Those who remember Jeffrey Lisandro’s dustup with Prahlad Friedman from ESPN’s coverage of last year’s World Series might suspect that he added to the drama, but as the chip leader for most of the day he let his game do the talking. On the 69^th hand of the day he limped in for 30k under the gun and called when Gavin Griffin raised to 120k from the small blind. The flop came Q92 and Griffin moved all in for his last 185k. Lisandro called with KJ. Griffin flipped over A10. The J on the turn gave Lisandro a pair of jacks and the 8 on the river gave him a winning flush.

“Gavin, you want a beer?” one of Travis Rice’s very vocal supporters shouted as Griffin walked off the stage. Rice’s fan club wouldn’t have much more heckling to do. Ten hands later, Rice, sitting in the big blind, called Allan Cunningham’s raise from the small blind. The flop came AK4. Cunningham bet 100k. Rice moved all in for 385k, and Cunningham called with AJ. Rice only had K7 and was gone in seventh place. Suddenly, Cunningham had pulled even with Lisandro, and with the departure of Rice’s fans the place got a whole lot quieter. You could actually hear the chips on the table being riffled once again.

Five hands later, the two chip leaders would collide. Lisandro raised to 80k from the button and Cunningham called from the big blind. The flop came K32. Cunningham checked, Lisandro bet 80k, and Cunningham called. The turn was the 7. After Cunningham checked again, Lisandro bet 200k, and Cunningham called. Both players checked after the J fell on the river. Cunningham showed his queen-high flush, which was good enough to take down the 740k pot as well as sole possession of the chip lead.

It was at this point in the evening that all the talk turned to the subject of what it would mean if Cunningham were to win—not only would he have won a bracelet three years in a row but he would also join an elite crew of players who have won five in their career. I was made aware of these potential accolades on a hand that didn’t even involve Cunningham. When Jason Lester got all his money into the pot in a hand against Joe Patrick—Lester had AJ and Patrick had pocket nines—Melissa Hayden, Cunningham’s girlfriend, told me that she had a dream that Cunningham beat Lester for the bracelet so she was rooting for Lester to win the hand. It made sense, she told me, because Lester was the defending champion of this title and when Cunningham won his third bracelet in the $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em event he had to beat the defending champion of that event (Scott Fischman) to do it. Lester caught a jack on the river to win the hand and double up, and Hayden was pleased.

Lester’s run would end on the most exciting hand of the evening. He got all his money in with AK as did Joe Patrick with 77, but Lisandro had them both covered as well as two queens in the hole. The queens held up and suddenly there were only three players left at the table, two big stacks and Humberto Brenes. Brenes valiantly held on for eight more hands until he made a move with 109, only to run into Cunningham’s AQ. The queen on the flop ended Brenes’ day and set up a classic heads-up match between Cunningham and Lisandro. The two have nearly the same amount of chips.

Two cab rides to the Bellagio and back gave me a large enough bankroll that I can now enter at least a couple tournaments during my stay. After attending the World Series once as a fan (back in the Binion’s era) and once as a full-time writer (last year), this year I’m going to actually do some playing. I wonder if my having not played at all in the last six months is going to be any sort of handicap. I am hoping to be more fresh than rusty.

As important as the Bellagio jaunt was (no cab rides, no bankroll, no playing), I had to pull myself away from the $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha with ReBuys events to do it, which wasn’t easy considering how talented the players at the final table were: Devilfish Ulliot, Humberto Brenes, John Juanda. Minh Ly. Any of these names ring a bell? 

I sat down at the newly designed final table area (last year’s high-school football stadium look has definitely been elevated at least to the big-time collegiate level) just in time to catch Devilfish run into the Shark. While in the natural world Brenes would win every time, at the poker table it’s a different story. Especially at pot-limit Omaha. While Brenes is pretty good at this game, Ulliot is excellent. Case in point: everyone folded to him on the button and he merely limped in with [Qd Qc 7h 6h]. I really like this play. Brenes was the short stack at the table, and I believe Devilfish knew Brenes would be looking to get his money in with just about any hand. (The alternative theory is that Devilfish didn’t want to overplay his queens and was content to see a flop with position on his opponents.) Brenes raised all in with AK85, which with three cards of the same suit really isn’t much of an Omaha hand. Devilfish called pretty quickly, which gives credence to theory number one. Devilfish won by making a queen-high flush, and I can’t say that I was upset. I can only take so much of the Shark shtick.

The other hand (and bust out) of note in the early afternoon occurred after Erik Cajelais opened with a raise and John Juanda reraised with the last of his chips. Erik was pretty much priced in to calling the $215,000 raise, and he had a decent enough hand to do it with [Kc Qc 10h 10s]. Juanda, of course, had aces (as well as a pair of eights). You can’t do any better than pushing all your money into the pot with a pair of aces (one of which was suited) but the flop gave Erik a wrap, and the queen of diamonds on the river made his straight. Juanda was gone in seventh place. 

It was at that point that I had a decision to make: more final table action or self-preservation in the form of bankroll accumulation. As you well know, I chose the latter, and I’m glad I did. As fun as it’s been to watch other people play cards for bracelets all these years, well, it’s not as fun as doing it yourself.