look at the chipleaders, along with some of the notables further back, with the blinds at 15,000-30,000 and a 3,000 ante.

1.  Jaime Campos  –  2,550,000  (85 bb)
2.  Steven McKoy  –  2,300,000  (76 bb)
3.  Brian Reinert  –  1,800,000  (60 bb)
4.  Pedro Rios  –  1,800,000  (60 bb)

Daniel Navarrete  –  1,550,000  (51 bb)
Mike Beasley  –  1,400,000  (46 bb)
Marvin Young  –  1,380,000  (46 bb)
John Liu  –  1,300,000  (43 bb)
Zachary Kessler  –  1,100,000  (36 bb)
Brian Phillis  –  1,000,000  (33 bb)
David Diaz  –  805,000  (26 bb)
Angelo Miele  –  800,000  (26 bb)
Michael Tait  –  348,000  (11 bb)
Marsha Wolak  –  330,000  (11 bb)

Jamie Campos took the chip lead after busting a player in a post-flop aces-vs.-queens situation. The flop came , and the player with pocket queens was all in for about 400,000, but Campos dominated him with pocket aces.

The turn was the a blank, and the river was a K, which caused a brief moment of tension as everyone was watching for a queen. Campos won the pot worth about a million in chips to bust his opponent and move into the chip lead with 2.55 million.

The field continues to shrink quickly after dinner here in Event 1 ($350 No-Limit Hold’em), and they are down to the final 11 tables (99 players). These players are all guaranteed at least $1,933 in prize money.

The average chip stack is about 685,000 (28 big blinds), so this rapid pace should continue for a while with blinds at 12,000-24,000 and a 3,000 ante.

The remaining 136 players in Event 1 ($350 No-Limit Hold’em) take their 40-minute dinner break. Action will resume around 8:05 pm EDT.

We’ve scouted out the chipleading stacks, and we’ll attach names to the chip counts when the players return from dinner. The average chip stack is about 505,000, and there are 10 players in the field with more than 1 million in chips.

Action will continue tonight until the field reaches the final table (which seems unlikely), or until 3:00 am EDT, whichever happens first.

Moises Benchlouch survived the first day of Event 1 ($350 No-Limit Hold’em) with 212,100. He was 31st in chips with 697 players remaining as the field headed into Day 2.

But Benchlouch never showed up for Day 2.

His chip stack was slowly blinded down, but it made it thru the Money Bubble in good shape. When the field took their second break, Benchlouch still had about 72,000 in his stack.

But an empty chair can only go so far as the blinds increase, and Benchlouch’s stack was recently felted to finish in 197th place, earning $916.

Moises Benchlouch – Out in 197th Place ($916)

In other news, Zachary Kessler may be our most recent chipleader, but he hasn’t been able to get the best of David Diaz. Diaz doubled thru Kessler earlier today with A-9 beating A-Q.

A short while ago, Diaz and Kessler were battling each other over a board of Q-9-7-10-Q. Diaz bet 74,000 on the river, and Kessler called.

Diaz showed to win the pot with trip queens, and Kessler mucked.

David Diaz  –  680,000  (56 bb)
Zachary Kessler  –  1,085,000  (90 bb)

When the field took their second break of the day in Event 1 ($350 No-Limit Hold’em), there were 260 players remaining, with an average chip count around 260,000. (The similarity in those numbers is just a coincidence.)

A scan of the field during the break turned up three players with more than a million in chips, while nobody else had more than 700,000. The blinds have increased to 5,000-10,000 with a 1,000 ante.

Zachary Kessler  –  1,325,000  (132 bb)
Angelo Miele  –  1,310,000  (131 bb)
Pedro Rios  –  1,150,000  (115 bb)

The average chip stack has only about 26 big blinds, so the field should continue shrinking rather quickly.

Action will continue today until the field reaches the final table (which seems unlikely) or 3:00 am EDT, whichever comes first.

Here are photos of the three chipleaders:

Zachary Kessler  –  1,325,000  (132 bb)

Angelo Miele  –  1,310,000  (131 bb)

Pedro Rios  –  1,150,000  (115 bb)

With 35 tables in play, the Money Bubble wasn’t likely to last long in Event 1 ($350 No-Limit Hold’em). As it turned out, hand-for-hand play wasn’t even necessary.

When the tournament staff announced for all the dealers to stop after the current hand, it took about 5-7 minutes for all the action to complete — with only 306 players remaining.

The players were expecting to start hand-for-hand play, but instead they heard this announcement: “Congratulations, players. You are all in the money!”

Here’s another look at the prizepool:

1st:  $138,952
2nd:  $103,970
3rd:  $79,615
4th:  $56,870
5th:  $39,265
6th:  $30,240
7th:  $23,020
8th:  $16,880
9th:  $12,095
10th-12th:  $9,766
13th-15th:  $7,630
16th-18th:  $6,409
19th-27th:  $5,392
28th-36th:  $4,578
37th-45th:  $3,866
46th-54th:  $3,357
55th-63rd:  $2,950
64th-72nd:  $2,645
73rd-81st:  $2,340
82nd-90th:  $2,136
91st-99th:  $1,933
100th-108th:  $1,628
109th-117th:  $1,526
118th-126th:  $1,424
127th-135th:  $1,322
136th-144th:  $1,221
145th-162nd:  $1,119
163rd-180th:  $1,017
181st-198th:  $916
199th-216th:  $814
217th-234th:  $712
235th-252nd:  $610
253rd-279th:  $509
280th-306th:  $407

Action in Event 1 will continue tonight until the field reaches the final table (unlikely) or 3:00 am EDT, whichever happens first.

The field in Event 1 ($350 No-Limit Hold’em) has dropped below 310 players, and the tournament staff has asked the dealers to complete the current hand and then stop the action. As soon as all the tables finish their current hand, the Money Bubble will begin.

The final 306 players will finish in the money, guaranteed at least $407.

Action will continue tonight until the field reaches the final table or 3:00 am, whichever happens first.