Maria Mayrinck raised preflop to 7,200 after the under the gun player had limped. Both blinds got out of the way and the UTG made the call. He proceeded to check when the flop came down and Mayrinck bet 7,500, leaving only 17,100 behind. The UTG, who had a big stack, moved all-in and put Mayrinck to the test. In the end, she chose to fold and will now need to nurse her short stack.
When we arrived on the scene, there were already 35,000 chips in the middle and a flop of on the felt. Matthias Habernig had an extra 13,100 in front of him in the cutoff while his opponent studied the raise on the button. After several minutes in the tank, the button folded, telling the table he had jacks. "Jacks! Jacks!" exclaimed another player. "I fold kings there but not jacks, never jacks." The button didn't look like he appreciated the advice. Habernig took the hand to move up to 120,000 without the mess of a showdown.
With about 12,000 in the pot preflop, Christian De Leòn and his opponent both checked the flop. When the hit the turn, De Leòn checked and his opponent bet 5,000. De Leòn immediately moved all-in for a total of 22,400 and his opponent mucked. De Leòn is now up to around 40,000.
Matthias Habernig raised to 3,300 ("three-three," he said) from middle position. Angel Guillen defended his button, wishing Habernig good luck. They both quickly checked down the board.
"Ace," Habernig announced.
Guillen rolled over for a pair of eights. That was good enough to best ace-high, but more importantly, it beat Habernig's actual hand. He showed with a laugh. "You suck," he teased Guillen.
"Hey, I was suited," Guillen responded, collecting the small pot.
Now that they are under 90 players, the tournament staff is breaking one person from each to make all of the remaining ten tables eight handed before they break another one. They will play eight-handed for the rest of the tournament.
There was about 10,000 in the pot with a flop reading when Jose "Nacho" Barbero checked to his sole opponent in the cutoff, who bet 4,500. Barbero made the call and then checked the on the turn. The cutoff didn't slow down and pushed out a bet of 10,000. It was enough to push Barbero off the hand.
Barbero hasn't gotten much going today and is currently sitting with 33,000.
Players are back in their seats to play another two levels. It's getting to be lunch time for us heathen Americans, who are used to a wide variety of options available for a quick bite on break or food delivery to the table. But in Argentina, a meal is an affair to be savored. From the looks on the wait staff's faces, we might be the first people to request take out food. So it's back to the grind with rumbling bellies for some. For others, business as usual.
Players are on their first 15 minute break of the day. At this point, right around 87 players remain. A little more than half the field needs to be eliminated before we make the money.