With a paltry 120k stack to start Day 5 of the Main Event, Jon “pokertrip” Friedberg (pictured right) lasted a few hours before bowing out.

Frieberg doubled in the first orbit of play and got to 350k in the second level. Without many hands and stack well below the 900k average, Friedberg busted when he reraised a 30k open for all of his 170k. Friedberg’s AJ was up against AQ and was eliminated when he didn’t improve.
Pocketfives caught up with Friedberg after he exited in 148th place, cashing in for 41k.

Friedberg said he was happy with his first Main Event cash, and given the situations he was dealt, he didn’t leave the Amazon Room with any major misgivings about any of his plays.

Garrett “GBecks” Beckman was the recent beneficiary of a flop that hammered he and his opponents hand when it came AJ8. Beckman’s opponent bet 90k and Beckman shoved for about 450k total and his opponent called. Beckman revealed the AQ in a flip against his opponents AJ. Beckman promptly clipped a 2 on the turn and won the hand, boosting his stack to 970k, his highpoint of the day. Beckman started with 515k and got down to 200k rather in the first hour of play.

Cort “thecorster” Kibler-Melby won a huge hand off of Jeremiah Smith before the last break when he raised the from the hijack and Smith called in position. Kibler-Melby played for stacks on a Q-5-5 flop, outflopping Smith’s A-Q with K5, resulting in a 860k pot which was the stack he took to the break about twenty minutes ago. The hand left Smith with about 50k in chips and he busted shortly after that.

Andy “BadgerPro” Schultz was eliminated in 142nd place despite getting his money in ahead. Schultz and another player saw a flop of AT6. Schultz led out, his opponent raised and Schultz moved all in with AK. The other player called with 79. The 9 came on the turn, but the 3 on the river knocked Andy of the tournament.

• July 12, 2008 -- Norris Busts, Beckman Dips
• July 12, 2008 -- Kibler-Melby Doubles
• July 12, 2008 -- Tuf Break
• July 13, 2008 -- Reunited