On a board and several thousand in the middle already, Eugene Todd bet 5,000 and was raised to 11,000 by Adam Lippert. A third player in seat 8 then reraised all in and Todd went into the tank. Finally he put his remaining 8,000 in the pot and the decision was now Lippert's. He too decided that there was too much in the pot and called as well. The hands were:
Todd:
Lippert:
Unknown Player:
The fell on the river and Lippert made a winning flush to eliminate Todd and take most of the unknown players stack. He now sits with 62,000 and appears to be the chip leader.
James Copher and an unknown player were involved in a big confrontation moments ago, resulting in one of them parting ways with their entire chip stack. Here's how it went down:
With about 1,000 chips already in the pot, the flop brought . Copher bet out 800, and his opponent quickly called. Fourth street came the , and Copher flicked a single gray T5,000 chip into the middle, betting the full amount. His opponent moved all in for just a couple thousand more, and Copher instantly called, having his man covered.
"You got a flush?" asked the opponent.
Showdown:
Copher:
Opponent:
"Oh wow," said the all in player, preparing himself for the deciding river card.
Much to his chagrin, the peeled off, giving Copher the top flush and sending one more player to the rail.
With an open raise to 800 and one caller in front of him, Jason Young reraised to roughly 3,000, but the table folded around. Young flashed as he collected the small pot.
With the board reading and roughly 10,000 in the pot, John Racener put his opponent to the test with a bet of 6,000. After a short tank his opponent called and Racener told him, "Nice hand" as he mucked his cards when his opponent showed .
The defending champ is down to about roughly 7,000.
After a long scan through the field, there are just two ladies remaining.
Joanne Monteavero is over on table 15 with just less than 20,000. At an adjacent table, our other lady -- who says she goes simply by "Miss Kathleen" -- is sitting on about 14,000. Miss Kathleen runs a poker league in her hometown of Richmond, Virginia.
"I'm going to be the baby boomer later on," said Miss Kathleen, predicting a deep run for herself this week.
A large portion of the field seems to be fans of the New York Jets. A critical forced fumble, recovery, and touchdown just drew a huge reaction from many players.
Take the "reserved" sticker off of Seat 1 at the final table; defending champion John Racener won't be filling that spot.
In his final hand of the day, Racener opened the betting with a raise to 500. Two players, including Akio Ishige, came along to the flop.
The dealer spread out the first three community cards: . Racener continued out with a bet, prompting one opponent to fold. Ishige wasn't so easily deterred though as he came along with a call.
Heads up then, fourth street brought a . Both men checked.
The river came a . Racener bet 3,800, nearly his full stack. Ishige moved all in, and Racener made the call.
Showdown:
Racener:
Ishige:
Having made his straight, Akio Ishige has done the deed, knocking off the defending champion and chipping his way up to 14,000.
On a flop of , Billy Gazes had the betting lead. He checked, and his opponent put out a bet. The amount was unclear, but when Gazes called, it put more than 6,000 chips in the pot.
Heads up, fourth street was the . Gazes again checked, and his opponent put out a bet of 4,100. Billy called once more.
The river brought the . Gazes sat pensively for a minute or two, alternating glances at the board and his opponent. Finally, he counted out 6,400 chips and tossed them forward. His opponent went into the tank for a couple minutes before finally surrendering his cards.
With that little chip-up pot, Gazes has climbed to 27,000 just before break.