Brandon Cantu raised it to 11,000 from under the gun, and the next player to act called. It folded around to Matthew Chang, who moved all in for 43,500 total. The blinds quickly folded, as did Cantu, but the original caller stuck the chips in the for the call. The cards were flipped, and it was a race.
Chang:
Opponent:
The flop was a tough one for Chang, coming . This gave his opponent a set, but Chang could still catch a queen to survive. He missed the turn, the , but the dealer slammed down the on the river, giving Chang broadway for the unlikely double up.
On the last hand before the dinner break, Freddy Deeb held against a short stacked opponents . The chips got in preflop, and the board ran out , giving Deeb the straight and the win. He is now sitting on 203,000.
Raymond Dandrea moved tables and wasted no time getting back into the action. We caught him all in for about 120,000 on the river of a board and his opponent had him barely covered. The pot was loaded with pink 5,000 chips but it wasn't enough to convince the man sitting opposite Dandrea to call.
Eric Baldwin, who had been the aggressor for the entire hand, moved all in on the river of a board in position. The all in was worth 84,000 into a pot that had grown to be over 100,000 chips. Alex Masek thought for four or five minutes before letting his hand go and letting Baldwin rake in the pot without a showdown.
There are 37 players left, and we have reached the money bubble. Usually, this means hand-for-hand play, where each table must complete their hand before another can be played. However, we are playing round-for-round here. Basically, each table will play one rotation, even if a player has been eliminated. If multiple players are eliminated in this process, they will split the prize money accordingly. We will keep you posted on all the action as it happens.
Raymond Dandrea was lucky to get to the dinner break after hitting his straight draw against Brandon Cantu earlier, and he is making the most of this opportunity, as he is now one of the chip leaders. On a flop of , Dandrea checked to his lone opponent, who fired out 16,000. Dandrea check raised to 35,000, and his opponent called. The turn came the , and Dandrea decided to lead out for 50,000 this time. His opponent moved all in, and Dandrea snap called.
Dandrea:
Opponent:
Dandrea had flopped the nuts, and his opponent was drawing dead. That hand boosted his stack up to nearly 500,000.
A few hands later, he took another big pot off of Allen Carter, when he turned two pair, and got paid off on the river. After that hand, he is now over 600,000, while Allen Carter is in big trouble, with around 80,000.
Eric Baldwin raised it up to 11,000 in early position, and it folded around to Matt Salsberg, who went all in for 59,500. Baldwin went deep into the tank, and after a couple minutes of crunching the numbers, slid in the chips to make the call. The cards were tabled, and we had a race on our hands.
Baldwin:
Salsberg:
Baldwin's low pair was in the lead, but it wouldn't last long, as the dealer put out a flop of . The turn came the , and the river brought the . Saldsberg collected the double up, and now both players are virtually even in chips.