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

Even being a PocketFiver couldn’t help Chris “panamatony” Barille’s pocket fives against another player’s pocket kings. All the chips went in pre-flop and a king hit the turn to solidify the other player’s hand and Barille (pictured left) was sent to the rail.

Sitting at the same table was Andrew “tufat23″ Teng, whose luck was running a little bit better. Teng called another player’s all-in bet preflop with the AJ only to find he was behind the other players AK. The flop came down J92 to catapult Teng into the lead with a pair of jacks. There was no king on the turn or river and Teng added to his already large stack. He is currently sitting with 1.1 million.

Our access is a bit limited right now due to media restrictions but we will continue to do our best to provide you with updates of the remaining players we’re covering. Here’s a look at some chip counts of those still alive with 158 players left in the Main Event:

David “raptor517″ Benefield - 2.7M (right)
Peter “number1pen” Neff - 1.25M
Andy “tufat23″ Teng - 1.1M
Owen “ocrowe” Crowe - 900K
Adam “Roothlus” Levy - 750K
Chris “SLOPPYKLOD” Klodnicki - 650K
Garrett “GBecks” Beckman - 470K

• July 12, 2008 -- Tuf Break
• July 12, 2008 -- Looking Back in the Rearviewmirror
• July 11, 2008 -- Levy Cruising at Hellmuth’s Table
• July 11, 2008 -- Rasmussen Crippled, Tripled, Then Out

• July 13, 2008 -- Reunited
• July 13, 2008 -- Papola Bows Out
• July 12, 2008 -- Double Trouble
• July 12, 2008 -- Kibler-Melby Doubles

It’s never a good sign to see a player walking away from the table during play but such was the fate for Joshua “theNorfman” Norris, (pictured right) who busted in the first few orbits on Day 5 of the Main Event.

“That wasn’t a good start to the day,” said Norris, who finished 179th.

Starting with only 207k, less than a third of the average stack, Norris was in for an uphill battle.
He got crippled when he picked up AQ in the big blind after the button opened and the small blind shoved for 100k with blinds at 6k-12k-2k. Norris shoved for his 200k and was isolated against the small blind’s AK. Despite a queen in the door, Norris’ opponent ran out a broadway straight and Norris was down to 100k. A few hands later Norris busted when the small blind put Norris all-in who was in the big blind after it was folded around to the blinds. Norris woke up with A-8 but lost to his opponents Q-2 when the flop came K-Q-2.

Despite feeling the sickness that overtakes anyone after busting out of a tournament, especially one of this magnitude, Norris took the exit in stride.

“This is the biggest score for me, live or online,” said Norris with a feeling of contentment.
Norris’ finish was good for 38k and he also won a handful of seats into the Main Event.
A few other P5er’s faired much better early on.

Jon “pokertrip” Friedberg doubled up his 120k starting stack in the first orbit of play when he woke up with AA against Lou Esposito’s AK, elevating Friedberg to around 230k.

Cort “thecortster” Kibler-Melby managed to double up early today when his AK was able to out-draw his opponents QQ on a A98 flop. The pair of aces held and Cort’s stack jumped up to around 520k.

Garrett “GBecks” Beckman is off to a rough start. Starting with 515k, Beckman lost the bulk of his chips when he doubled up another opponent when they both flopped a flush draw. Beckman’s T7 lost to his opponents KQ after he clipped a queen. Beckman is down to 200k.

• July 12, 2008 -- Friedberg Busts, Beckman Builds Stack
• July 12, 2008 -- Kibler-Melby Doubles
• July 12, 2008 -- Tuf Break
• July 13, 2008 -- Reunited