With so many unkown players making it through to the latter stages, and with the ominous prospect of another unfamiliar final table, it's refreshing to see a recognisable face still battling away - and that man is none other than last year's Toyota player of the Series, Allen Cunningham.
Now residing in Las Vegas, Nevada, 29-year old Cunningham is possibly one of the game's most underrated players. Many didn't even realise he existed until last year when he won an impressive $725,405 in the $1,500 No Limit Hold 'Em Event, but the quiet and reserved Cunningham has been winning poker comps long before 2005...
From a Seven Card Stud victory worth $201,760 at WSOP 2001 to a $111,494 scoop at the 2004 Bellagio Five-Star World Poker Classic, Cunningham has enjoyed huge successes, which have amassed to an incredible $4.5 million in career earnings and four World Series of Poker bracelets. How he has managed to pass underneath the radar for so long is beyond me.
Anyhow, after Humberto Brenes (left) departed in 36th place for $329,865 (running into Pocket Kings after moving all-in with 8-5 suited), Cunningham became the only familiar face remaining in this year's Main Event. But, with 2,650,000, he has more than enough to play with and would surprise no one if he was to reach that highly desired final table.
So, with Jamie Gold maintaining his breathtaking lead (almost double that of second placed Friberg), this beagle reporter offers the best of luck to Cunningham. It's always good to see a 'name' player fighting it out for the big bucks, it reminds me that it's not all about luck and sometimes the top players can still prevail, even when they have 8772 other players to plough through.
The final 27 are as follows:
Jamie Gold -- 13,000,000
Erik Friberg -- 7,735,000
David Einhorn -- 6,905,000
Rhett Butler -- 6,400,000
Michael Binger -- 5,725,000
Dan Nassif -- 5,430,000
William Thorson -- 3,765,000
Jeffrey Lisandro -- 3,715,000
Kevin Aaronson -- 3,670,000
Douglas Kim -- 3,595,000
Richard Lee -- 3,275,000
John Magill -- 3,275,000
Allen Cunningham -- 2,650,000
Leif Force -- 2,265,000
Kevin O'Donnell -- 2,130,000
Prahlad Friedman -- 1,850,000
Eric Lynch -- 1,785,000
Lee Kort -- 1,700,000
Rob Roseman -- 1,685,000
Fred Goldberg -- 1,611,000
Dustin Holmes -- 1,210,000
Sirous Jamshidi -- 1,190,000
Luke Chung -- 1,100,000
Paul Wasicka -- 700,000
Siddharth Jain -- 675,000
Mark Garner -- 635,000
Richard Wyrick -- 570,000