He might be a member of the Hit Squad along with James Akenhead and recent bracelet winner Praz Bansi, but Mahrenholz went from assassin to victim as he found himself all in just moments ago. I didn't quite catch the preflop action, but Mahrenholz had on a three-way flop, only to find his next door neighbour sitting pretty with . The turn and were of no use, and Mahrenholz was sent home.
Irish legend Padraig Parkinson was recently all in for his final 1,150, his chips trickling in with on an flop. His opponent made the call with , but Parkinson spiked a flush on the turn to stay alive, thus making the river academic.
With two levels in the books that means registration for Event #20 has closed. And, if the number on the board (889 players) is correct, that means this event has drawn 80 more runners than last year's event.
That means mo' money in the prizepool, but hopefully no problems.
As reported earlier, Jason Mercier is here to defend his title and we've just received word via Neil Channing's Twitter that he's been moved to Channing's table:
"Defending champion Jason Mercier has joined on my right. We won't b having a last longer today."
Channing should have no fear though, he's already made a final table this year in Event #6: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout. He finished runner up to Joshua Tieman, who arrived here for Event #20 just before the break.
We missed the exact action, but "Miami" John Cernuto scooped a huge pot at his table in the Pavilion Room. He had a set of kings against two opponents and is now up to 13,500 chips.
Moments before the break, recent Limit finalist Jason Potter eliminated a player to jump up to 11,500. All in on the turn of a board, Potter's for the flopped set held up against , the river coming a harmless to award him both the scalp, and the pot.
It's difficult to tell at this stage, but Tom Dwan could well be the current chip leader with 14,300. He's certainly leading the way for notable players.
Dwan is currently seated next door to Lex Veldhuis (who, incidentally, has 6,200).