Diego Ventura opened for 60,000 in the cutoff and was called by both Dylan Linde (cutoff) and Maurice Hawkins (big blind). Ventra continuation-bet 60,000 on the and was called by only Linde, who folded to a subsequent bullet of 140,000 on the .
Juan Etcheverry opened for a raise to 60,000 and Rami Boukai moved all in for 555,000 total. It was folded back to Etcheverry who tanked for nearly a minute before calling with . Boukai was in excellent position to double up as he had Etcheverry dominated with his .
The board ran out and Boukai doubled up to 1,150,000 while a visibly frustrated Etcheverry was down to just over 120,000 in chips.
The very next hand would see Eugenio Mattar open for 65,000 and Etcheverry moving all in for 119,000 total. It was folded back to Mattar who made the call with . Etcheverry had and was racing for his tournament life. The board ran out and Etcheverry was eliminated in 17th place for $65,940.
Maurice Hawkins opened for 60,000 from the button, leaving himself with 300,000 behind. Niklas Hambitzer reraised to 150,000 from the small blind. Hawkins went deep into thought, putting together the rest of his chips into one big stack as if he was going to push them all forward, and then breaking it down into two stacks. He did this several times and then looked back at his cards twice.
"Go time dog?" Hawkins said, looking over at Hambitzer. "Is it go time?"
Hambitzer said nothing and Hawkins continued talking. "Do you like the Dolphins?"
No response.
"You can't say yes or no?" Hawkins said, pausing. "I fold," sighed Hawkins, turning over an ace. Hambitzer turned over and then said "I like the Dolphins."
The table laughed and Dylan Linde asked Hambitzer "do you know what sport the Dolphins are in?"
"No," said Hambitzer, a slightly evil grin coming over his face.
More often read about in the pages of Forbes magazine than in the poker media, businessman Eugenio Mattar leads his first live tournament, which happens to be the PCA Main Event. The PokerStars Blog reports.
Chance Kornuth limped in, and Felipe Ramos checked his option in a blind battle. Kornuth check-called 45,000 on the flop, and a turn paired the board. Kornuth decided to lead out with 97,000, and Ramos called. An interesting river hit: , putting trips on board. Kornuth dropped a stack of T25,000 chips into the pot, enough to put Ramos all in. The latter called fairly quickly, and Kornuth instantly flipped for quads. Ramos showed for a losing boat and made his exit.
Peru's Diego "Die Ventura" Ventura has plenty of practice solving poker mysteries online as one of the game's highest-ranking players. His sleuthing skills have translated well to the live arena, too, and after a fast start to Day 5 he's near the top of the counts. Read more about Ventura at the PokerStars Blog.