The madness of the $1.5K No-Limit Hold’em Event #39 continued into Level 4 as we caught up with the action in the Brasilia Room. Tristan “Cre8ive” Wade (pictured at left) played benefactor of several chipstacks as he took down some big pots early. He relayed a few stories about how chipping up: about two hours ago, he looked down at AK and both a limper and Hevad Khan entered the pot before him. He shoved and was called down by Khan, who held pocket ladies. The flop came K92, earning Wade top pair. Khan held no diamonds, so Wade was feeling pretty good about the hand. The turn was the T and the river the 6; Wade took it down and Khan made his exit.

Later on, Cre8ive limped into a pot under the gun when he held 69. Three others joined the limping party and the flop came 58J, giving him the gut-shot straight flush. First to act, he led out 700 and one of the other limpers raised 3K. Wade moved all in and induced the rest of the party to fold. The last remaining opponent called him with AJ, but when the turn came Q and the river the K, Wade turned his flush and took down a huge pot. He was up to more than 17K and sitting pretty.

At the next table over, Scott “BigRiskky” Clements chowed down on his pasta lunch, sitting behind the fortress of 25K chips he built. PocketFives joked with him that he was in the wrong event - this wasn’t Omaha - but he quipped in reply, “I don’t know how to play this game, but they keep giving me their chips!” Bon appetit, Scott - enjoy the lunch and eating your table alive.

Across the Brasilia Room, P5’s menina, Maria “Maridu” Mayrinck was getting proper odds to call on a KA9Q board; there were four others in the hand after the turn and Maridu checked. The 2 was dealt on the river, and the player first to act bet 400. Maridu called, stating she had the odds though she thought she was dominated. However, when both players flipped their cards, Maridu’s JQ held up and she took down the pot. Maridu was up to 4.5K after the hand.

Meanwhile, in the Amazon Room, Steve “MrTimCaum” O’Dwyer (pictured at right) was on the last table moved from the Tropical Room. He was able to chip up through a few big hands to 17K. In one such hand, he held a straight draw that was checked through to the flop after big preflop action. The board ran out a J-T-6-7-9 with no flush possibilities, giving Steve’s K-Q hand the nut straight. His opponent held top two pair and Steve took down an 8K pot.

Steve also relayed a crazy story from the tournament floor. Apparently, the tournament staff decided to move them from the Tropical Room to the Amazon room in the middle of the last level. Steve expressed great frustration at the loss of 8 minutes in the level, but what happened later was even worse. In the middle of a hand ten minutes after they were moved, the dealer burned a red card on a blue deck. They had been playing with 53 cards in the deck for an entire round. The table called over tournament staff to investigate the violation; Steve lamented sarcastically: “Well, that’s what happens when you move us in the middle of the level!”

Also chipping up in the Amazon Room was Kevin “BeL0WaB0Ve” Saul. We caught up with action at his table as he slid his entire chipstack into the pot. He received one caller from the player to his right, who had slow-rolled with aces. Kevin held JJ and the board came TK92. Of course, the dealer spiked the Q on the river and Kevin’s opponent paid his retribution - to the tune of nearly 2K. Kevin’s stack increased to 6K and he also won some side action on the pot in a red versus black race.

Action continues at a brisk pace in the tournament; here is a list of notable chipstacks in Event #39:
Scott “BigRiskky” Clements - 25K
Tristan “Cre8ive” Wade - 17K
Steve “MrTimCaum” O’Dwyer - 16K
Dan “Wretchy” Martin - 15K
Jeff “yellowsub” Williams - 13.5K
Mike “SowersUNCC” Sowers - 12K
Mohsin “chicagocards1″ Charania - 11K
Jimmy “Gobboboy” Fricke - 9.5K
Nick “FU_15″ Maimone - 8K
Kevin “BeL0WaB0Ve” Saul - 6K
Tony “Bond18″ Dunst - 6K
Fares “call2light” Halteh - 5K
Scott “gunning4u” Seiver - 5K
Maria “Maridu” Mayrinck - 4.5K
Jason Gray - 4K
Josh “pbdrunks” Van Duyn - 3K

• June 21, 2008 -- Newsflash: Upcoming Book from PocketFivers!
• June 19, 2008 -- Go Big or Go Home
• June 11, 2008 -- Take It to the Limit
• June 9, 2008 -- Poker Pro Tips of the Day