$1,100 No Limit Hold’em
Level 22: 6,000/12,000 with a 2,000 ante
Players Remaining: 9 of 261

There was about 130,000 in the pot on the river with the board reading and Asher Conniff was heads-up against Paul Balzano.

Balzano checked from the small blind and Conniff bet 125,000. Balzano thought for a moment and called.

“Sevens,” announced Conniff, tabling in the process.

Balzano was visibly frustrated by the river, which gave Conniff a straight and Balzano showed , good for a set.

Conniff took the pot and the chip lead with nine players left.

Asher Conniff – 605,000
Paul Balzano – 140,000

$1,100 No Limit Hold’em
Level 22: 6,000/12,000 with a 2,000 ante
Players Remaining: 9 of 261

On a flop of , Asher Conniff got all in from middle position for his last 185,000 and got action from Casey Yontz out of the big blind.

Conniff was in the lead with his and needed to fade a club or an ace against Yontz’s . The turn was the and the river was the to keep Conniff’s top pair in the lead and ship him the double up.

Asher Conniff – 400,000
Casey Yontz – 245,000

$1,100 No Limit Hold’em
Level 22: 6,000/12,000 with a 2,000 ante
Players Remaining: 9 of 261

Ian O’Hara moved all in under-the-gun for about 170,000 and Brian Altman moved all in over the top from middle position. Everybody else got out of the way and O’Hara was heads-up for his tournament life against Altman.

O’Hara tabled and was dominating Altman’s . The flop was and Altman flopped an open-ended straight draw to give O’Hara a sweat.

The turn was the , keeping O’Hara in the lead, but the river was the and Altman made Broadway to eliminate O’Hara in 10th place.

O’Hara took home $3,291 for his effort and Altman now is one of the bigger stacks after being down to just two big blinds a few levels ago.

Brian Altman – 570,000
Ian O’Hara – Eliminated

$1,100 No Limit Hold’em
Level 22: 6,000/12,000 with a 2,000 ante
Players Remaining: 10 of 261

With the elimination of Joel Harwood in 11th place, the field is combining to one table and Ryan Olisar is currently the chip leader of the final 10 players with 560,000 in chips.

Here is a look at the seating arrangement and chip counts:

Seat 1: Ian O’Hara – 177,000
Seat 2: Ryan Olisar – 560,000
Seat 3: Joshua Hillock – 320,000
Seat 4: Brian Altman – 368,000
Seat 5: Stefan Schillhabel – 185,000
Seat 6: Casey Yontz – 500,000
Seat 7: Paul Balzano – 330,000
Seat 8: David Levi – 133,000
Seat 9: Asher Conniff – 206,000
Seat 10: Ryan Dunn – 375,000

Here is a look at the remaining payouts:

1st: $70,883
2nd: $41,773
3rd: $24,051
4th: $19,494
5th: $15,190
6th: $12,659
7th: $10,127
8th: $7,595
9th: $5,063
10th: $3,291

$1,100 No Limit Hold’em 
Level 21: 5,000/10,000 with a 1,000 ante
Players Remaining: 11 of 261

There was a raise to 20,000 from the cutoff and Joel Harwood three-bet to 60,000 out of the small blind. Josh Hillock moved all in out of the big blind for 149,000 and only Harwood called.

Hillock was a big favorite with his up against Harwood’s . The board ran out and Hillock’s queens survived the all in to double up.

He left Harwood severely short stacked with about 1 big blind.

Josh Hillock – 326,000
Joel Harwood – 10,000

$1,100 No Limit Hold’em
Level 21: 5,000/10,000 with a 1,000 ante
Players Remaining: 11 of 261

We missed the action, but Natasha Barbour was eliminated in 13th place and Tyler Patterson hit the rail in 12th place.

Barbour earned $2,785 and Patterson netted $3,291 for their efforts.

$1,100 No Limit Hold’em
Level 20: 4,000/8,000 with a 1,000 ante
Players Remaining: 13 of 261

Brian Altman moved all in for 64,000 from the cutoff and Tyler Patterson moved all in on the button for about 85,000. Everybody else got out of the way and the two were heads-up. .

Patterson showed and was flipping against Altman’s . The board ran out and Patterson was left with just a couple big blinds as Altman doubled up.

Brian Altman – 140,000
Tyler Patterson – 18,000

$1,100 No Limit Hold’em
Level 20: 4,000/8,000 with a 1,000 ante
Players Remaining: 13 of 261

Scott Zakheim moved all in under-the-gun for 79,000 and Natasha Barbour called from middle position. Mark Wahba moved all in from the hijack for 131,000 and Casey Yontz moved all in on the button for 234,000.

Action got back to Barbour, who asked for all of the different counts and then went into the tank.

“I guess whoever wins this pot wins the tournament, right?” joked Barbour. “Isn’t that how it goes?”

Barbour takes a minute and then folds pocket sevens face-up.

“They have been good to you this tournament,” said Zakheim.

Zakheim showed , Wahba tabled and Yontz was in the lead with his .

“At least my ace is live,” said Wahba.

The board ran out and Yontz’s kings hold up to eliminate two players and shoot up the chip counts.

Wahba had more chips, so he gets the higher finish, taking 14th and Zakheim earned a 15th place. Both players netted $2,785 regardless of their finish.

Casey Yontz – 425,000
Scott Zakheim – Eliminated
Mark Wahba – Eiminated

$1,100 No Limit Hold’em
Level 20: 4,000/8,000 with a 1,000
Players Remaining: 15 of 261

Brian Altman moved all in from the hijack for 145,000 and Natasha Barbour called out of the small blind and was all in for 120,000.

Altman showed and was flipping with Barbour’s . The board ran out and Barbour rivered a set after Altman turned a jack to double up.

Altman is left severely short and Barbour doubles up to about an average stack.

Natasha Barbour – 256,000
Brian Altman – 25,000

$1,100 No Limit Hold’em (Freeze-out)
End of Level 12: 300/600 with a 100 Ante
Players Remaining: 66 of 261

The first 12 levels are complete, and the field is now on their dinner break with 66 players remaining. Ryan Olisar has done the most work in the early going, setting the pace with 130,000 chips heading to break. He and Thomas Johnson are the only two who have six-figure stacks, while four other players have crested the 80,000-chip mark so far.

Here’s the top of the current leaderboard:

Ryan Olisar – 130,000
Thomas Johnson – 107,500
Joe Kuether – 98,700
Asher Conniff – 98,400
Unknown – 91,700
Joel Harwood – 81,200