Level 18 Draws to a Close; Ivey Falls, Smith Still Cruising Along
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Level 18 of the 2014 World Series of Poker Main Event is in the books! Players are currently taking their final 20-minute break of the evening. When the remaining runners return, they will play one more two-hour level before bagging and tagging for the night.
This level saw the demise of one of poker's greats: 10-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Ivey. During Ivey's final hand, he raised all in over the top of a bet from John Kabbaj on a 
board. Kabbaj quickly called with pocket jacks and was out in front against Ivey's ace-king. The river was no help to Ivey and he was forced to settle for a 430th place finish.
Matthias De Meulder's tournament life also came to an end this level. The Belgian moved the last of his stack all in before the flop with pocket sevens but ran into Matthew Hruska's pocket aces. De Meulder failed to improve and his Main Event came to an end.
Other players eliminated this level include Artem Litvinov (428th), David Paredes (404th), Thayer Rasmussen (396th), Austin Buchanan (389th), Joseph Hebda (381st), Owen Crowe (379th), and Jesse Wilke (374th). Chris DeMaci fell in 357th place when his ace-king failed to improve against Maxence Dupont's pocket kings.
The top three stacks heading into the break belong to Pakinai Lisawad, Zach Jiganti, and Dan Smith. Smith, who jumped out to an early chip lead at the start of the day, is still riding high heading into the final level of the night.
During the break be sure to check out Sarah Grant's interview with Griffin Benger who spoke about how integral his friends are to his success and a big pot that he played just before the dinner break.