$1,100 Platinum Stack No-Limit Hold’em
Prize Pool:  $678,030  |  Structure  |  Payouts
Level 29:  150,000/300,000 with a 300,000 ante
Players Remaining:  9 of 699

Stephen Gerber moved all in under the gun for 3,850,000, and Kevin Paustenbach tanked for a while in the big blind before he called all in for 3,475,000 with . Gerber turned over , and Paustenbach needed his hand to hold to stay alive.

The board came , and Gerber clinches the pot on the turn with a nine-high straight to eliminate Paustenbach in 10th place.

Stephen Gerber  –  7,775,000  (26 bb)
Kevin Paustenbach  –  Eliminated in 10th Place  ($10,700)

With nine players remaining from a field of 699, the average chip stack is around 7,775,000 (26 big blinds). The remaining players are guaranteed at least $10,700 each.

$1,100 Platinum Stack No-Limit Hold’em
Prize Pool:  $678,030  |  Structure  |  Payouts
Level 28:  125,000/250,000 with a 250,000 ante
Players Remaining:  10 of 699

With the board showing on the turn, James Salmon was all in from the big blind for 2,850,000 with (pair of queens), and he needed it to hold to stay alive against the (diamond flush draw) of Stephen Gerber in the cutoff.

The river card was the , and Salmon won the pot with his pair of queens to double up in chips.

James Salmon  –  6,950,000  (28 bb)
Stephen Gerber  –  3,800,000  (15 bb)

With 10 players remaining from a field of 699, the average chip stack is around 7,000,000 (28 big blinds). The remaining players are guaranteed at least $10,700 each.

$1,100 Platinum Stack No-Limit Hold’em
Prize Pool:  $678,030  |  Structure  |  Payouts
Level 28:  125,000/250,000 with a 250,000 ante
Players Remaining:  10 of 699

Kamel Mokhammad raised from the hijack to 1,100,000, leaving himself just 200K behind, and Moshe Refaelovitz called from the button.

The flop came , Mokhammad moved all in for 200,000, and Refaelovitz called with for ace high. Mokhammad turned over for king high, and needed to improve to stay alive.

The turn card was the , the river card was the , and Refaelovitz won the pot with his ace to eliminate Mokhammad in 11th place.

Moshe Refaelovitz  –  11,500,000  (46 bb)
Kamel Mokhammad  –  Eliminated in 11th Place  ($9,500)

With 10 players remaining from a field of 699, the average chip stack is around 7,000,000 (28 big blinds). The remaining players are guaranteed at least $10,700 each.

$1,100 Platinum Stack No-Limit Hold’em
Prize Pool:  $678,030  |  Structure  |  Payouts
Level 27:  100,000/200,000 with a 200,000 ante
Players Remaining:  15 of 699

James Salmon moved all in from the hijack for 2,425,000, and Drew Dodge called all in from the small blind for just a little less with . But Salmon turned over , and Dodge needed to improve to stay alive.

The board came , and Salmon won the pot with two pair, aces and fours with a king kicker, to eliminate Dodge in 16th place.

James Salmon  –  5,200,000  (26 bb)
Drew Dodge  –  Eliminated in 16th Place  ($7,300)

With 15 players remaining from a field of 699, the average chip stack is around 4,650,000 (23 big blinds). The remaining players are guaranteed at least $8,400 each.

$1,100 Platinum Stack No-Limit Hold’em
Prize Pool:  $678,030  |  Structure  |  Payouts
Level 27:  100,000/200,000 with a 200,000 ante
Players Remaining:  17 of 699

The players have returned from dinner to begin Level 27, with increased blinds of 100,000-200,000 and a big blind ante of 200,000. They will be playing as many 40-minute levels as it takes to reach a winner tonight.

With 17 players remaining, the average chip stack is around 4,100,000 (21 big blinds). The remaining players are guaranteed at least $7,300 each.

$1,100 Platinum Stack No-Limit Hold’em
Prize Pool:  $678,030  |  Structure  |  Payouts
Level 27:  100,000/200,000 with a 200,000 ante
Players Remaining:  17 of 699

The final 17 players are still on their dinner break until about 7:18 pm. Here are their official chip counts:

TABLE 7
Seat 1.  David Lee  –  7,100,000  (36 bb)
Seat 2.  Igor Holdaiy  –  3,100,000  (16 bb)
Seat 3.  John McDonald  –  4,125,000  (21 bb)
Seat 4.  Kamel Mokhammad  –  7,550,000  (38 bb)
Seat 5.  Mitchell Tsang  –  5,025,000  (25 bb)
Seat 6.  Ari Katz  –  3,425,000  (17 bb)
Seat 7.  Moshe Refaelovitz  –  2,250,000  (11 bb)
Seat 8.  Alexis Rivera  –  6,750,000  (34 bb)
Seat 9.  

TABLE 8
Seat 1.  Robert-Andrei Burlacu  –  2,300,000  (12 bb)
Seat 2.  Kevin Paustenbach  –  2,225,000  (11 bb)
Seat 3.  Drew Dodge  –  3,000,000  (15 bb)
Seat 4.  Stephen Gerber  –  5,400,000  (27 bb)
Seat 5.  Anatoly Nikitin  –  3,275,000  (16 bb)
Seat 6.  Jonathan Wang  –  6,050,000  (30 bb)
Seat 7.  Manuel Amaro Alvarez  –  1,775,000  (9 bb)
Seat 8.  Edward Medoff  –  3,025,000  (15 bb)
Seat 9.  James Salmon  –  1,525,000  (8 bb)

And here is the remaining prizepool at stake, followed by recent eliminations:

1st:  $103,370 + RRPO Trophy
2nd:  $71,000
3rd:  $53,000
4th:  $39,500
5th:  $30,000
6th:  $22,800
7th:  $17,500
8th:  $13,600
9th-10th:  $10,700
11th-12th:  $9,500
13th-15th:  $8,400
16th-17th:  $7,300

18th:  Leandro Rubinsztain  –  $7,300
19th:  Adrian Lipe Jerez  –  $7,300

20th:  Imre Papp  –  $6,200
21st:  Dmitri Zaitsev  –  $6,200
22nd:  Ari Dinov  –  $6,200
23rd:  Nan Min  –  $6,200

With 17 players remaining, the average chip stack is around 4,100,000 (21 big blinds).

$1,100 Platinum Stack No-Limit Hold’em
Prize Pool:  $678,030  |  Structure  |  Payouts
Level 27:  100,000/200,000 with a 200,000 ante
Players Remaining:  17 of 699

Level 26 comes to an end, and the players take a 45-minute dinner break. Action is scheduled to resume around 7:18 pm EST.

With 17 players remaining, the average chip stack is around 4,100,000 (21 big blinds). The remaining players are guaranteed at least $7,300 each.

$1,100 Platinum Stack No-Limit Hold’em
Prize Pool:  $678,030  |  Structure  |  Payouts
Level 25:  60,000/120,000 with a 120,000 ante
Players Remaining:  23 of 699

Here are the most recent eliminations, along with their payouts:

24th:  Haim Toorgeman  –  $5,200
25th:  Robert LeBeau  –  $5,200
26th:  Agharazi Babayev  –  $5,200
27th:  Steve Yagudaev  –  $5,200
28th:  Anibal Pabon  –  $5,200
29th:  Daniel Kasper  –  $5,200
30th:  Satya Vegi  –  $5,200
31st:  Alexander Korolinsky  –  $5,200

32nd:  Stuart Taylor  –  $4,360
33rd:  Pablo Valdivieso  –  $4,360
35th:  Maxwell Young  –  $4,360
36th:  Wo Lin  –  $4,360
37th:  Benjamin Zamani  –  $4,360
38th:  Andrew Stamboulidis  –  $4,360
39th:  Ekrem Bozkurt  –  $4,360

With 23 players remaining, the average chip stack is around 3,040,000 (25 big blinds). The remaining players are guaranteed at least $6,200 each.

$1,100 Platinum Stack No-Limit Hold’em
Prize Pool:  $678,030  |  Structure  |  Payouts
Level 24:  50,000/100,000 with a 100,000 ante
Players Remaining:  25 of 699

Kevin Paustenbach raised from the cutoff to 200,000, Drew Dodge reraised from the button to 500,000, and Agharazi Babayev called all in from the small blind with a shorter stack. Paustenbach folded.

Babayev turned over , but he needed to improve to stay alive against Dodge’s .

The board came , and Dodge won the pot with a pair of jacks to eliminate Babayev in 26th place.

Drew Dodge  –  3,550,000  (36 bb)
Agharazi Babayev  –  Eliminated in 26th Place  ($5,200)

With 25 players remaining, the average chip stack is around 2,795,000 (28 big blinds). The remaining players are guaranteed at least $5,200 each.

$1,100 Platinum Stack No-Limit Hold’em
Prize Pool:  $678,030  |  Structure  |  Payouts
Level 24:  50,000/100,000 with a 100,000 ante
Players Remaining:  33 of 699

The players return from break to begin Level 24, with increased blinds of 50,000-100,000 with a 100,000 ante.

A scan of the field during the break turned up four players with at least 4,000,000 in chips, creating an unofficial leaderboard:

1.  Kamel Mokhammad  –  5,420,000  (54 bb)
2.  Drew Dodge  –  4,265,000  (43 bb)
3.  Manuel Amaro Alvarez  –  4,215,000  (42 bb)
4.  Kevin Paustenbach  –  4,190,000  (42 bb)

With 33 players remaining, the average chip stack is around 2,120,000 (21 big blinds). The remaining players are guaranteed at least $4,360 each.