Ted Lawson found himself all in preflop for his last 33,000 with against the of his opponent. The flop seemed to give him a lock on the hand, but the on the turn gave his opponent a straight draw. All Lawson needed to do was dodge a ten on the river, which is exactly what he did as the appeared. Lawson is up to around 90,000.
Meanwhile, Chino Rheem received a double after his rivered his opponent's pocket aces. In the hand Rheem flopped an eight and then rivered a ten for two pair. He is back up to around 160,000.
Action folded to the player on the button and he raised to 9,000. Viktor Blom, who was recently confirmed as the online player known as "Isildur1", then moved all in from the big blind for around 105,000. The button snap-called and the cards were revealed:
Blom:
Button:
Blom was in a race for his tournament life and needed to improve. The flop did not deliver any and neither did the turn. In order to stay alive in the 2011 PokerStars.net Caribbean Adventure Main Event, Blom needed an ace, queen, or jack on the river. Unfortunately for him, and the many Isildur1 fans around the world, the river was the . Blom was eliminated from the tournament about a dozen spots shy of the money.
It's been quite a bubble for Philip Sousa already, and we're still three away from the money.
Sousa was just crippled in a three-way pot where he held pocket jacks against pocket aces and pocket nines. Sousa won the side pot for what looked like 5,300 chips, and he had the unfortunate task of posting the big blind on the next hand.
Bryan Colin raised to 8,000, and the player in the small blind called. Sousa put his remaining chips into the pot without looking, and the board ran . Colin tabled , the small blind couldn't beat it, and it it was up to Sousa to show. He turned over the first... then the for the wheel! Ship the double up.
On the next hand, a player in late position raised, and Sousa moved in for 18,400 from the small blind. His opponent called with , and Sousa's managed to hold up on the board.
Just like that, Sousa is back to about 40,000 chips, and he's just a few hands away from parlaying those doubles into $15,000.
Tournament officials are racing off the black T100 chips during this break, so it is 20 minutes instead of the normal 15. When we return, we will burst the money bubble.
Action folded to Marco Johnson in the small blind and he moved all in for a total of 26,000. William Reynolds was in the big blind and instantly called. Players from nearby tables began to crowd around as Johnson's elimination would burst the money bubble. When the cards were turned over, it looked like that would be the case:
Johnson:
Reynolds:
Media and spectators surrounded the table as tournament officials held the action until all other tables had finished. Once ready, the dealer was given the go ahead to put out the flop, which came . Both players had flopped a pair of nines but Reynolds' kicker was best. The inspired a collective, "Ohhhhhhhhhh," from the dozens of spectators. Johnson could now catch a club or king to double and extend the bubble. Much to the relief of those anxious players hoping to get paid, the river was the !
The bubble was burst and as Reynolds imitated a needle popping a bubble and saying one simple word . . . "Pop!"
Right after the bubble busted, PokerStars Sponsored Player and former November Niner Jason Senti was sent to the rail after his ran into and couldn't get there. His performance in the 2011 PCA is good for a min-cash.
Action folded to Dwyte Pilgrim in the cutoff seat and he moved all in to put the shorter stacks behind him at risk, exercising the power of the big stack. Play moved to Dan Heimiller in the big blind and he thought about it for a bit before calling off his last 58,000 with the . Pilgrim held the and was shocked Heimiller thought about it for that long with such a short stack.
"You deserve to lose," said Pilgrim as the flop ran out . The turn brought the and gave Heimiller an unbeatable straight before the river completed the board with the . Pilgrim dropped back to 293,000 after doubling Heimiller.