LAS VEGAS–We all heard the sound and paused for a moment … yep, that had to be what it was. A floorman dropped a rack of chips, right near the rail where spectators were gathered. Tourney officials handled it well, backing up the crowds immediately and authoritatively to secure the area and pick up the little (but very important) round pieces of plastic. It appears they were all yellow 1,000 chips — the smallest value in play right now — so there was little panic. But inside, just for a moment, you could tell the floor briefly feared another chip scandal.
With that said, the current total chip count is off by 5,000, as one orange 5k chip was found on the floor toward the end of Day 2 b and removed from play.