Well, that was not a small pot. In fact, it was the biggest of the tournament so far.
It began with Matt Keikoan opening to 14,000 in early position, and Ron Segni three-bet to 35,000. Next door, Steve Olufs reraised all in for 145,000 total, and that sent the decision back to Keikoan. He spent a few minutes in the tank before calling, but Segni proceeded to reraise all in right back over the top. Keikoan hated it, but he was pretty much priced into the crying call.
Showdown
Keikoan:
Segni:
Olufs:
There was no funny stuff on the board, and Segni drags the monster pot to eliminate Olufs. The dealer counted Segni down at 387,000, and Keikoan ran out of chips as he counted to 380,000. He was covered too, and he too has been sent to the exit. There'll be no two-time champion here in Lake Tahoe this week.
Larry Thomas and Dennis Pevarnick just tangled up in a pot that left Pevarnick all in for his short stack of about 60,000. Larry Thomas had that barely covered, and his was dominated by his opponent's .
Pevarnick's diamonds played as the board ran through , and he's scooped up the much-needed double. Thomas was left with just a few thousand chips, and he was eliminated very soon thereafter.
We caught up with the action late, but we joined in time to see the fireworks. In a battle of the blinds, Jim Atwood had shoved the turn of a board. Jim Young put the rest of his chips into the pot with , but his pair was second best. Atwood showed up the superior , and Young was dead to two outs.
The river was the blank , though, and that's the end of the line for Young.
Atwood, on the other hand, is now the big stack in the room with about 725,000 chips.
We're down to our final 27 players now, and the've just been redrawn around three tables. Here's how they lay out, and we'll snag some chip counts for you in a moment as well.
We just caught the tail end of this pot, but it was enough to learn what we needed to know. On the river of a board, Jim Atwood led out with a bet of 45,000 into a pot of about 80,000. He was heads up with Trevor Pierce, and Pierce shoved all in for just over 200,000 total. Atwood had that just covered, and he quickly made the call to put his man at risk.
Pierce showed up for the set, but it was second best. Atwood's had run down the wheel, and that bi pot pushes him up among the chip leaders with more than a half-million chips!
Drew Levine was sweating the money bubble, having only 6 big blinds. A middle position player opened for 13,000 and Levine shoved from the button for 56,000. Action folded back around to the original raiser and he called.
Levine:
Opponent:
The flop hit Levine in the face when ran giving him two pair. He was drawing thin, but missed when the board finished . Levine is up to 120,000.
In early position, Chris Clark opened with a shove for his last 65,000. A couple seats over, a younger player in a bright blue hoodie reraised all in for just less than 100,000 total. The rest of the table folded, and the race was on.
Showdown
Clark:
Mr. Blue Hoodie:
Clark looked pretty confident in his chances, and he'd like the flop a great deal. It came to all but end the hand right there, and the turn left his opponent drawing dead.
It's a big double for Clark, moving him back into contention with just over 140,000. For Mr. Blue Hoodie, it's a crippling blow to knock him back down to about 30,000.
Well, it was quite a grind for Kody Tillotson on the short stack, and he eventually had to hold on tight and hope to squeak into the money. He somehow managed that, though he was left with less than 10,000 with which to try and mount a comeback.
On his final hand, the table folded around to the blinds, and David Clark made the covering raise. Tillotson only had 8,500 left, and he had no choice now but to call with . Clark's wasn't much better, but it was good enough to put Tillotson on the ropes.
The board ran out , and trips give the knockout to Clark. We've found our first in-the-money finisher, and it's Kody Tillotson at the front of the payout line.
![[user66118]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
board, and Segni drags the monster pot to eliminate Olufs. The dealer counted Segni down at 387,000, and Keikoan ran out of chips as he counted to 380,000. He was covered too, and he too has been sent to the exit. There'll be no two-time champion here in Lake Tahoe this week.
was dominated by his opponent's 
.
, and he's scooped up the much-needed double. Thomas was left with just a few thousand chips, and he was eliminated very soon thereafter.
board. Jim Young put the rest of his chips into the pot with 
, but his pair was second best. Atwood showed up the superior 
, and Young was dead to two outs.
, though, and that's the end of the line for Young.
. Levine is up to 120,000.
to all but end the hand right there, and the turn 
. Clark's 
