"Nacho" Chips; Gomes Straight Flush; Two Players to 50K
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Defending champion Jose "Nacho" Barbero was late to arrive, as is his custom. Yet as soon as he arrived he started firing at pots -- as is also his custom. Despite conceding a recent pot in which Barbero raised 500 pre-flop, then led 1,400 on the flop and another 3,400 on the turn, only to check-fold the river, 
, Barbero already has 36,000 chips.
We also caught the tail end of a running straight flush for Alexandre Gomes at one of the outside tables. Gomes was deal 
and flopped a flush draw, 
, then caught the 
on the turn and 
on the river for the straight flush. His opponent only had 
; Gomes wasn't able to extract much value from that weak holding.
Two players have pushed their stacks past 50,000 chips. Abraham Hazin and Derek Lerner each have about 51,000 chips and are vying for the early chip lead.