Chris Chronis wasn't over 1.1 million in chips for long. He bet 14,000 on a flop of , then called a raise to 54,000 from Joe Cassidy. When the turn fell , Chronis tried again with a bet of 75,000. Cassidy raised again, this time all in for 110,500. Chronis was priced into a call with his straight draw, , but was drawing dead. Cassidy had turned quad threes with .
Cassidy is up to 340,000. Chronis is down to about 1,043,000.
When we went out on the floor a short time ago to get the last few counts we were missing, Martin Comer was on our list. "Why bother?" he said with a laugh as he showed 45,000 remaining chips. Now he has none.
Comer got his last 40,000 into the middle with . Antonio Casale woke up with pocket aces. The flop gave Comer an up-and-down straight draw when it came out , but that was where things started and ended. The turn was the , making a set for Casale; the river blanked .
Comer earned AU$30,000 for three very long days of poker.
Sorel Mizzi has just doubled up Elliot Smith. In the hand Rajkumar Ramakrishnan opened to 15,000 and both Smith and Mizzi called to go to the flop.
On a flop the players checked and moved on to the turn. On the turn Smith check-raised all in, over the top of a 36,000 bet from Mizzi, who proceeded to make the call.
Mizzi had for trip fours, but he would drawing very thin against Smith's for a full house. The river didn't bring Mizzi's much needed case leaving him at just 46,000 chips and moving Smith up to 370,000.
A hand later Mizzi doubled through Rajkumar Ramakrishnan to move back to 97,000.
Six-handed play has definitely upped the pace of play. Natan Meylakh opened for 12,000 in front of Corey Robinson, who re-raised to 40,000. Meylakh responded by moving all in. When Robinson called, he was the one at risk of elimination.
Meylakh:
Robinson:
Off to the races Robinson and Meylakh went. Meylakh crossed the finish line in first place on a board of . He sent Robinson out of the tournament in 35th place.
The first player has been busted since we moved to six-handed play. On the turn of a board that read , Rahme checked to Chronis. Chronis settled on 100,000 as being the proper amount to bet. Rahme check-raised all in for 320,000 and was met with a lightning-quick call. Rahme's was in the lead, but Chronis had a monster draw with . One of his legion of outs came when the river fell .
Rahme earned AU$30,000 in prize money. For his part, Chronis is the first player to eclipse the 1-million chip mark.
Annette Obrestad has seemed to make her own luck in this tournament. We imagine that her playing style causes her opponents to make mistakes that she takes advantage of. It was certainly a mistake for David Docherty to mix it up with Obrestad. He was in the big blind and called a raise to 13,000 preflop.
The flop came down . Docherty bet another 20,000, then called a raise from Obrestad to 50,000. When the turn fell , Docherty checked. Obrestad, ever the aggressor, bet 74,000. That bet sent Docherty deep into the tank, where he stayed for several minutes as he pondered his decision. Finally he decided to move all in for 340,000. Obrestad snap-called all in for 70,000 less.
Docherty:
Obrestad:
Disaster for Docherty! Obrestad showed the second nuts. Docherty was drawing dead and had only 70,000 chips left after the hand. Obrestad, meanwhile, eclipsed 700,000.
Play is six-handed now, and that means players will have to play more marginal hands and play them harder than they otherwise might. That was on display in a recent hand between Clonie Gowen and Zach Fellows. Gowen bet 20,000 on a flop of and Fellows made the call. Both players checked the turn. When the river came , Gowen bet another 30,000. Fellows called with , middle pair of tens. Gowen turned over , a hand that was trailing going into the river but spiked a second pair.
With the elimination of Nhan Le, the tournament has been paused so that players can re-draw their seats. We'll have the new assignments, along with fresh chip counts, as soon as possible.