Wheeler Gets a Refund
"Jason Wheeler, are you in the room?"
And then a moment later: "Jason Wheeler, if you're in the room, please make yourself known to one of the tournament staff."
That was about an hour ago, and we've just now learned what the concern was. Wheeler was assigned Table 13 Seat 8 today, and his stack has been blinded off since the start of play. During the break, it became apparent that Wheeler was not supposed to be playing this event. We're not sure if his money got wired to the wrong place, or there was a miscommunication or a paperwork error; whatever the case, he was registered for this event erroneously.
Tournament Director Jack Effel made the decision to remove Wheeler's stack and refund the buy-in, and he immediately took to the microphone to announce that to the rest of the field. Only a few players took initial exception to the ruling, but they were quick to see things Effel's way -- after all, they'd want the same treatment if they were in Wheeler's position. As a result, the official field size has been shrunken to 125, and the prize pool will be tweaked accordingly.