Scott “r_a_y” Montgomery has been on the move during the last level before the dinner break. In one hand Montgomery (pictured left) limped in from under the gun and Gert Andersen limped in as well before Dennis Phillips raised to 350K from the big blind. Mongomery made the call and Andersen folded. The flop came out A93 and Phillips bet out 500K only to have Montgomery raise to 1.2 million. Phillips then re-raised to 3.5 million and (as if that weren’t enough) Montgomery moved all in for 6.7 million. Phillips finally conceded the hand and Montgomery took the huge pot and increased his stack to 15 million.

In another hand, Nicholas Sliwinski raised to 300K and Montgomery called to see the flop come Q75. Both players checked and the 8 fell on the turn. The both checked again and saw the A come on the river. In keeping with the hand’s flow, both players checked yet again and Montgomery showed a surprisingly strong AQ for top two pair to take the hand. We can only imagine that he was trying to induce a bluff from Sliwinski but he still scooped up a few more chips in the hand.

Right before the break began Montgomery lost a little ground and dropped back down to 12.45 million but he is still near the top of the chip counts in 3rd place.

Owen “ocrowe” Crowe’s final table dreams have come to an end. Ivan Demidov raised to 330K from under the gun and both Chino Rheem and Joe Bishop called. Crowe (pictured right) then moved all in from the button for 1.84 million and Demidov made the call. Rheem and Bishop both folded and Crowe was in a classic race situation with his 99 against Demidov’s AQ. The flop came JJT and gave Demidov even more outs. The Q on the turn put Demidov in the lead but gave Crowe an open-ended straight draw. The 2 on the river was no help to Crowe and he was eliminated in 15th place good for a payday of $463,201. Congrats to Owen for his amazing finish!

Overall the play has tightened up considerably as the final table draws near. With only five eliminations to go until the final table is set, all the players can see the finish line in the distance.

• July 14, 2008 -- A Little Less Estrogen in the Room…
• July 14, 2008 -- Railbirds Getting a Little Rambunctious
• July 14, 2008 -- Two Tables Remain…
• July 14, 2008 -- WSOP Main Event Day 7 Gallery

Much to the dismay of a number of the players and spectators, the lovely Tiffany Michelle was eliminated in 17th place.

Dennis Phillips raised to 500K under the gun and Peter Eastgate called as did Tiffany Michelle from the big blind. The flop came AT9, Tiffany checked and Phillips bet 1 million. Eastgate called and Michelle thought for a bit before declaring she was “All in.” for about 3.8 million more. Phillips folded and Eastgate called. Tiffany may have thought her AJ for top pair was good but she was actually way behind the flopped set of aces that Eastgate held with his AA. Tiffany was drawing only to a runner-runner straight but the 5 on the turn was no help and she was sent to the rail in 17th place. The crowd gave her a standing ovation and Tournament Director Brooks Turk announced that Michelle was the WSOP Main Event’s highest-finishing female since 2000.

A little while after Tiffany’s elimination, Peter Eastgate raised to 350K and Scott “r_a_y” Montgomery re-raised to 900K. Eastgate made the call and the flop came Q92. Eastgate checked over to Montgomery who bet 1.4 million and Eastgate smooth called. The T fell on the turn and both players checked to see the T on the river. Both players checked again and Eastgate tabled his JJ for two pair and Montgomery mucked his hand. Eastgate’s stack rose to 16.5 million while Montgomery dropped to just below 10 million.

Eastgate has continued his massive run by eliminating Anthony Scherer in 16th place. All the chips went in pre-flop with Scherer holding the A8 to Eastgate’s KK. The board ran out 99255 and the kings held to knock out Scherer and rocket Eastgate’s stack up to 18.5 million and make him the chip leader.

With 15 players remaining, here are all the players current chip counts.

Peter Eastgate 18,500,000
Joe Bishop 17,100,000
Craig Marquis 14,850,000
Dennis Phillips 13,775,000
Darus Suharto 12,300,000
Ylon Schwartz 11,900,000
Scott “r_a_y” Montgomery 10,525,000
Kelly Kim 7,800,000
Dean Hamrick 7,025,000
Chris “SLOPPYKLOD” Klodnicki 6,300,000
Ivan Demidov 5,100,000
Nicholas Sliwinski 4,200,000
Owen “ocrowe” Crowe 3,900,000
David ‘Chino’ Rheem 3,800,000
Gert Andersen 3,800,000

• July 14, 2008 -- Two Tables Remain…
• July 14, 2008 -- Players Getting Serious
• July 14, 2008 -- Montgomery Making Moves, Crowe Flies Away
• July 14, 2008 -- Railbirds Getting a Little Rambunctious

The players just returned from a 20 minute break and only 17 players are left in the hunt for the WSOP Main Event Bracelet.

There are a number of people on the rail rooting for both Chris “SLOPPYKLOD” Klodnicki and Owen “ocrowe” Crowe who are now seated right next to each other. A little bit before the break Klodnicki won a small pot and one of the railbirds yelled “He’s hungry, he’s (expletive deleted) hungry!” Which might have gone unnoticed except that a security guard was standing right in front of him. The guard turned around and the railbird started apologizing profusely while holding up his hands, and the crowd started booing. The guard let him stay, but the railbirds are being a bit quieter now in their support for their friends.

The current chip leader is Joe Bishop with 16.3 million in chips while David “Chino” Rheem is the short stack with 1.9 million.

Scott “r_a_y” Montgomery has 12.2 million, Chris “SLOPPYKLOD” Klodnicki has 6.85 million, and Owen “ocrowe” Crowe has 4.9 million.

• July 14, 2008 -- Montgomery Making Moves, Crowe Flies Away
• July 14, 2008 -- A Little Less Estrogen in the Room…
• July 14, 2008 -- Two Tables Remain…
• July 14, 2008 -- WSOP Main Event Day 7 Gallery

There are now only 18 players remaining in the tournament, and there has been a lot of action going on. There have been a number of all-ins as of late as players with less chips try to gain more ground in their quest to make the final table.

Toni Cristian was planning on making a raise from under the gun, but the manner in which he put in his chips was determined to be a string bet so he only was able to call. Nicholas Sliwinski also limped into the pot before Albert Kim raised to 800k. Judet took the opportunity to put in the raise he originally wanted to and moved all in for 2 million total. Sliwinski folded but Kim made the call. Cristian held the AA against Kim’s 99. The board ran out T84J3 and Cristian managed a double up. Unfortunately for Cristian, his pocket jacks couldn’t best another players pocket kings and he was eliminated in 22nd place.

Right before Cristian’s elimination, Scott “r_a_y” Montgomery (pictured left) raised to 300K and Tim Loecke moved all in for his last 525K. Ylon Schwartz called from the button and Scott also made the call. The flop came AT2 and Scott and Ylon both checked, but when the 3 fell on the turn Montgomery checked and Schwartz bet 600K. Scott folded his hand, and Schwartz turned over his 33 for a turned set. Loecke’s pocket sixes had been outdrawn and when the 4 came on the river Tim Loecke was eliminated in 23rd place.

On the ESPN Featured table, Kelly Kim raised to 275K and Brandon Cantu reraised to 950K and Dean Hamrick moved all in. Kim let his hand go and Cantu went into the tank. Cantu contemplated what to do for over five minutes before finally saying “I call.” Hamrick flipped over the AA and the crowd was shocked to see Cantu flip over his T5. The flop gave Cantu’s hand a bit more strength as it came down with the 875 but the aces were still in the lead. The turn brought the 8 taking away any tens as possible outs for Cantu’s hand so it seemed ironic that the T fell on the river giving Cantu two pair, but the aces and eights were still best and Hamrick took down the hand and doubled his stack. Cantu was down to 2.4 million after the hand while Hamrick was up to 5.5 million. Cantu became the tournament’s shortest stack.

Cantu was eliminated soon afterward when he got all the chips in with the 99 against Peter Eastgate’s AQ. The board ran out 86384 and Eastgate’s ace-high flush was the best hand to send Cantu out in 20th place.

Just when we thought there might be a lull in the eliminations, but then Chris “SLOPPYKLOD” Klodnicki (pictured right) and another player tangled in a big pot. Albert Kim raised in the cutoff to 275K and Klodnicki re-raised to 750K on the button. The blinds folded and Kim moved all in. Both Kim and Klodnicki had similar sized stacks so Klodnicki tanked for a bit before eventually making the call. Klodnicki held the 99 against Kim’s AK. The board ran out 9863T and Klodnicki’s set of nines was enough to send Kim to the rail in 19th place.

Players are currently redrawing for seats at the final two tables and will resume play soon. The chip leader Dennis Phillips currently has 14.2 million in chips while the short stack is Anthony Scherer with 2.7 million.

Chris “SLOPPYKLOD” Klodnicki has 7.4 million, Scott “r_a_y” Montgomery has 5.5 million, and Owen “ocrowe” Crowe has 4 million.

• July 14, 2008 -- A Little Less Estrogen in the Room…
• July 14, 2008 -- Players Getting Serious
• July 14, 2008 -- Montgomery Making Moves, Crowe Flies Away
• July 14, 2008 -- Railbirds Getting a Little Rambunctious

• July 14, 2008 -- Montgomery Making Moves, Crowe Flies Away
• July 14, 2008 -- A Little Less Estrogen in the Room…
• July 14, 2008 -- Railbirds Getting a Little Rambunctious
• July 14, 2008 -- Two Tables Remain…