Live blog coverage of WCOOP Event #16 $215 pot-limit Omaha (one rebuy/one add-on) is brought to you by bloggers Jason Kirk, Martin Harris, Dave Behr, and Carol Kline. Have a story for us? E-mail to blog@pokerstars.com. Click refresh to see the latest information.

11:23am--Moneymaker flush with chips

What's better than being a world champion? Being a word champion with an above-average stack. Sitting in the cutoff, Chris Moneymaker was the only player to call a raise to 4,900 from Mr Neverquit. True to his moniker, Mr Neverquit didn't quit on the 2h-4h-5c flop after Moneymaker bet 5,600. Instead he raised pot to 28,700, putting Moneymaker to a decision for his stack. Moneymaker decided to go with his hand and reraised all in for 41,231. Mr Neverquit called.

Moneymaker: Qc-Th-7d-6h
Mr Neverquit: 2s-3d-6s-Kd

Moneymaker was on an open-ended straight draw (with one end of the draw filling the same straight that Mr Neverquit had flopped) and a flush draw. Mr Neverquit flopped a six-high straight but had no redraw, always a dangerous proposition in Omaha. The turn was the Qh to make Moneymaker's heart flush, and the river was another queen, the Qs.

Mr Neverquit was crippled on the hand, retaining just 5,697 chips, while Moneymaker now has a healthy stack of just more than 94,000.

11:09pm--Chip counts at six-hour mark

Level 13
Blinds 700/1,400
Average chip count: 68,254
Players remaining: 102
First prize: $98,280

Top ten chip counts:
1. Kenny Rap 284,494
2. zibanchik 234,126
3. Moorman1 203,825
4. missheffer 172,557
5. Bounatirou 169,368
6. plplaya 152,586
7. rizn00 149,007
8. grabskia 146,238
9. pAAuletta 145,646
10. frkvinn 141,417

Team PokerStars pros:
Chris "Money800" Moneymaker 47,531 (64th place)

11:00pm--Werry aggri-a-sive

MrKGBoreoman opened under the gun for 3,600 and his only caller was Isaac "westmenloAA" Baron in the big blind. When the flop came down Kh-5c-2c Baron checked and MrKGBoreoman bet the pot, 7,800. Baron checked-raised for the rest of his opponent's stack, another 17,920, and it all went in.

Baron showed Ac-Tc-8c-7d and would have to catch up to MrKGBoreoman's As-Ks-Qd-7s. The board didn't cooperate though, bringing 6s-8h to drop Baron to 92,136. MrKGBoreoman, meanwhile, is up to 43,640.

10:54pm--Kenny's big day

Not only is Kenny Rap leading this event (as he has for hours now), he's also still alive in Event 15, having made the final 64 over there. He's looking at the possibility of a very nice payday today after putting himself in good position all day.

10:45pm--The ups & downs of Omadraw

Svend sværd has been doing some gambling over on Table 67. Having the big stack enables one to do that.

In one recent hand he got all of Treadinwater's 38,950 chips in the middle on a flop of Td-Jd-4c. Treadinwater had Ad-Qd-Qc-Td for an overpair and flush draw, while Svend sværd had Qs-9d-8h-7s for the wrap draw. The turn was the 5s and the river the Tc, and Svend sværd lost a chunk of his stack.

On the very next hand, Svend sværd again had another short-stacked player, michi's_star, all in on the flop for all of his chips. This time the flop was Ts-9c-5d. michi's_star had Qd-Qh-Th-9d for top two, and Svend sværd had 8s-7c-6c-4s for another straight draw. The turn was the Qc and the river the Jh, giving Svend sværd the straight and the 53,116-chip pot. michi's_star is out in 114th.

That one put Svend sværd up over 165,000, but then came this one in which he dropped half his stack:

10:37pm--Not so fabulous

While we watched Kenny Rap extending his chip lead, fabsoul was going out over on Table 80.

suns100 raised on the button to 3,500, getting only one call from fabsoul in the big blind. When the flop came down 7s-6s-5h the former WCOOP bracelet winner checked and suns100 bet the pot for 7,500. fabsoul then put in a check-raise to 30,000, leaving himself 13,394 that would go in the middle when suns100 came over the top.

fabsoul showed two pair and a straight draw with Tc-9h-7c-6d but his opponent already had the straight with Td-9d-8d-5c. The board ran out As-4s to send fabsoul out in 137th place with $819.

10:33pm--Rich, richer, etc. Vol. II

On a flop of Ah-6h-3s all of Tmay420's money went in the middle; he held Kh-Th-Td-9h against Kenny Rap's Ac-7h-6d-4c and needed to hit a ten or a heart to take the lead. The board ran out 7d-6s, shipping the 47,124 pot to Kenny Rap and sending Tmay420 home (or at least back to the tournament lobby on PokerStars) in 135th place. He earns $819.

10:31pm--Greenstein grounded

Barry "barryg1" Greenstein built back up over 20,000, but had slipped back down to 9,852 again and found it necessary once more to go for broke. Again, YRWTHMELTHR raised to 3,000 preflop, and Greenstein shoved all in behind him. Bounatirou then reraised to 34,056 to isolate the Bear, and YRWTHMELTHR cooperated by getting out of the way.

barryg1: Td-Ts-9c-9h
Bounatirou: Ah-Ad-Kd-6h

The board came Js-Jc-Kc-8s-4s and Greenstein was eliminated in 131st, good for $819.

10:23pm--The rich get richer

Two big pots for Kenny Rap have pretty much defined his day. The first one took him up over 120,000 very early on in the day. Now he's got almost double that after a huge hand again BRUSTAMPHIN.

TOOLED_UP limped in for 1,000 under the gun and Kenny Rap came along, followed by two others; both blinds, including BRUSTAMPHIN in the big blind, saw the Ad-Th-9c flop as well. After that... well, we'll let you see for yourself:

10:16pm--Greenstein doubles up

After YRWTHMELTHR raised to 3,000, Barry "barryg1" Greenstein shoved his last 7,778 and YRWTHMELTHR called.

Greenstein showed Kc-Js-Td-Ts while YRWTHMELTHR had 8h-7s-6s-5s. The board came Jh-9h-5c-4s-Ad, and Greenstein took the 17,056-chip pot with a pair of jacks.

10:10pm--Ouch

Isaac "westmenloAA" Baron is now in 12th place on the leaderboard. Here's the little pot that got him there:

10:06pm--Bear: an endangered species

Team PokerStars pro Barry "barryg1" Greenstein has carried his short stack of 10,278 into the money. With just a little over ten big blinds, Greenstein -- along with all of the other short stacks -- will likely be making a move in short order.

10:03pm--Chip counts at five-hour mark

Level 11
Blinds 500/1,000
Average chip count: 38,893
Players remaining: 179
First prize: $98,280

Top ten chip counts:
1. Kenny Rap 157,116
2. Svend svaerd 151,106
3. steamyraise 137,972
4 .pAAuletta 129,896
5. Moorman1 119,983
6. pownedAss 118,459
7. missheffer 117,488
8. Bounatirou 116,486
9. androjeda 112,456
10. Drant 100,856

Team PokerStars pros:
Chris "Money800" Moneymaker 50,950 (43rd place)
Barry "barryg1" Greenstein 10,278 (157th)

9:58pm--Bubble go pop

With the elimination of bostonted in 181st, we have now reached the money in Event No. 16 of the 2008 WCOOP. Everyone left is guaranteed at least $746.40.

9:54pm--fabsoul claims a victim

Just three hands after Isaac Baron's big chip-up, fabsoul got a smaller, but still significant, boost. He busted going2Auba with Ah-As-Ks-Td against Ac-Jc-8s-2c in a pot worth 22,072. That pot put fabsoul up to 51,839, about 13k above par.

9:53pm--Paying tribute to the Baron

This time it was Isaac "westmenloAA" Baron who took a chunk of change from yara777, in yet another multiway limped pot. Five players, including Baron in the hijack, were already in the pot when yara777 called form the small blind to see a flop of 7s-6h-2c.

yara777 led out for 4,800 but Baron raised to 14,325. With no one else in the pot, yara777 made the call with 27,741 behind. Both players checked the 5s turn, and after the 5s hit the turn yara777 checked again. Baron took down the 33,450 pot with a bet of 28,800.

Thanks to that pot, Baron now has 72,665.

9:47pm--Kenny krushes Khan

Team PokerStars pro Hevad "RaiNKhaN" Khan was holding on as we approach the money bubble, sitting on a stack of 20,420 when he found himself tangling big time with chip leader Kenny Rap.

Kenny Rap had raised to 2,400 and Khan had called him from the button when the flop came Ks-8s-3c. An action flop, as it turned out, as Kenny had a pair of kings in his hand while Khan had a pair of eights. The case eight didn't come to save Khan -- it couldn't, Kenny had it! -- and he hit the rail in 191st, just ten spots off of the money. Kenny Rap, meanwhile, continues to maintain a healthy lead with 157,566 -- still 35K ahead of second.

See how the hand played out (and the chat, too):

9:45pm--Baron steady, fabsoul advancing

Isaac Baron continues to hold steady in the 50k-60k range; he'd dropped to the low end of that scale before taking down three pots in a row to jump back to 61,715. He's dropped a touch to 56,740 but is playing very solid poker at the moment.

fabsoul, in the meantime, chipped up even further with a nice river card. With 14,125 already in the pot and the board reading 9d-9c-8h-9h-Qs, fabsoul got an extra 4,000 out of yara777 to take the pot with his Qc-Qd-Jh-Th. He now has 41,403.

9:35pm--A fab-ulous stretch

fabsoul had been sliding a bit, mostly having been quiet lately, but he bought himself a little more room to breathe a few minutes ago.

going2Auba opened for 1,800 in the hijack and fabsoul called on the button with 10,153 behind. going2Aub then led out for 3,600 into the 4,500 pot on a flop of As-6c-5c; fabsoul shoved and claimed the 11,700 in the middle. That picked him up to 18,253.

Then a blind-vs.-blind hand worked out to his advantage to boost his prospects even further. He and Chubagabra saw a flop of Qh-4h-2c together, and fabsoul took that pot down with a pot-sized re-raise after checking to allow Chubagabra to bet 4,000.

That pot took fabsoul up to 28,653, about 6k below the current average stack.

9:30pm--213 remain

We are just starting Level 10 (blinds 400/800). Right now, 213 players are still alive, meaning we've lost just over 1,000 since play began about five hours ago. The top 180 cash in this event, so we're anticipating that money bubble bursting soon.

Kenny Rap maintains the chip lead he has held since the middle of Level 5. He's followed by pownedAss, BRUSTAMPHIN, pAAuletta, and Bounatirou.

9:18pm--The Baron Chronicles

Another one of those multiway pots preflop cost Isaac Baron about 5,000 a few minutes ago in the small blind. He was one of four players to see the flop of Kc-6s-2h, which was checked around.

The 2c came on the turn and Baron bet 1,200, then called for a total of 4,425 when kiaser raised an chased the other players away. He checked on the 4h river and kiaser bet 7,725. Baron's regular time ran out and he let his time bank run down to about 30 seconds before letting the hand go.

No worries, though - he would jump back over 60,000 within a few more hands, thanks in part to a 10,080 three-way pot with fabsoul and AlpineMoney that he took down without a call on the turn with the board reading 6c-3s-5h-7s.

9:14pm--Those dangerous blind-vs.-blind hands

While Kenny Rap has gotten all the attention over the last few levels (he continues to lead the way with 165,000-plus), pownedAss just picked up a nice pot to move into second place with 124,759.

It was a blind-vs.-blind confrontation, with pownedAss having completed from the SB and okay player checking his option in the BB. The flop came 6h-Js-Qd and pownedAss promptly fired out 1,200. okay player minimum-reraised to 2,400, and pownedAss called.

The turn was the 7d. Same dance: pownedAss bet 1,200 again, okay player reraised to 2,400, and pownedAss called.

The river brought the Kh. This time pownedAss checked, and okay player bet 3,500. Surprise! pownedAss repopped it to 12,600, and after a bit of thought okay player called.

pownedAss showed Ad-Jd-Tc-6d for the rivered straight, and okay player mucked.

9:02pm--All that work for nothing

Hevad "RainNKhaN" Khan had been on a roll over the last few orbits, picking up no less than five small and medium-sized pots to move up to 39,030, but he just doubled up short-stacked IFiNishfish. Khan's Kd-Kh-Th-5h was cracked on the flop by his opponent's big-blind hand of Ac-Ks-4h-2c, and the two pair held up to drop the PoekrStars pro back to 32,785.

Four hands later Khan would take another hit after raising to 1,800 under the gun. MrT-omte called from the small blind and the flop came Ac-7d-4h. Both players checked and the turn was the Jh. MrT-omte led out for 3,000 and Khan put him all in for a total of 11,565.

The Team PokerStars pro showed Ad-Qd-Jd-5d for top two pair, but his opponent held 8c-7s-7h-6c for the flopped set of sevens, good enough to claim the 27,330 pot and drop Khan to 20,320.

8:57pm--Chip counts at four-hour mark

Level 9
Blinds 300/600
Average chip count: 28,300
Players remaining: 246
First prize: $98,280

Top ten chip counts:
1. Kenny Rap 174,116
2. BRUSTAMPHIN 139,836
3. plplaya 104,206
4. pownedAss 87,182
5. Mr Neverquit 82,764
6. pAAuletta 80,690
7. grabskia 78,909
8. miraginox 78,737
9. Svend svaerd 74,206
10. Moorman1 72,933

Team PokerStars pros in top 100:
Chris "Money800" Moneymaker 54,988 (24th place)
Hevad "RainNKhaN" Khan 39,030 (54th)

8:45pm--We turn to Table 80

With Table 7, once home to Barry Greenstein and Jon "PearlJammer" Turner, finally closed down, we're turning our attention to Table 80.

One former WCOOP champ -- fabsoul, who won Event #7 (Pot Limit Hold'em) in 2004 -- is at the table, stacked at 17,998 after an A-A-x-x vs. K-K-x-x encounter moments ago.

Directly to his left sits Isaac "westmenloAA" Baron, who back in Europe had a great two weeks on the EPT.

In San Remo, Baron cashed in 11th place after being knocked out by Dario Minieri.

Less than two weeks after that, he made the final table of the EPT Grand Final and finished in fourth place, knocked out with A-Q against the A-A of eventual winner Glen Chorney.

Baron currently has 58,315, putting him in 21st place on the leaderboard.

8:40pm--A rough ride

Shane "shaniac" Schleger just went on an orbit-and-a-half roller coaster ride with a very unhappy ending.

Things started off well when he flopped a king-high flush against Hevad "RainNKhaN" Khan's queen-high flush, doubling him up to 30,070.

Then another multi-way limped pot got a lot of action going on the next hand - but no one came out very far ahead. With 2,000 in the pot five players saw the flop come Qs-Jc-Tc; the action checked to shaniac in middle position and he bet 1,400. Kenny Rap raised to 4,800 and shaniac re-raised for 16,400; all his 29,670 stack then went in the middle when Kenny shoved.

Kenny Rap was on a freeroll to win the pot with Ac-Kc-9h-2s against shaniac's Ah-Kh-Jd-5s, but the turn and river fell Ks-8h to give shaniac half the pot and keep him alive in the tournament.

Khan would double through Kenny a few hands later, but the real big pot -- and a brutal hand, really -- would come about six hands after that:

Schleger finishes in 293rd place.

8:34pm--Fossilman out

With a board showing 2c-4d-Jd-Qs, a short-stacked Greg "Fossilman" Raymer decided it was time to go for it. Things didn't work out so well, and Raymer is out in 355th. See how the hand played out:

8:31pm--Notes from Barry's rail

A railbird just had a fun suggestion for Barry Greenstein's video blog:

Sevillano [observer]: Barry you should film those blogfessionals in a taxi cab
barryg1: i can only imagine who else should be in the cab
Sevillano [observer]: Definitely should have chau giang driving.
barryg1: i thought he drives a rickshaw (in the photoshops of him)
Sevillano [observer]: haha

8:29pm--Moneymaker takin' pots, moving up

Soon after that last one, Chris "Money800" Moneymaker got in a raising war with 271066 that resulted in Moneymaker getting all of his chips in the middle on a flop of 6h-As-Jh. Moneymaker showed Th-Ac-4c-9h for a pair of aces and a flush draw. 271066 just had 9c-7h-Qh-Tc -- nothing yet, but a better flush draw and an inside straight draw. No needed cards came for 271066, and Moneymaker took the 56,012-chip pot.

On the very next hand, Moneymaker called DonRane's preflop raise to 1,200, then bet out 1,800 on a flop of 2s-4s-7s. DonRane called. The turn was the Tc, and Moneymaker bet 5,100. DonRane again called. The river brought the 2h, pairing the board.

Money800 said, "rpovgbjwpoD'SOVJPs"

Moneymaker either spilled something on his keyboard, or didn't care much for that river card. DonRane bet out just 6,600, though, so Moneymaker called, showing As-Qs-4c-3s for the ace-high flush. It was good -- DonRane had Ks-Kc-Ts-Jc for the second flush.

After that little rush, Moneymaker is now up to 72,362 and 10th place.

8:23pm--All quiet

Over on Table 7, both Barry Greenstein and Jon "PearlJammer" Turner are still going. However, it's been almost 30 hands since Greenstein won a pot of any big significance, and Turner has been even quieter since doubling up to 16,670 on the 100/200 level.

Greenstein currently has 16,485, while Turner sits on 15,070.

8:20pm--Khan, Kenny move up

Shane "shaniac" Schleger and Team PokerStars Pro Hevad "RaiNKhaN" have both been patient tonight at Table 93, both looking for a chance to get anywhere near tablemate Kenny Rap's 141k stack. That hasn't happened yet, but the two did just tangle a moment ago.

Khan opened in the hijack for 900 and got calls from shaniac in the cutoff and Grey fox 33 and Patan100 in the blinds. The action checked around to Schleger, who bet 2,700 and only got Khan to call. Both players then checked the 9s on the turn.

Khan led out on the river for 5,700 into the 9,000 pot, and shaniac went into the tank. He eventually came up with the call, mucking his hand after Khan turned up 9d-7s-6s-4h for the full house to claim the 20,400 in the middle.

Meanwhile, Kenny Rap has extended his lead on the table -- and the field -- after eliminating Patan100. Both players flopped two pair on the Qc-Ts-6s board, Kenny with the higher queens and tens and Patan100 with top and bottom, queens and sixes.

Patan100 also had the As-Ks, though, giving him the nut flush draw. Somehow Kenny dodged all those outs to catch the Th on the river, making the boat and sending Patan100 to the rail. That 28,002 pot boosts Kenny Rap to a whopping 156,111.

8:14pm--Moneymaker slips

Another WSOP Main Event champ has taken a bit of a hit from a shorter-stacked opponent. This time it was Chris "Money800" Moneymaker who suffered the setback. He slips to 28,681 as a result of this one:

8:10pm--Short stack takes small bite of Fossilman's stack

Team PokerStars pro Greg "Fossilman" Raymer raised to 750 from middle position, then mulltusha reraised to 2,700 behind him. It folded back around and Raymer called.

The flop came As-3s-3c. Fossilman checked, mulltusha bet 4,420 putting himself all in, and Fossilman called. Raymer had Ad-Qd-Jc-Tc for aces and threes, while mulltusha had Kc-Ks-6s-6h for lesser two pair and a flush draw. The turn was the 5c, but the 4s on the river saved mulltusha. That hit plus the loss of a couple of blinds knocks Raymer back down to a bit more than 13,000.

8:04pm--The flopped hand actually holds up

There are a lot of mutliway limped-in pots going on over at Table 93 lately, no a big surprise since Kenny Rap has enough chips to make anyone think twice about raising a marginal hand. Kenny's coming along for a lot of those pots, too, and that just cost him a pot that didn't affect him much but really helped one of his opponents.

Six players saw the flop come downQh-4d-3h. The action checked to Kenny Rap, who bet 900 into 1,800. LaGuiguette raised to 4,500 on the button, and Kenny responded with a re-raise to 12,300. That had LaGuiguette covered, but he called the bet with Ad-7d-4s-4h for the flopped set of fours.

Kenny Rap showed Ah-9d-8h-3d for bottom pair and the nut flush draw. The Kc-3s turn and river didn't help Kenny and LaGuiguette jumped up to 20,820.

7:59pm--Moneymaker cracks Top 20

2003 World Series of Poker Main Event champion and Team PokerStars pro Chris "Money800" Moneymaker is making a good showing in today's PLO event. His current stack of 43,761 puts him right inside the top 20 at the moment with about 400 players still alive.

Moneymaker is hoping to add to his 2008 WCOOP successes here today, having already made the final table of Event No. 5, the $10,000 High-Roller No-Limit Hold'em event where he finished sixth.

Take a look at this highlight reel from Event No. 5 in which dorinvandy outlasted a tough field and final table that also included Cy-Young-award-winner-turned-poker-success Orel Hershisher!

Watch WCOOP Highlights: Event 5 - $10,300 NL Hold'em on PokerStars.tv

7:49pm--Chip counts at three-hour mark

Level 7
Blinds 150/300
Average chip count: 17,275
Players remaining: 403
First prize: $98,280

Top ten chip counts:
1. Kenny Rap 145,220
2. plplaya 117,461
3. HAIKU123 72,057
4. zibanchik 66,416
5. kiiski 65,665
6. 271066 64,353
7. miraginox 63,416
8. EDUARD_II 59,833
9. head27 59,188
10. 8PsyO8 57,801

Team PokerStars pros in Top 100:
Chris "Money800" Moneymaker 41,954 (19th place)
Greg "Fossilman" Raymer 23,000 (91st)

7:35pm--A not-so-merciful end

Over on Table 132, EDUARD_II has surged into the top five chip counts after two big pots, including the one that sent Isabelle "NoMercy" Mercier packing.

The first hand was typical Omaha; Mazeblue led out under the gun for 700 and got a call from EDUARD_II in middle position and TheBigViking in the big blind. Mazeblue ended up all-in with Ad-As-Jc-Td after leading out for 2,200 on the Kh-Qh-Jd flop and being re-raised by EDUARD_II, who held Ah-Qd-Qc-Jh. The Js on the turn gave EDUARD_II the win with queens full.

Two hands later, EDUARD_II limped under the gun and Mercier raised to 800 in middle position. Mrdawwwe called in the cutoff, as did Paq18 in the big blind, before EDUARD_II raised to 4,200. Only Mercier called to see the Qd-8s-5h flop.

EDUARD_II led out for 10,200, and Mercier shoved for her 15,136 stack. The call came quickly with Ad-Ac-Jh-8c, which was ahead of Mercier's 7d-6d-5c-4s. When none of her outs came in, Mercier was out in 455th place.

7:30pm--Time for a break... for Kenny, anyway

If you had the chip lead, twice the stack of your nearest opponent, and ten times the average stack at this point in a WCOOP event, what would you do? After flopping the nuts for the third time in ten hands but not getting paid off, Kenny Rap decided it was time to sit out. He's certainly in no danger of being blinded away at this point.

7:20pm--You can only hope to contain him

With a stack bigger than the GDP of some small countries, Kenny Rap can afford to come into just about any pot he wants. The trouble for the rest of the the players at Table 93 is that he keeps flopping the nuts.

On the first hand of a stretch of three, Kenny Rap extracted 4,650 from tuffball after flopping Broadway with Ac-Tc-5d-2d on a Kh-Qd-Jd board that never helped his opponent any further. Kenny folded the next hand, but the third was a real doozy:

With a stack of over 140,000, Kenny Rap has now doubled second-place kiiski who has 68,865.

7:12pm--Kenny Rap on a rampage

Shortly after that earlier hand in which Kenny Rap took over the chip lead, he was involved in an even bigger hand -- a pot of 79,182, very likely the largest of the tourney thus far!

The hand began innocently enough, with several -- including Hevad "RaiNKhaN" Khan and Shane "shaniac" Schleger -- limping in along with Kenny Rap to see a flop of Qc-Ad-Qd. petgom bet 300, Kenny Rap called the 300, and shaniac called as well.

The turn was the Th. This time petgom bet 900, Kenny Rap called, and shaniac raised to 3,750. petgom reraised to 6,600, Kenny Rap called, and shaniac called as well.

The river brought the 5d. Schleger checked, petgom bet 21,450, leaving himself just 7,416 behind. Kenny Rap then pushed all in over the top with his big stack, forcing Schleger out. petgom called, showing Kd-Jd-7d-2h for the diamond flush. But Kenny Rap had As-Ac-4d-Qh -- he'd flopped the nuts and got paid big time.

"QT" said shaniac afterwards, indicating a pretty big laydown. Whereas petgom is done in 546th, shaniac is still here with a decent stack of 27,410 at the moment. Meanwhile, Kenny Rap is way up to 125,905, more than 40k ahead of his nearest foe.

7:03pm--Dario done

Earlier we mentioned that Dario Minieri had a shot if he could avoid a bad situation. Unfortunately he just ran into one of those, getting all-in before the flop with Ks-Kc-Qh-4c against Paq18's Ah-Ad-Qs-7c and not even coming close to hitting a helpul card on the board. He finishes in 565th place.

7:02pm--Victor's day is spoiled

Down to 9,306, Team PokerStars pro Victor Ramdin found a flop he liked and decided to go with it.

Ramdin had limped from UTG preflop, and sumrak then raised to 675. It folded back around to Ramdin who called from out of position. The flop came Qd-2d-7s. Ramdin chekced, sumrak bet 1,575, and Ramdin check-raised to 6,300. sumrak pushed back, and Ramdin was all in.

Ramdin: Qh-Jd-Th-7d
sumrak: Ad-Ac-Kd-2c

Ramdin had the advantage for the moment with his two pair. The 9d on the turn meant he was still in the lead. But the Ah on the river gave the hand to sumrak, and Ramdin is out in 566th. sumrak is up to 20,616.

6:59pm--Everybody listen to the Kenny Rap

Shortly after that hand noted previously, a short-stacked Xaston was eliminated by Kenny Rap in an exciting, multi-way hand. Holding Ad-3s-5h-Ah and staring at a As-5s-9h flop, Kenny Rap was more than ready to rumble. After this hand, he's tripped up to 74,039 and the top of the leaderboard:

6:52pm--Mercy mercy me

Isabelle Mercier just found herself on the wrong side of an A-A-x-x versus K-K-x-x battle, getting into a raising war in position against EDUARD_II before the flop. He was all-in for 9,755 and had to sweat out a flush draw Mercier picked up on the flop, but in the end the rockets held and he doubled to 19,735.

Mercier dropped to 7,071 on that hand and would fall further to 5,496 on the very next hand after declining to call during another preflop raising war, but she climbed back to 9,096 on the hand after that, getting all-in on the river for her last 3,771 on a board reading Qd-6h-Qc-Ad-7s.

Then on the fourth hand in the stretch, her preflop pair of jacks held up in a three-way pot to boost her up to 11,121. What a short, strange trip it was!

6:47pm--petgom takes big one from Xaston

With 20,625 to start the hand, Xaston raised to 600 and got two callers, including petgom who had 16,731 to begin. The flop came 4h-8c-3d. It checked to Xaston who bet 1,250, then petgom check-raised to 5,625. The third player got out, and Xaston reraised pot to 18,750. petgom called his remaining chips, showing 3c-3d-Jd-Ks for the set of treys. Xaston showed 5c-6d-7c-3s for a big straight draw.

But the turn and river both brought jacks, giving petgom the hand and a big 34,137-chip pot. Xaston falls to 3,894.

6:41pm--Chip counts at two-hour mark

Level 5
Blinds 75/150
Average chip count: 11,192
Players remaining: 622
First prize: $98,280

Top ten chip counts:
1. styroben33 57,950
2. miraginox 57,717
3. Kenny Rap 54,430
4. HAIKU123 53,225
5. Craps4Dinner 39,380
6. Pokerccini 37,018
7. kiaser 36,939
8. Merxx 35,626
9. redddog413 34,250
10. LinusJ 34,098

Team PokerStars pros in Top 100:
Barry "barryg1" Greenstein 17,870 (90th)

6:35pm--Boat on river for Raymer

With the board showing 8h-4c-5c-Td-5h and 3,650 in the middle, Random_Acts checked and Greg "Fossilman" Raymer took a moment before betting 1,200. Random_Acts thought about it, then called. Raymer showed 10s-8d-7c-5s for tens full of fives, and pushes up to 13,800. Random_Acts now has 11,720.

6:32pm--Viva la pot limit!

One of the biggest differences between pot limit tournaments and no limit tournament is the lack of antes in pot limit. That means that playing tight has less of an effect on one's stack every round, as Jon "PearlJammer" Turner's stack reflects right now.

Turner has taken down only 5 pots in the last 50 contested at Table 7, none worth more than 1,250, and yet he's crusing right along with 11,360 - a stack that's just above average. When he picks up a big hand and a shorter stack gets desperate, Turner should be in great shape to build his stack even further.

6:30pm--Stars fade into the night

Several Team PokerStars pros have been eliminated here during this second hour of play, including Luca Pagano (736th place), Lee Nelson (737th), Katja Thater (753rd), and Humberto Brenes (859th).

6:25pm--Isabelle takes one down

peeks33 is no longer playing in this event, thanks to his elimination at the hands of Isabelle "NoMercy" Mercier.

Rabscuttle opened the betting for 300 in the hijack, a bet which peeks33 raised to 1,000 from the small blind. Mercier responded in the big blind with a raise to 3,300, which cleared Rabscuttle out of the way. peeks33 thought for a few seconds and made the call.

Once the flop came down Js-8h-6s, he moved all-in after a second or two of thought. Mercier called quickly, showing Ah-Ac-6c-3h to peeks33's Ks-Kh-Th-9h. NoMercy dodged the straight outs and even hit another ace on the river, giving her a set and the 13,036 pot. She now has 19,801 in her stack.

6:20 pm--Greenstein jumps up the leaderboard

Barry "barryg1" Greenstein is rolling over his table right now, up to 19,170 after two nice pots. The first was worth an amazing 14,100:

After that, Greenstein picked up another 3,600 pot against SumadA when he hit a set of sevens on the river and his opponent made a crying call of 1,200.

6:14pm--Big stacks getting bigger

Our chip leaders are surging past the 50K milestone as we careen through Level 4. Currently HAIKU123 sits atop the leaderboard with 70,036, with styroben33 the nearest competitor with 54,944.

6:03pm--All quiet on Table 132

Dario Minieri seems to have found the brakes after flying around the track for the entire first hour. While he has entered a few pots here and there, he's not raising four out of five hands anymore and is sitting on a stack of 5,357.

Tablemate Isabelle "NoMercy" Mercier has been pretty quiet too, but she did claim one pot worth 1,400 from Mrdawwwe to get up to 12,533.

5:48pm--You're nuts!

It's been said many times that Omaha is a game of the nuts -- and Barry Greenstein just proved it.

The action was six ways to the Js-5c-2c flop after four limpers came in. Greenstein led out for 320 in middle position and thematheus and SumadA both called behind him. He again led out, this time for 1,040, on the 3c turn; again, both opponents called him.

When the river brought the 7s, Greenstein bet 2,640 into the 4,560 pot. thematheus called but SumadA folded. Greenstein showed Ac-Qs-9c-2d for the nut flush, a pip better than thematheus' Ks-Kc-8c-4c, and claimed the 9,840 in the middle.

5:44pm--Crunching the numbers

Total number of entrants: 1,223
Total still alive at the first break: 885
Total number of rebuys (for 2,000) during Levels 1-2: 756
Total number of add-ons (for 4,000) during add-on period: 751

That makes for a total prize pool of $546,000 -- an average of a little more than $446 per entrant. The top 180 finishers will get paid today, with first prize being worth $98,280.

5:42pm--Drawing Dario

It's a good thing for Dario Minieri that the add-on was worth 4,000 - he lost the last pot before the break chasing a queen-high flush draw. He got there on the turn but peeks33 had the king-high draw, dropping Minieri to just 1,059 as the break began. He took that add-on to get back up to 5,059, and after some aggressive play early in the second hour is back up over 7k.

5:39pm--Do or die for Raymer in last hand of rebuy period

In the very last hand of Level 2, Greg "Fossilman" Raymer picked up a nice pot of 6,680. On a flop of Kd-Qd-Th, Raymer had gotten his entire stack of 2,180 in the middle against two competitors, marduk50 and Laph. marduk had flopped Broadway with Ah-Kh-Jd-5s, Laph had flopped a set with Qs-Qh-9c-2c, and Raymer had a diamond flush draw with Ad-Kc-4c-3d. The turn was the 7s, but the river was the 8d and Raymer took the pot.

Raymer added on, too, pushing his stack to more than 10,000 as we begin Level 3.

5:37pm--Chip counts at one-hour mark

Level 3
Blinds 40/80
Average chip count: 7,866
Players remaining: 885
First prize: $98,280

Top ten chip counts:
1. KNtheKid 22,070
2. HAIKU123 19,400
3. Fresh43 19,170
4. styroben33 18,705
5. PaoloQQ 18,690
6. elmasmacho 18,225
7. HelmetSky 18,100
8. aj66johnson 17,980
9. Mikki31 17,830
10. idolaf 17,790

Team PokerStars pros in Top 100:
Luca Pagano 13,560 (50th)

5:28pm--Big Riskky out before first break

Scott "BigRiskky" Clements, still working from his original 2,000, had 3,150 and put all of his chips on the line in a huge four-way preflop all-in with tibster, Roxie Hart, and TuggiGumma. In that one, Clements' double-suited hand (8h-Qd-3d-Ah) ended up falling flat, and he was forced to rebuy.

About one orbit later, Clements got involved in another big pot with Roxie Hart, and this time his tourney life was on the line. Roxie Hart had raised to 210, Clements reraised to 720, and Roxie Hart called. The flop came 2h-5s-Kh, and when Roxie Hart checked, Clements quickly pushed his remaining 1,045 all in. Roxie Hart called.

Clements showed Ah-As-9s-7c for the over pair, and was in sad shape against Roxie Hart's Jc-5c-5d-4d -- a set of fives. The turn was the 4c and the river the Qs, and Clements is out in 920th. Roxie Hart has 3,885.

5:22pm--Another river, another pot for Barry

Barry Greenstein didn't have much luck in WCOOP Event #15 today, finding himself out of the game after his early round match with fellow Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier ended when ElkY caught a gutshot straight. He's doing much better in our PLO event here, though, now sitting on 8,440 after another draw gone right.

DTheStudentJ limped in for 60 in the hijack before calling a 240 Greenstein raise out of the big blind. Greenstein led out for 540 on the 7h-5d-3d flop and his opponent made the call. Greenstein bet the 1,620 pot on the 2c turn and then called another 220 to put DTheStudentJ all-in.

The flop had been good for Greenstein's Jd-6d-5s-3s, giving him two pair, but DTheStudentJ liked his straight even better with Ac-6h-4h-3c. That all changed when the 5c came on the river, giving Greenstein the 5,300 pot and sending DTheStudentJ home.

5:20pm--1,223 come out for PLO event

We're 10 minutes away from the first break and the add-on period. Registration has now closed. Our official tally -- 1,223 entrants. The prize pool won't be determined until after the add-on period.

5:15pm--Mauled by a Bear

Barry Greenstein is back in good shape again after a nice pot.

DTheStudentJ and buttaz289 limped in for 60 and Greenstein raised to 330 in the cutoff. DTheStudentJ raised to 1,140, getting a call from the Team PokerStars Pro. The Js-Tc-3s flop was just the sort of configuration he was looking for, so he called off his remaining 1,280 when his opponent put him all-in.

Greenstein's Jh-9c-8h-7s jumped ahead of DTheStudentJ's As-Ad-Kc-5c with the 8c on the turn, and then dodged the club flush on the river when the 4d hit. The 4,990 slid over to the Bear to give him some more ammunition for his attacks on his tablemates.

5:15pm--The perils of flopping top set

Good thing Humberto "Humberto B." Brenes didn't rebuy early on. With the board showing 4s-5c-Jd, marantz bet pot (520), Mikki31 reraised pot (to 2,340), and Brenes called with his stack of 1,500. marantz reraised again, and Mikki31 called all in as well.

Mikki31: 2s-3d-5s-As
Humberto B.: Ah-Ks-Jc-Js
marantz: 5h-4c-6h-3c

Brenes had flopped top set, but was going to have to outlast a couple of drawing hands. The turn was the Ts, making life even more uncomfortable for Brenes as Mikki31 had the nut flush draw, too. Then the river brought the 3h, giving Mikki31 the wheel and the hefty 9,720-chip pot. Brenes has now taken his rebuy.

5:12 pm--He can't slow down

Team PokerStars Pro Dario Minieri is back up to 5,451, never having taken his foot off the gas up to this point. He took all of EDUARD_II's chips with a flopped set of threes that held up against his opponent's full wrap, claiming a 2,748 pot, and then bullied Isabelle Mercier for a small chunk of chips with a pot raise before the flop. (EDUARD_II has rebought.)

Given that Minieri's stack swings like a pendulum, you have to wonder if he would fall over if he ever stayed still.

5:09pm--Barry gets Jammed

teyger opened the action by limping under the gun for 60, allowing Barry Greenstein to raise to 270 in middle position. Jon "PearlJammer" Turner made it 930 to go from the small blind and only Greenstein called.

The flop came down Jd-2d-2h and Turner fired out 1,980. That only left him with 1,150, which Greenstein raised to put his opponent all-in. Turner called with As-Ad-Td-3d for a pair of aces and the nut flush draw, while Greenstein showed Js-Tc-9d-8d for a pair of jacks and the weaker flush draw. The 7s-5c turn and river couldn't help Greenstein, dropping him to 2,240 and putting Turner on 8,240.

5:06pm--The Super Dario Show

Dario Minieri is back up again in another classic flopped-hand-vs.-drawing-hand pot. His Ts-9s-8h-6c had a lot of ways to improve on the Jh-6s-5s flop, good enough reason for him to check-raise all-in over the top of EDUARD_II's pot-sized bet of 460.

EDUARD_II called and was ahead with 8d-6h-5c-3d for bottom two pair. The Qd on the turn gave Minieri even more outs for straights, but the 8s on the river gave him the flush -- and the 3,462 pot.

5:04pm--NoMercy doesn't let up

Team PokerStars pro Isabelle "NoMercy" Mercier is now up to 4,860 thanks to constant aggression. She bet the pot pre-flop and on the Kh-Jc-5c flop but couldn't hake peeks33, who had limped in before her. He finally relented when the 4d came on the turn and his check brought another pot-sized bet of 1,260 from Mercier.

5:00pm--I can buy these chips or I can just take 'em from you

Scott "BigRiskky" Clements, owner of a couple of WSOP bracelets in Omaha games (one in PLO), didn't take the rebuy early on, deciding instead to gamble for those extra chips.

Just now he got it all in vs. MC_Ivan on a flop of Kh-Td-5s. Big Riskky showed Ac-Ks-Qs-Tc for top two, while MC_Ivan had Kc-Qc-Jh-9s for a pair plus a wrap draw. The turn and river both brought aces, giving Clements a full house and the 4,570-chip pot. MC_Ivan, down to just 355, has now taken his rebuy.

4:56pm--Ten on the river

Over on Table 7, Barry "barryg1" Greenstein limped in second to act and built a six-way pot to the Ad-Jd-7d flop. teyger led out from the big blind for 80, which Greenstein called. SumadA raised to 560 in the cutoff, clearing everybody but Greenstein out of the pot. When the Ts came on the turn, Greenstein check-called the pot bet of 1,440 from SumadA.

When the Th came on the river, Greenstein moved all-in for 1,560. SumadA, smelling aces full, let the hand go and left himself with 2,380. Greenstein, meanwhile, moved up to 5,880.

4:53pm--Let's try this again, says Raymer

Random_Acts had limped in from the button, Greg "Fossilman" Raymer completed from the small blind, and marduk50 checked his option in the BB. The flop came 4s-Ks-Th. The blinds checked, and Random_Acts bet the pot -- 120. Raymer then check-raised pot to 400 total. marduk50 scampered away, and Random_Acts called.

The turn was the 8h. Fossilman bet 920, Random_Acts reraised all in to 1,640, and Raymer called with his last 460.

Fossilman: Tc-7d-Jh-Td
Random_Acts: 2s-Kh-Kd-9c

Both had flopped sets, but Random_Acts had the better one. The river was the Qd, and Random_Acts was up to 3,940. Meanwhile, Raymer has taken his one rebuy.

4:47pm--It never takes long

When Dario Minieri is at the table, action can't be too far away - especially in an action game like PLO. The Italian pro has already been up to 7,750 after two knockouts in the early going, but is back under his starting stack now.

In the first pot, Minieri's Qh-Jd-Tc-9s flopped a straight after calling a raise from the small blind. The Kh-Qs-Js board gave EasyPots a set with Kc-Qc-Qd-3d, and all the rest of his stack got in the middle. The board didn't pair and Minieri took down the 3,840 pot to move up to 5,440.

Then TheBigViking limped in middle position and Minieri raised to 180. All the other players folded and TheBigViking called. All the money got in on the Jd-Ts-7h flop, leaving The BigViking all-in with Ad-Jc-Td-5c against Minieri's Kd-Qc-9c-7c. The 3s on the turn left TheBigViking ahead, but Minieri caught the 7d on the river to take the pot.

But Minieri only has one gear - GO! - and with twice as many cards to make a hand there was absolutely no doub the was going to continue to try to build a big stack by getting aggressive and playing as many hands as possible. He managed to flop big in the small blind, catching a set of tens, but EDUARD_II had flopped a straight from the big blind when the board came Td-8d-6c.

That left Minieri with 4,940, but he would fall even further. He opened the action in middle position for 140 and peeks33 called from the cutoff. Minieri check-called a bet of 160 on the Td-3d-3h flop, and both players checked the Kd on the turn.

Minieri checked the 2h river and peeks33 bet 333; that brought a check-raise from Minieri to 1,659, which peeks33 called. Minieri showed Ac-Kc-Ts-5s for two pair, but peeks33 took the 3,978 pot with Qs-3s-Qd-6d for the flush.

One more hand with a fold on the flop to Rabscuttle took the Italian down to 1,701, where he sits right now. In the meantime, tablemate Isabelle Mercier still has 4,000.

4:42pm--To rebuy or not to rebuy?

Other Team PokerStars pros here today include Greg "Fossilman" Raymer, Humberto "Humberto B." Brenes, and Marcin "Goral" Horecki. Looks like Raymer and Brenes have opted not to rebuy here at the start, while Horecki did immediately buy the extra 4,000 chips.

Unfortunately for Horecki, he has already lost 1,000 of those extra chips, slipping to 3,000 here in the early going after dropping a chunk to MC_Ivan.

First impression looking at the numbers: of the nearly 1,200 entrants we have at the moment, it looks like less than half (about 500) have rebought here in the early going.

4:39pm--Wild and woolly

Registration remains open for today's event. Currently we have 1,150 entrants (and rising), although 30 of those have already busted out here inside of the first ten minutes of play.

4:33pm--For your eyes only

We've got our eyes on two tables with several players who should be interesting to follow today. Over on Table 132, Dario Minieri is joined at the table by fellow Team PokerStars Pro Isabelle "NoMercy" Mercier. Meanwhile, Barry "barryg1" Greenstein is in action on Table 7 alongside Jon "PearlJammer" Turner.

4:30pm--Shuffle up and deal!

Cards are in the air for today's $215 PLO event. Players will be allowed one rebuy during the rebuy period (the first two levels, or one hour), then they will be given the option to buy one add-on during that first break. Players start with 2,000 chips, and must be at that or below in order to rebuy during the rebuy period. The rebuy gets you 2,000 for $200, and the add-on 4,000, also for $200.

9:00am--WCOOP Event #16 kicks off at 4:30pm

It's just a few hours until we get a taste of some crazy PLO action on a WCOOP Friday Night. Players get one rebuy and one add-on in the Pot-Limit Omaha event. Come back here for full coverage once the event begins.