NLHE players dream of aces in the hole but the aces Max Pescatori, our featured player yesterday, played early in the Ultimate Poker Challenge could have cost him $15,000. Max didn't want Hinchcliffe to call but he did and Max was out with 0 points for the day when the burly Washington state pro made two pair.

The overnight standings were as follows:

1) Steve Simmons- 815 (40k best overall points)
2) Renee Wexler- 735 (21k)
3) Max Pescatori- 730 (11k)
4) H.Tahoe Andrew- 700 (7k)
5) Nick Bouyea- 660 (6k)
6) Dan Pugliese- 640 (5k)

Max with 8 final table appearances was so confident of second place he decided against a saver with Renee. The standings after today are:
1) Steve Simmons
2) Renee Wexler
3) Tahoe Andrew 740pts
4) Max 735pts or Nick (Nick would have to finish 2nd in todays tournie to overtake Max)
6) Dan Pugliese 720pts

The final table today (22/23) chip count was as follows.

1) Bob Stupak- 37k chips
2) Swawn Rice- 27k chips
3) Dan Pugliese- 14k
4) Mickey Seagle- 13k
5) Jeff Rine- 7k
6) John Phan- 5k
7) S.Simmons- 1.5k

Steve Simmons went on an incredible rush and overtook Bob Stupak who KO’d Melissa Hayden on the bubble in controversial circumstances. First out was Jeff Rine followed by John Phan who was also playing in todays tournament. He is a name to watch out for. Dan Pugliese who told me he hasn't played since the sixties before playing every one of the Ultimate Poker Challenge events and loving it was 5th. Playing today we had a high quality field with Barry Greenstein, Joe Awada and Scotty Nguyen making a late effort to score enough points to play in the semis starting on Friday. There will be an amazing opportunity to watch top poker pros at the Plaza with Chris Ferguson, Eric Seidel, Jennifer Harman, Evelyn Ng, Chip & Karina Jett, Kathy Liebert, Andy Bloch and Allen Cunningham all qualified to play.