From the cutoff, James Tolbert made it 135,000 to go. Action then folded around to Harrison Gimbel in the big blind who moved all in over the top, putting Tobert to a decision for all of his chips -- about 1.1 million worth. Tolbert made the call and soon after the cards were on their backs:
Tolbert:
Gimbel:
Gimbel managed to spike a queen on the flop and with no miracle running jacks on the turn and river, Tolbert was out in 13th place.
Barry Shulman made it 180,000 to play from the cutoff seat, and Benjamin Zamani called from the big blind. The flop brought out , and Zamani tapped the table. Shulman fired a continuation bet of 450,000, only to see Zamani moved all in over the top of him. Shulman considered for a moment before making the call for his total stack of 2,155,000, now all in and at risk of elimination.
Showdown
Shulman:
Zamani:
Shulman only held ace-high, but he was in the lead as the cards laid. Zamani was drawing for a nine, ten, or king to knock off his opponent. The on the turn was a safe rag, and the that rivered secured Shulman's double up with a pair of aces.
Ty Reiman opened to 140,000, and John Duthie wanted to play for more. He made it 540,000 straight, putting the decision right back on Reiman. After some quick mental gymnastics, Reiman moved all in for 4,880,000, and Duthie almost beat him into the pot with the call. Duthie had Reiman covered by just 55,000 chips as the cards were turned up:
Reiman:
Duthie:
With a pot of more than 10 million chips up for grabs, the tension began to mount during the minute-long pause before the flop. It was quite a spectacle when the dealer ran the flop: . The crowd gasped in unison as Reiman had somehow pulled a miraculous queen off the deck.
The turn and river filled out the board, and Reiman will drag the largest pot of the tournament. He's shot himself into the chip lead with over 10 million, while Duthie now has just those 55,000 little chips to work with.
Action folded around the table to Barry Shulman in the hijack position who opened with a raise to 175,000. Darren Keyes then moved all in over the top for 565,000 from the big blind and Shulman made the call:
Shulman:
Keyes:
The board ran out and Keyes' fives held up to land him a double up and 1.2 million in chips.
On the hand following his crippling bad beat, John Duthie was all in for 55,000. Zachary Goldberg and Tom Koral came into the pot for the price of the blinds, and they would check through a board of . Koral's king-high was the best hand for the side pot, while Duthie showed up for a pair, tripling him up to 180,000.
The next hand, Duthie open-shoved all in for 175,000 after posting the ante. Goldberg came along again, and Ryan D'Angelo did the same, Duthie with another chance to triple up.
The flop came , and Goldberg fired a bet of 300,000. D'Angelo quickly called, and the turn came the . Greenberg moved all in for 990,000, and D'Angelo open-mucked his . Duthie turned up , figuring to be in bad shape. He was, in fact, already drawing dead as Goldberg rolled over . A meaningless river card whisked Duthie out the door in 12th place, to the disappointment of many here in attendance.
Dimitri Hefter came in for a raise to 180,000 from the cutoff seat, and Harrison Gimbel moved all in from the big blind. Hefter was covered by his opponent, so the decision was for his tournament life. He eventually called, putting his final 1.92 million chips into the pot, now all in and at risk.
Showdown
Hefter:
Gimbel:
The flop was clean and safe for Hefter as it fell . The on the turn was a bit of a sweat as it gave Gimbel the flush draw to work with. Sure enough, the flush came in when the ripped off the deck, and Gimbel comes from behind to notch the knockout and send Hefter to the rail in 11th place.
Talk about a crazy ROI. Darren Keyes found his way to the PCA using just 75 FPP's on PokerStars. He earned $150,000 in prize money for his 10th place finish, meaning his estimated ROI (according to a Stars insider) is 12.5 million percent. Here's how Keyes was eliminated from the tournament:
Benjamin Zamani opened with a raise to 180,000 from under the gun. Action then folded around the table to Keyes in the cutoff who moved all in for 930,000. Next to act, Barry Shulman cold-called Keyes' shove and Zamani folded, prompting a preflop heads-up showdown between Shulman and Keyes:
Shulman:
Keyes:
The board ran out in favor of Shulman, whose Jacks held up to win the pot and send Keyes to the rail.
Shulman stacked up 7.07 million in chips after the hand.