William Burdick raised to 700 from early position. Action folded around to Brandon Cantu in the big blind who called. The flop came . Cantu checked and Burdick bet 1275. Cantu raised all in and Burdick made the call, and the players showed:
Cantu:
Burdick:
The turned helped Cantu, coming the . The river hit Cantu square as it came the . Burdick walked off in disbelief while Cantu stacked the pot.
Tony Merksick, from right here in Council Bluffs, IA, is our current chip leader with right around 38,000 chips. Merksick has had a good run at this series, cashing twice already.
A short-stacked Michael Altman found himself all in preflop holding the . Altman was behind, up against the of Demetrios Sangos. Altman failed to improve and headed to the rail with 25 minutes remaining in level 3.
The tournament room here in the Horseshoe is actually not a tournament room at all. It is actually the Whiskey Roadhouse entertainment venue. The bar area that separates it from the casino floor doubles for the perfect "waiting room" for the friends and relatives of the players in this event. It is from this area that anxious onlookers peer down in a combination of nervousness and support.