Under the gun, Ruben Visser came in raising to 50,000, and Kyle Julius three-bet to 113,000 in position. Visser called, and it was heads-up to the flop.
The dealer gave them to work with, and Visser check-called a bet of 78,000. On the turn, he check-called another 158,000, and the completed the board. Julius fired the third bullet — 290,000 — and Visser check-folded to drop under the million-chip mark.
First in from the cutoff, Mark Drover raised to 60,000, and Byron Kaverman three-bet to 164,000 on the button. In the big blind, Nikolaos Alafogiannis called all in blind for his last 68,000, and the action was back on Drover. He began stacking out reraising chips, and his 415,000 coaxed a fold from Kaverman to put Alafogiannis heads up for his tournament life.
Showdown
Drover:
Alafogiannis:
Alafogiannis was unnerved by his opponent's hand, and his confidence would be rewarded. The board ran out , and the flush gives Alafogiannis a huge chip boost. He's essentially quadrupled up, though he's still on the shortest stack in the room with 247,000 chips now.
In a battle of the blinds, Lee Goldman raised to 80,000 in the small, and Faraz Jaka defended his big to see a flop.
It came , and Jaka called a follow-up bet of 90,000. He called another 200,000 on the turn, and the two men were content to check it down behind the river. Goldman showed his first, and Jaka mucked his inferior hand to send a nice pot to his neighbor.
Ruben Visser opened to 60,000 in the cutoff, and Charles Furey reraised all in for 472,000 next door. Visser spent some time deliberating, but he eventually made the call for just over half his stack and a chance at the knockout. He was dominated, though.
Showdown
Visser:
Furey:
Furey's hand held strong as the board ran , and the two men have traded places on the big board.
Mark Drover just can not shake Nikolaos Alafogiannis. About an orbit or so after Alafogiannis cracked his aces with queen-seven, the two men tangled again. The pot opened with Alafogiannis shoving in for 212,000, and Mark Drover flatted in the small blind. From the big, Byron Kaverman squeezed in a reraise to 396,000 total, but Drover wasn't going anywhere. He moved all in, and Kaverman was forced to cut his losses and duck out of the way. Alafogiannis was at risk again, and once again, he was in trouble.
Showdown
Alafogiannis:
Drover:
And once again, Alafogiannis would get there. The board ran , and that was that. Sixes up give Alafogiannis another triple up and then some, and he's gone from 72,000 to about 690,000 during the first half of this level.
David Peters was down to 373,000 chips when he jammed them in from middle position. Next door, Ruben Visser woke up with and reraised all in, and Peters showed up for his tournament life.
The flop was a decent start for "dpeters18", but the turn crushed any hopes he had of a double. The river was a mere formality, and Peters has been forced to shake hands and make his exit from the PCA Main Event in 22nd place.