Clifford Waite raised from middle position to 9,000 and then action folded to Michael Chow in the small blind. Chow reraised to 47,800 with just 1,000 behind. After a few minutes of tanking, Waite just called.
Chow then checked in the dark before the flop came down . Waite bet 1,000 and Chow called all in.
Waite:
Chow:
The turn brought the and the river the , keeping Chow's eights best and doubling him up. Waite was kicked back to 200,000.
JJ Liu has more than doubled her stack in the first two levels and now sits behind a comfortable 260,000. She called David Pham's pre-flop raise to 11,500, as did the player in the cutoff. Pham checked a flop of to Liu, who fired 18,000 into the pot. The cutoff folded first before Pham open-folded . Liu obliged by showing the .
Jimmy Fricke stated things off with a raise to 8,000 from middle position. Action then folded to Harold Wasson in the small blind and he reraised to 32,000. In the big blind was Adam Hui and he moved all in, having both players well covered. Fricke folded and Wasson snapped with the . Hui tabled the for two overs and put the two in a massive coin-flip situation for around 360,000 in chips.
The flop came down blank for Hui with the . He was still looking for an ace or a king to come on the turn or river. Hui could also catch some sort of combination of straight cards to give him the wheel, but when the fell on the turn it was just six outs that would do it for him.
The river completed the board with the and missed Hui, keeping Wasson's queens out in front. Wasson scooped the pot and saw his stack shoot up. Hui was left with less than half of what he started with, but he still has a lot of chips.
We join the hand already in progress, with Brian England once again tangling, in position, with David Williams. On the turn of a board, Williams tosses 12,000 into the pot and England calls. The river comes and brings a bet of 18,300 from Williams. The chips have barely landed on the felt across the betting line when England calls, but he can't beat Williams' top pair, .
JJ Liu just went on an absolute blitzkrieg of a rush before the break to move her stack to a whopping 485,000 in chips. Here's how it went down in a couple of back-to-back hands.
We arrived at the table in the first hand with the board reading between JJ Liu and Kwinsee Tran. Liu was up first and checked to Tran. He bet 25,000 and Liu check-raised enough to put Tran all in. He made the call and showed the for a pair of kings and a flush draw. Liu held the for top pair of aces. The river completed the board with the and Liu won the pot to move to about 375,000. Tran was eliminated.
On the second hand, Liu got all the money in on the flop of versus an opponent holding the . Liu held the for bottom set. The player she was involved with, had around 125,000 or so himself to start the hand and after the turn came the and the river the , all of those chips went Liu's way.
From under the gun, Paul Lieu raised all in for 60,500. Evan Lamprea was in the next seat and reshoved. Everyone else in the hand folded and it was Lamprea's up against Lieu's .
The flop, turn and river ran out and Lieu was eliminated in 57th place.
While that hand was going on, Erica Schoenberg eliminated a player on an adjacent table with pocket eights. That player finished in 56th place and officially put the entire tournament on the bubble. Only one more person will go home empty handed and play is now hand for hand.
It's been a tough slog for Cody Slaubaugh today. He started Day 2 as the far-and-away chip leader but hasn't been able to get anything going. On the first hand of hand-for-hand play, we approached his table with the turn already out, . New chip leader J.J. Liu, sporting a pair of sunglasses since coming back from the break, was in the blinds and checked to Slaubaugh. He made a slow, deliberate bet of 33,500 that Liu called.
The river came . Liu checked again. This time Slaubaugh bet a hefty 63,000. Liu cut 63,000 off her stack, broke it down a few times, then shoved it across the betting line. Slaubaugh instantly mucked, allowing Liu to drag the pot. She showed .
With that pot added to her stack, Liu now has about 600,000.
Action folded to chip leader JJ Liu in the small blind and she raised to 22,500. The big blind and moved all in for 108,500. Liu counted down the chips to make the call and then slid them into the middle, turning over the . The big blind had shoved with the and was live.
The flop came down and the big blind took the lead with top pair of kings. The turn brought the and the river the . When you're running good, you're running good as Liu smacked trips on the river to send her opponent to the rail. More importantly, she eliminated the player that put everyone into the money, earning them at least $2,743 in prize money. Liu also moved her stack to 755,000 in chips.
. Waite bet 1,000 and Chow called all in.
and the river the 
, keeping Chow's eights best and doubling him up. Waite was kicked back to 200,000.![[user75032]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
to Liu, who fired 18,000 into the pot. The cutoff folded first before Pham open-folded 
. Liu obliged by showing the 
.
for two overs and put the two in a massive coin-flip situation for around 360,000 in chips.
. He was still looking for an ace or a king to come on the turn or river. Hui could also catch some sort of combination of straight cards to give him the wheel, but when the 
fell on the turn it was just six outs that would do it for him.
and missed Hui, keeping Wasson's queens out in front. Wasson scooped the pot and saw his stack shoot up. Hui was left with less than half of what he started with, but he still has a lot of chips.
between JJ Liu and Kwinsee Tran. Liu was up first and checked to Tran. He bet 25,000 and Liu check-raised enough to put Tran all in. He made the call and showed the 
versus an opponent holding the 
for bottom set. The player she was involved with, had around 125,000 or so himself to start the hand and after the turn came the 
and the river the 
, all of those chips went Liu's way.
and was live.
and the big blind took the lead with top pair of kings. The turn brought the