Garrett “GBecks” Beckman doubled his stack in the last level before dinner break. And while he is still below the average stack of 1.4 million, the mere thought of Beckman with enough chips to maneuver should have his tablemates concerned. Just ask Adam “Roothlus” Levy, who is still at his table.

With blinds at 10K/20K/3K ante, Beckman raised to 50K on late position and a player reraised to 180K from the small blind. Beckman shipped his last 423K in and the player called:

Beckman: AK
Small Blind: AQ

The board KT2K3 board was kind to Beckman, who increased his stack to over a million.

Not quite as fortunate in Level 22 were Cort “the cortster” Kibler-Melby, Aditya “Intervention” Agarwal and Peter “number1pen” Neff. Kibler-Melby pushed the remainder of his chip stack in from the button and was called by the small blind, who held the AQ. Cort’s K9 was going to need some help. The flop came 333 and Cort was still behind. The Q came on the turn leaving Cort drawing to only a king but when the 8 fell on the river he was eliminated. One positive note about his elimination is it came right after a nearly $10K pay jump so Cort will take home $51,466 for his 99th place finish.

Agarwal was short-chipped at the ESPN table in the Milwaukee’s Best Arena that featured Mike Matusow and Owen “ocrowe” Crowe. Agarwal had moved all-in twice without getting covered, hovering around a ten big blind stack. Agarwal had been pacing back and forth, conversing with his friends Chris “cbdr3799″ Dombrowski and Jim “MrBigQueso” Collopy about shoving hand standards.

Agarwal got action on his third shove for 234k with blinds at 10k-20k-3k but was in woefull shape when his AJ was up against AQ. Agarwal stormed into the lead when the flop came J83 and held up the board bricked out for his opponent. A few orbits later, he re-reaised Crowe’s 53k open, going all-in for his last 450k. An opponent behind Agarwal called and Crowe folded. Once again, Agarwal was up against a better ace with his AT trailing his opponents AQ. It appeared Agarwal caught another miracle when the flop came TK8 but the J on the turn ultimately eliminated him as he wasn’t able to catch another queen for a chop. Agarwal’s 96th place finish was good for 51k.

Neff (pictured right) found himself in the middle of a button vs. blinds setup, as the button raised and Neff reraised enough to put the player all in. The button called with KK and Neff’s AT would need to come from behind. The K on the flop sealed the win for his opponent and Neff lost a pot worth 925K.

We’ve also found Jonathan Plens again! And who could miss him? Jonathan is seated next to Phil Helmuth with 1.6 million chips. Here’s a look at some other chip counts heading into the dinner break:

David Benefield - 2.5M
Jonathan “therookieqq9″ Plens - 1.6M
Chris “SLOPPYKLOD” Klodnicki - 1.2M
Owen “ocrowe” Crowe - 1.1M
Adam “Roothlus” Levy - 700K
Jeff “jpapola” Papola - 255K
Jeff “thechemist83″ Gaubert - 405K

• July 13, 2008 -- Reunited
• July 12, 2008 -- Kibler-Melby Doubles
• July 12, 2008 -- Tuf Break
• July 13, 2008 -- Papola Bows Out

Cort “thecortster” Kibler-Melby had been on life support for quite awhile with his stack as low as around 180k. Cort (pictured right) recently got all his chips in the middle with the A2 against another players Q9. The board ran out J546K and Cort’s ace-high was good enough to boost his stack up to around 375k.

Garrett “GBecks” Beckman recently was involved in a huge pot against Alex Kostritsyn. Alex open-raised to 52k preflop and Garrett reraised to 177k total. Alex made the call and the flop came T74. Alex checked the flop over to Garrett who bet 150k. Alex asked how much Garrett had behind and the dealer counted around 700k more in chips in Garrett’s stack. Alex made the call and the turn brought the 2. The deuce was an action killer as both players checked to see the A fall on the river. Alex again checked but Garrett pushed out a bet of 300k. Alex thought for a bit, playing with his chips before finally making the call. Garrett instantly mucked his cards, caught trying to steal and Alex won the massive pot as Beckman’s stack dropped to around 400k.

Two PocketFivers collided at table 13 during the past level. David “raptor517″ Benefield raised to 55K in middle position and he was called by the button and Chris “SLOPPYKLOD” Klodnicki in the small blind. On the 653 flop, Klodnicki opened the betting for 100K and Benefield called. The button folded and two players saw the Q fall on the turn. Klodnicki checked and Benefield bet 225K. Klodnicki made the call and both players checked the T on the river. “Pair of sixes,” Benefield said as he flipped over 86. Klodnicki mucked and Benefield added more than 450K to his gigantic stack.

Here are a few recent chip counts we were able to grab.

David “raptor517″ Benefield - 2.6M
Chris “SLOPPYKLOD” Klodnicki - 1.1M
Peter “number1pen” Neff - 900K
Adam “Roothlus” Levy - 800K
Jeremy “thechemist83″ Gaubert - 650K
Garrett “GBecks” Beckman - 400K
Cort “thecortster” Kibler-Melby - 375K
Jeff “jpapola” Papola - 250K

• July 13, 2008 -- Reunited
• July 12, 2008 -- Tuf Break
• July 12, 2008 -- Double Trouble
• July 12, 2008 -- Friedberg Busts, Beckman Builds Stack

Andy “tufat23″ Teng went through the gamut of emotions on the hand that ultimately ended his run on Day 5 of the Main Event. With blinds at 8K/16K/2K, Shawn Sheikhan opened and another opponent reraised to 150k. Teng (pictured left) reraised to 400k, a move tantamount to moving all-in with about 500k behind. Sheikhan folded and the 3-bettor put Teng all-in and Teng called. Teng tabled the AK but was trailing his opponent’s KK until the flop came A35. Another player at the table announced that he had folded an ace before the 7 peeled on the turn. The gallery of fans standing around the table nearly fainted when the K dropped on the river, shipping a pot over 1.8 million away from Teng.

“I was like I am not even going to celebrate when the ace hit,” Teng told Pocketfives later. “Plus, I don’t want to rub it in to some guy that looks like he’s about to lose a monster pot with kings either.”

At one point during Day 5 Cort “the cortster” Kibler-Melby’s stack had grown to nearly 1 million. He’s got some work to do to reach that mark again here in Level 21. Cort is seated to the left of Phil Hellmuth and saw a cheap flop with Phil out of the big blind. Both checked the 953 flop, and Hellmuth led out for 62K when the A hit on the turn. Kibler-Melby min-raised to 124K and Hellmuth made the call. The 9 fell on the river and Hellmuth bet 200K. Kibler-Melby decided to make the call and mucked when Phil showed 33 for a full house. The hand dropped Cort to 400K.

A battle between two titans of online poker resulted in a swing of chips for Adam “Roothlus” Levy (pictured right) and Garrett “GBecks” Beckman. Alex Kostritsyn opened to 40k from early position and Levy called from middle position and Beckman called from late position. Both players checked the A35 flop to Beckman, who bet 80k and Levy called. The turn was the 9 and Levy checked and Beckman bet 125k and Levy moved all-in for an about 250k more and Beckman folded.

Ladbrokes pro Jeff Kimber was quiet for most of the day and finally busted when he ran his pocket kings into a pair of nines and his opponent flopped a full house. Kimber earned $41,816 for his 120th place finish. Keith “damurdera3″ Ferrera was eliminated just moments before in 121st place and will take home the same amount.

Raja “tiger76″ Kattmuri was eliminated when he shoved all-in preflop and was called by a player holding the 88. Raja held the KQ and needed some help but unforunately for him the flop came 8-5-2 giving his opponent a set and left Raja drawing dead. He was eliminated in 123rd place for $41,816.

Now that we’ve been able to make our way onto the tournament floor, we have some updated chip counts! With the average stack at 1.1 million and 120 players remaining, here’s a look at the notables still hanging around:

David “raptor517″ Benefield - 2.4M
Owen “ocrowe” Crowe - 1.2M
Aditya “Intervention” Agarwal - 1.1M
Garrett “GBecks” Beckman - 950K
Peter “number1pen” Neff - 900K
Adam “Roothlus” Levy - 815K
Matt Jensen - 780K
Jeff “jpapola” Papola - 620K
Jeremy “thechemist83″ Gaubert - 620K
Chris “SLOPPYKLOD” Klodnicki - 550K
Dan “Wildman75″ Buzgon - 450K
Cort “thecortster” Kibler-Melby - 400K

• July 12, 2008 -- Kibler-Melby Doubles
• July 12, 2008 -- Double Trouble
• July 12, 2008 -- Friedberg Busts, Beckman Builds Stack
• July 12, 2008 -- Norris Busts, Beckman Dips

Now that play has reached the money, the all-in paddles are once again flying through the air as players are putting all their chips on the line. Though many PocketFives players continue to protect their stacks, plenty are also making decisions for their entire stack and getting sent to the rail. Now that players have made the money, they are dropping at a rate of nearly 1.5 players per minute; exactly 100 players were eliminated in the last level’s hour.

One recent elimination was Jason Gray (pictured at left), whose A-Q couldn’t catch up to the pocket kings of his opponent. Darren “DABADESTCHIC” Nelson’s solid run throughout the 2008 WSOP officially came end minutes ago as well. Nelson busted out in a blind versus blind battle when the action folded around to him in the small blind. Short-stacked with 65K in the 2K-4K-500 level, Nelson looked at the K and moved all-in. Cort “thecorster” Kibler-Melby woke up with 66 in the big blind and called with a 400K-plus stack. Nelson held the 5 as a kicker and was eliminated when he didn’t improve. This is Nelson’s third cash this series. He also had two deep finishes prior to the Main Event with a 16th and 17th place finish.

Senovio “DorsalFin” Ramirez was also one of many players who busted shortly after the bubble burst when he raised under the gun to 11K with the blinds at 2K/4K ante 500. The player in the hijack reraised the minimum, making it 22K total. The player in the cut off called the 22K and Senovio pushed all-in for his remaining 20.5K. The reraiser made the call and the other player, who was also shortstacked with less than 100K thought for a minute before eventually folding. Ramirez showed KK and the other player turned over AJ. The flop came down JT6 giving his opponent two more outs. The A on the turn left Senovio drawing very slim and the 2 on the river saw him eliminated shortly after the last level of the night began. He receives 622nd place for his efforts.

On the flip side of the coin are the players that continue to chip up and increase their stacks. Jamie “TheCronic420″ Rosen (pictured at right) continues to play aggressive poker at his table when a player in middle positoin raised to 11K, the player in the hijack called, and Rosen reraised out of the blinds for 31K total. The initial raiser folded and the other player made the call. The cards on the flop ran out T98 and Jamie led for 26K, which the other player called. Both checked the 5 on the turn and checked again when the 9 hit on the river. Rosen announced, “I have a ten”, as he flipped over 5T and the other player mucked. After the hand, Rosen was up to 460K.

Doug “Resilient” Smith was among the short stacks moving up as he turned his earlier 60K into 85K. When PocketFives reminded him that’s what his nickname was for, he jokingly asked his tablemates, “Can you even spell resilient?” He singled one of his opponents out, teasing, “Just getting you back, man. ” His opponent retorted, “Well, yeah, you’re just that Bill Murray look-alike guy, right? I didn’t even know you played poker.”

Jokes aside, here are some of the more recent unofficial chip counts:

Dag Martin Mikkelsen - 780K
Jonathan “therookieqq9″ Plens - 720K
Cort “thecortster” Kibler-Melby - 550K
Adam “Roothlus” Levy - 505K
Jamie “TheCronic420″ Rosen - 420K
Thayer Rasmussen - 400K
Jon “PearlJammer” Turner - 400K
Paul “comeonphish” Lieu - 385K
Aaron “NDGrinder” Steury - 328K
Derek “arodss3″ Buonano - 280K
Aditya “Intervention” Agarwal - 250K
Zelong “freeman” Dong - 230K
Jeff “jpapola” Papola - 205K
David “Raptor517″ Benefield - 230K
Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier - 175K
Hevad Khan - 170K
Devin “TranquilChaos” Porter - 150K
Hunter “THE_HUNT_D” Frey - 140K
Garrett “GBecks” Beckman - 135K
Brent “Astrolux85″ Roberts - 123K
Brian “Like7″ Lamanna - 115K
Tim “tmay420″ West - 110K
Chris “SLOPPYKLOD” Klodnicki - 105K
Brian “Like7″ Lamanna - 100K
Doug “Resilient” Smith - 80K
Clayton “clayton27″ Newman
Justin “truesyalose” Truesdell - 30K

Recent Eliminations:
Jason Gray
Frank “Round42″ Rusnack
Darren “DABADESTCHIC” Nelson
Senovio “DorsalFin” Ramirez
Frank “Round42″ Rusnak
Jeff “YoungSupremacy” Hakim
Justin “truesyalose” Truesdell

• July 11, 2008 -- People Don’t You Know It’s About Time?
• July 10, 2008 -- Crowe’s Chips Riding a Roller Coaster
• July 10, 2008 -- Levy’s Ruthless Pursuit of Chips
• July 10, 2008 -- Clements At Risk Early

733 players are now on their 90 minute dinner break and the tension in the air has been continuously rising as we get closer and closer to the money bubble of 666 players. The staff here at the Rio is somewhat going to be restricting media access to the tables as hand for hand play approaches so we’ll do our best after the break to catch as much as we can.

Owen “ocrowe” Crowe (pictured right) started the day with a healthy 220k in chips but during the level before the dinner break he was caught up in a couple crazy hands. After building his stack up to nearly 350k, Crowe and two other players saw a flop of Q43. The big blind bet out 17.9k and the player in the middle and Crowe made the call. The K fell on the turn and both the other players checked to Crowe who pushed a large stack of orange 5k chips into the middle, 80k total. The big blind folded and after a lot of thought the other player made the call. The 7 fell on the river and both players checked. Crowe’s opponent flipped over the K9 for the 2nd nut flush and Crowe was livid. He couldn’t believe that the other player had made his flush and checked it. The other player requested to see Crowe’s cards and so the dealer flipped over his KQ. The ESPN cameras caught all the action but Crowe was visibly not enjoying being filmed and was steaming after the hand.

It didn’t take too long to get a few of his chips back. We caught up with the action with the board reading 8639J and Crowe bet 23k which another player called. Crowe tabled the T7 for a turned straight that only improved on the river and scooped up to pot. A little later Crowe got into a hand with Leo “Superfluous Man” Wolpert but they weren’t too eager to create much action. They both checked the KT5 flop, the K on the turn, and the 3 on the river. Crowe showed the J5 for kings and fives which was the best hand as Leo mucked and Crowe climbed back up to around 320k.

We caught up with David “Bakes” Baker (pictured left) as he and another opponent were heads up in a raised pot on a flop of QJ8.  Baker’s opponent bet 15K and David thought briefly before raising enough to put him all-in.  The other player tanked for some time and tried to pry information from David asking him questions and announcing, “I know you’re only on a draw.”  He eventually made the call for his remaining 38.7K with AQ.  David turned over the KK and the turn came the 3, leaving the other player with one less out since David picked up the flush draw.  The Q fell on the river and the other player doubled through Baker leaving him with right around 150K going into dinner break.

Today, Table 12 in the Blue section of the Amazon room may qualify as one of the sickest lineups we’ve seen so far in the entire 2008 World Series.  Tim “tmay420″ West, Garrett “GBecks” Beckman, Darren “DABADESTCHIC” Nelson, Cort “thecortster” Kibler-Melby and Allen Cunningham are lined up in a row.  When we last caught up to their table, Darren gave us -the look-; he was feeling frustrated as his stack dropped from 190K earlier today to a much less comfortable 85K.  When we asked what happened, Tim chuckled and Garrett groaned.

Darren reported that he picked up aces two levels ago.  On a flop of Q-7-8 with an already-sizeable pot in the middle, Darren put his one remaining opponent all-in.  Darren’s pocket aces dominated… that is, until a 3 on the turn and a jack spiked on the river gave his opponent’s Q-J two pair.  Darren quartered his stack, falling below 50K in chips.  However, Garrett chimed in at this point in the story, noting that he’d later doubled Darren up when his J-T connected to a jack-high flop with all clubs on the board.  Darren’s pocket aces held and he edged his stack upwards.  He left for dinner break with a stack of 85K to Garrett’s 150K.  Tim reported that he was trying to stay out of it; he said, “It sucks when I have no other choice but to bust my close friends!”  He guarded a 97K stack while Cort had 200K.

Josh “Squintngo” Goldstein, however, didn’t have such an exciting table draw.  He lamented to PocketFives that he’s been bored the last few levels.  Regardless, he was taking the opportunity to rake in a few small preflop pots; he increased his stack to 127K before the break.

On a side note, Mike Matusow was just spotted running “laps” outside near the poker kitchen during the break. By laps, we actually mean 20 ft smallish circles… perhaps trying to work off nervous energy? Maybe he just didn’t get all his running in today and is trying to make up for it. Regardless, it gave us here at P5s a chuckle.

In case you’re hungry, here’s a heaping pile of chip counts for you to munch on during the break! (The average stack based on the tournament clock is currently almost 187k)
 
Matthew “Burton1080″ Jensen - 580K (pictured right)
Jamie “TheCronic420″ Rosen - 430K
Adam “Roothlus” Levy - 400K
Paul “comeonphish” Lieu - 390K
David “DavidP18″ Peters - 340K
Jonathan “therookieqq9″ Plens - 310K
Owen “ocrowe” Crowe - 290K
Aaron “NDGrinder59″ Steury - 285K
Jon “Pearljammer” Turner - 280K
Jeremy “thechemist83″ Gaubert - 276K
Jeff “YoungSupremacy” Hakim - 270K
Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier - 265K
Allen “abari” Bari - 255K
Peter “number1pen” Neff - 205K
Cort “thecortster” Kibler-Melby - 200K
Joe “LatestLines2″ Ward- 190k
Ryan “Daut44″ Daut - 185K
Aditya “intervention” Argawal - 182K
Hunter “THE_HUNT_D” Frey - 180K
Thayer Rasmussen - 170K
Clayton “clayton27″ Newman - 165K
Jason Gray - 155K
Frank “Round42″ Rusnak - 150K
David “Bakes” Baker - 150K
Chris “SLOPPYKLOD” Klodnicki - 140K
Brent “Astrolux85″ Roberts - 130K
Josh “squintngo” Goldstein - 127K
Garrett “GBecks” Beckman - 120K
Chris “cmoney3″ Kline - 120K
Kush Patel - 115K
Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy - 110K
Leo “SuperfluousMan” Wolpert - 109K
Tim “tmay420″ West - 100K
Jan “Erdnase” Heitmann - 97K
Brian “Like7″ Lamanna - 95K
Michael “DblupM0j” Johnson - 85K
Jeff Papola - 75K
Doug “resilient” Smith - 70K
“Bodog” Ari Engel - 70K
Justin “truesyalose” Truesdell - 68K
Darren “DABADESTCHIC” Nelson - 50K

Recent eliminations include Mike “SirWatts” Watson, Matt “mattg1983″ Graham, Jason “strassa2″ Strasser, Cody “shankingyou” Shedd, Jonathan “HoosierAlum” Depa, and Brandon Shaefer.

• July 11, 2008 -- Double Double (or Toil and Trouble)
• July 10, 2008 -- Strasser vs. Nguyen
• July 10, 2008 -- Levy’s Ruthless Pursuit of Chips
• July 12, 2008 -- Kibler-Melby Doubles