LAS VEGAS - Play slowed considerably at the World Series of Poker on Saturday, as the top tier of the field held powerful chip stacks and enough rounders had been eliminated to let players be more picky about their hands.

Some players used the breathing room to tighten their play and only play pots with good starting hands. Others used the extra chips to play more hands, driving up action and leading to big pots for players holding less-than-stellar hands.

Thomas "Thunder" Keller, who won a gold bracelet at the world series in 2004, cracked an opponent's aces and doubled his stack with a king-10 when the fourth and fifth community cards gave him a straight.

"That's officially the worst suck-out I have ever done," said Keller, 27, of Scottsdale, Ariz. "I genuinely feel bad for him."

Tournament professional Gus Hansen was eliminated after calling an all-in bet from 23-year-old Jeremy Joseph holding only a straight draw. Joseph, a poker player from Buffalo, N.Y., held only an ace high, but it was good enough to end Hansen's tournament in 160th place, winning $41,816.

After more than four and a half hours of play Saturday, 70 players had been eliminated, leaving 119 players competing and allowing the average stack to creep over 1 million chips.

Chips have no monetary value, but show players where they stand compared to their opponents. One player will have to win all the chips in play to win the tournament and top prize of $9.12 million.

Tournament officials stopped play late Friday to let the 189 entrants remaining get a good night's rest before returning to the no-limit Texas Hold 'em tournament. The main event was ahead of schedule with 275 eliminations Friday, and tournament officials were looking to slow the event down.

"Players have a lot of chips, and the blinds are very small relative to how many chips everybody has," tournament director Jack Effel said Saturday.

Players started Saturday with an average of 724,233 in chips, with antes at 1,000 chips and blinds at 5,000 and 10,000 chips. That meant that players had a lot more flexibility in choosing their hands because the minimum bets were relatively cheap.

Phil Hellmuth, the 11-time gold bracelet winner and only former champion left in the field, folded several hands when faced with raises by other players, and even folded a hand he was favored to win because it would have cost most of his chips to call.

With a four, five and six on the board and two diamonds, Hellmuth faced an all-in raise of 399,000 chips from Barry Leventhal, a 44-year-old poker player and cardroom manager from New York.

"I know you got a set," said Hellmuth, as he considered whether to call for several minutes.

"Talk is cheap, Phil. Let's get it in or let's move on," Leventhal responded.

Hellmuth eventually folded a queen and seven, both diamonds, revealing that he had a straight draw and a flush draw. Poker odds say Hellmuth's hand had a roughly 50 percent chance of becoming at least a straight, but the 1989 champion had decided to wait for another hand to risk his chips.

Effel said the roughly 80 players who returned on Sunday would be whittled to 27, with the final nine players to be determined late Monday or early Tuesday.

The last nine players will take a four month break, then return to the Rio All Suite Hotel & Casino in November to compete for the title.

Players eliminated Saturday won between $38,600 and $64,333, four to six times their $10,000 buy in.

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DAY 9

(Officially known as Day 5)

BIG NEWS: Play slowed considerably at the World Series of Poker on Saturday, as the top tier of the field held powerful chip stacks and enough rounders had been eliminated to let players be more picky about their hands.

Some players used the breathing room to tighten their play and only play pots with good starting hands. Others used the extra chips to play more hands, driving up action and leading to big pots for players holding less-than-stellar hands.

After more than four and a half hours of play Saturday, 70 players had been eliminated, leaving 119 players competing and allowing the average stack to creep over 1 million chips.

STUD OF THE DAY: Barry Leventhal, 44, of New York, who got 11-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth to fold an open-ended straight and flush draw on the flop by moving all-in for 399,000 chips. Hellmuth took several minutes to make his decision, because with both draws, there was a good chance he would have at least made the straight. Hellmuth folded his hand face-up, drawing groans and second guesses from other players at the table and nearby spectators. Leventhal was later eliminated.

BUSTED OUT: Tournament professional Gus Hansen, two-time gold bracelet winner Hoyt Corkins

UP NEXT: On Sunday, about 80 to 100 players will play down to 27 players, the final three tables, in preparation for the last day of play Monday before the final table in November.

POKER TALK: Stealing blinds: Raising a pot in hopes that all opponents will fold, giving the raiser a small pot consisting of the blinds and antes.

As play started Saturday, Cristian Dragomir of Bucharest, Romania, was in third place and raised a pot from the dealer spot to 50,000 chips. At that point, each player had a required ante of 1,000 chips, the small blind was 5,000 and the big blind was 10,000 chips. This meant there was already 24,000 in the pot, which Dragomir stole by raising and forcing everyone else to fold.

HE SAID WHAT?: "In life, cards have brains. I didn't know this until about four months ago. … If you've got the positive energy, it may take a little while, but the cards will come." - Mike "The Mouth" Matusow, after doubling his chip stack to about 740,000 chips on a pair of queens.

SOURCE: Associated Press