Action folded to Dennis Phillips on the button when he raised to 2,800. The small blind got out of the way but the big blind reraised to 10,000. Phillips made the call and the two watched the flop come 
.
The big blind checked and opened the door for Phillips to bet 12,800. The big blind looked frustrated and mucked the 
face-up. Phillips coyly turned over 
as he approached 60,000.
Matthias Habernig has been quiet today, until recently that is. Over at his table the under the gun player raised to 2,500 and received a call from the player in Seat 2. Habernig was next to act and reraised to 9,000, which both players called. With nearly 30,000 in a three-way preflop pot, it seemed like the fireworks might fly.
Action checked to Habernig after 
flop and he fired out 23,000. The under the gun player mucked, accidentally exposing 
, while Seat 2 moved all-in for a total of 36,000. Habernig made the call and the two turned over their cards:
Habernig: 
Seat 2:
The 
on the turn gave Seat 2 even more outs and Habernig looked a bit nervous. He breathed a deep sigh of relief however when the 
fell on the river. Habernig sent his opponent to the rail and increased his stack to around 110,000.
![[user140525]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
Maria "Maridu" Mayrinck has been kind enough to educate her table on the powers of king-queen offsuit, the hand that never loses on PokerStars. And Mayrinck convinced her tablemates that it never loses in PokerStars live tournaments either. After several big pots at the table won by the magical KQo, Maridu somehow found herself on the wrong side of the all-in equation.
The button raised, and the small blind flatted. In the big blind, she looked down at the 
. "I was all in," she said. "I didn't even look at the other card. I mean, I had 12k."
The button snap called, and after the small blind folded, he proudly turned over .... 
. With 
, Maria was certain she was dead. The flop fell 
, and just as she expected, her opponent took the lead. But then the turn brought an ace. Still, she was sure the river would send her packing. But it too was an ace, and somehow, Mayrinck survived KQo -- in a Stars tournament, no less -- to double to 28,000.
Angel Guillen recently became entangled in a hand after the player in the hijack raised to 2,500. Guillen, who was in the cutoff, repopped it to 6,200 and the hijack made the call. Action checked to Guillen when the flop came 
and he promptly bet 5,500. The hijack gave it some thought but conceded the pot. Guillen is now up to 6,000.
Seat 7 limped under the gun only to have Mario Donoso raise from the cutoff to 4,700. Action folded to Seat 7 who put in a reraise to 11,200, which Donoso called. The two saw a flop of 
and Seat 8 led out with a 6,000 bet. Donoso wasted little time in announcing, "All in."
"Call," responded Seat 7 as he turned over and committed his stack of about 40,000. Donoso was in bad shape with his 
and need to hit an ace or runner-runner. The 
on the turn changed nothing and neither did the 
on the river. Donoso took a big hit in the hand and is down to around 60,000.
We're starving, and so his Jose "Nacho" Barbero apparently. He just finished chowing down on a healthy preflop pot. After one player opened from early position to the rather large 5,300, Barbero moved all in for about seven times the pot. Everyone else got out of the way while Barbero's opponent considered his options. He folded 
face up. And he was right. Barbero flashed pocket kings on their way to the muck.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
340,000
-60,000
|
-60,000 |
|
|
135,000
5,000
|
5,000 |
|
110,000
9,500
|
9,500 |
|
||
|
80,000
38,000
|
38,000 |
|
|
||
|
75,000
24,700
|
24,700 |
|
73,000
5,300
|
5,300 |
|
||
|
55,000
-13,000
|
-13,000 |
|
|
||
|
39,000
5,200
|
5,200 |
|
|
||
|
23,000
-7,700
|
-7,700 |
|
|
||
|
|
17,000
-500
|
-500 |
|
|
||
We didn't catch the specifics of the hand but we watched Dennis Phillips shake hands with his opponent, who he had just eliminated with his against . Phillips increased his stack to 39,000.
Aaron Lerner was down to his last few big blinds when he got it all in with 
against a just slightly shorter stack with pocket fives. Presto held, and Lerner was all in next hand. He didn't even stick around to see the river before making his exit.
Argentinian tennis pro Gastón Gaudio made an impressive showing here, but his match has come to an end. He pushed with 
from the small blind. Unfortunately for him, the big blind woke up with . The board ran out 
, and Gaudio shook hands with tablemate Veronica Dabul on his way out.
