I was seated at table 2 at the start of the tournament. Table 2 is the center table of the 3 tables against the poker room wall. I had a severe cold and had to carry a box of tissues to the table. I wasn't comfortable holding the box of tissues while playing so I put the box on top of the podium next to my table against the wall. The first time I needed to get up to get tissues to clear my honker I noticed racks (partial and full) of chips on the back side of the podium. I can't say that I saw the $5000 chips in the open but I did see loose chips in various places on the podium. Were the $5000 chips stored there also? If so, IMO, they were easily obtainable.

There was a lot of traffic in the area of the podium when players started dropping out of the tournament. Was the podium under surveillance? At the time I thought it was strange that the extra chips were out in the open.