Jose Serratos opened for 1,200 under the gun and cleared the field all the way around to Aaron Frei, who opted to defend from the big blind.
The flop saw Frei check-call a bet of 1,300, and then check for a second time when the peeled off on the turn. Serratos bet again, this time 3,000, but ended up snap-folding when Frei woke up with a check-raise to 7,500.
Allen Kessler informed us that he was the beneficiary of a double up after getting his stack all in preflop with and was up against an opponent's . The all-diamond flop was scary, but Kessler managed to hold.
"That doesn't happen in Black Hawk," he said with a hint of surprise.
Meanwhile, Tyler Corbett, who was one of the first players eliminated on Day 1c, reentered, but his second bullet didn't go any better. He told us action folded to him and he shoved with pocket sixes only to have a player in the blinds wake up with queens. Corbett, who finished runner-up in this tournament back in March, is unsure if he'll give it another go.
David Leftin opened for 1,225 from middle position and Bryan Johnson defended his big blind to see a flop of . Johnson led out for 1,600, Leftin min-raised to 3,200, and Leftin called to see the turn.
Johnson led out again, this time for 3,300, and Leftin just called. When the completed the board on the river, Johnson fired out 6,100 and Leftin made a quick call only to muck when Johnson rolled over the for a turned set.
Tyler Corbett, who finished runner-up in this event back in the spring, has fired multiple bullets in this tournament. Not including Day 1a nor 1b, he has already fired three times, and it seems like this one might be the charm.
Shortly after reentering, Corbett raised to 1,500 from middle position and received a call from the player in the cutoff. When action reached the player in the big blind, he three-bet jammed for 11,150 and Corbett four-bet all in over the top to isolate.
Corbett:
Opponent:
Corbett seemed devastated when the flop delivered his opponent a set, but his frown was turned upside down when the dealer burned and turned the . The river was of no consequence, and Corbett scored the K.O.
Sean Munjal hasn't had much luck here in the MSPT Golden Gates Casino, but that just changed.
Munjal, who has several bullets invested, came by our desk to tell us about a big pot he'd just played that resulted in the elimination of Jim Morrison.
According to him, Morrison raised to 2,200 under the gun with the and Munjul decided to flat from middle position with the . The rest of the field folded, the flop came down , and Morrison bet 6,000. Munjul just called and the turn gave him his flush.
Morrison checked, Munjul bet 15,000, and Morrison check-raised all in for roughly 40,000 total. Munjul, who had roughly the same stack, made the call and managed to survive the river, which was the .
After Michael Gayton opened for 1,500 under the gun and picked up three callers, Ryan Simoneau three-bet all in for 16,000 from the button. Both blinds folded, Gayton four-bet all in over the top for 24,000, and the other three players got out of the way.
Gayton:
Simoneau:
Simoneau got it in behind, but he was drawing to two live cards. The flop paired Gayton, but it also gave Simoneau a gutshot straight draw. The turn made it an open-ender, but the would blank on the river to send Simoneau to the rail.
The under-the-gun player opened for 1,900 and Chris Ali called from middle position. When action reached Nader Wahdan on the button, he simply moved all in for approximately 30,000. The blinds both folded, as did the original raiser, and Ali hit the tank.
"I know what you have," Ali explained.
"No one knows what I have, not the way I play," Wahdan said with a laugh.
"I should go with my gut," Ali responded. It looked as if Ali was going to fold, but all of a sudden he spiked in his stack of 17,600.
Ali:
Wahdan:
It was a flip, and Ali was looking to hold. He failed to do so on the flop, but fortunately for him he was the only one with a club, which locked him up the hand when the peeled off on the turn. The meaningless was put out on the river, and Ali was shipped the double.
"I knew it was a race," Ali said after the hand. "Did I want to risk 25 big blinds?"
Max Chrisp, who finished third in this very event one year ago, is sitting with a big stack over in the far corner of the room.
In one recent hand, there was roughly 20,000 in the pot on a flop. Chrisp fired out 22,000, and his opponent hit the tank before moving all in for what looked to be 45,000. Chrisp snap-called.
Chrisp:
Opponent:
Both players held overpairs to the board, but of course Chrisp's was best. Neither the turn nor river changed things, and Chrisp was pushed the juicy pot.