by Craig Cunningham

PokerStars players are up and down the leaderboard as play begins on Day 5. With no clear leader emerging, any of the 112 players remaining could make the Final Table--or take the bracelet.

Play will go for five levels or 27 players, whichever is reached first. Blinds are 12k/24k with a 3k ante, giving plenty of play for anyone with a shred of patience.

Jason Welch starts at 618k in chips. "I had a real up and down day yesterday," he said. "I went from 420k to 700k pretty quickly, then caught jacks three times at the ESPN Feature Table with Juan Carlos Mortensen and Humberto Brenes. I lost 200k with jacks. I don't think I want to see them much anymore. I got down to 300k then caught aces to double up. Then I made a mistake with pocket tens. I tried to push a girl off of her hand and thought she called, then I showed my tens. She hadn't called but ended up calling anyways with A-J and caught a pair to double through me." The Fort Collins, Colorado insurance agency owner hopes to ensure a spot deep on Day 5.

Jason Welch

Michigan State student Alan Keating is thought to be the youngest player to ever cash at the World Series, finishing 224th in the $1.5k NLH won by Phil Hellmuth. Alan was 21 years, 3 days old when he busted out, and he would be the youngest player to ever win the WSOP Main Event. If he gets there, it will be because he had the guts to weather some horrible beats yesteday. "I had aces cracked by kings twice, including the very last hand of the night.

Isaac Haxton had an up and down day that ended where he began, around 800k in chips. The WPT PokerStars Caribbean Adventure runner-up was as high as 1.5m yesterday. He lost a chunk of chips to Paul Kershaw. Isaac raised to 36k, and Kershaw called from the big blind. 10s-10h-3s came on the flop, and both checked. Qs on the turn brought a 50k bet from Kershaw, and Isaac raised 270k. Kershaw called all-in to show J-10, and Isaac turned over Ad-Kh. Ah on the river sent the 635k pot to Kershaw.

These three join over twenty other PokerStars players with a great chance to make the Final Table. There is no monster stack, although there are many top pros still alive. Patience and timely aggression should be a winning combination today.