Welcome back to the snowy mountains here at Black Hawk for the conclusion of the World Series of Poker Circuit Main Event at the Lodge Casino! Yesterday, we whittled 144 players down to just 11, and after nearly 12 hours of play, Kevin Eyster, also known as “1sickdisease” online, leads the way with 1.23 million. It’s not a huge lead though, as there are four players within 200,000 of him.
It’s a stacked field of 11 players, with multiple ring winners still alive. Ashly Butler comes into today 3rd in chips with 1.156 million, and he won a ring in Biloxi last August. Bryan Campanello is one of the short stacks with 393,000, but he may be the hottest player left in the field, as he won a ring here in Black Hawk just 11 days ago.
We also have a pair of ladies who are still vying for the title. Rosie Paules is another member of the millionaire club, as she comes into today with 1.017 million. There’s also Ting Ho, who just won a 6-max reentry WPT prelim event in Atlantic City in January. She will come into today with 677,000.
The action was big and fast yesterday, and we are expecting more of the same today, as over half the field is just one double up away from the chip lead. We are playing down to a winner today, so don’t go anywhere! We here at Pokernews will be bringing you the action all day. Play will get underway in just over half an hour, so make sure you are comfortable, and enjoy our Day 3 coverage!
We didn't catch the hand as it was happening, as we were working on getting photos up of the final table members, but we got filled in on what happened that led to Ting Ho busting just before the official final table.
The board read , and Ho and Jonathan Taylor got in a raising war that saw all the money go in. Ho had flopped a monster holding , but she was drawing very thin, as Taylor held .
Ho could only catch two cards in the deck for a straight flush, but it didn't happen, as the hit the river. Taylor took the pot to bump his stack up to 1.7 million, while Ho is the dubious final table bubble girl.
Jonathan Taylor opened the action from under the gun +1 to 40,000. The next two players to act, Jerry Johnson and Allan Hedin, both called. It got to Isaac Kirchner in the cutoff, and he moved all in for his last 445,000.
Taylor and Johnson both got out of the way, but Hedin elected to make the call.
Hedin:
Kirchner:
It was a coinflip for Kirchner's tournament life, and the flop was a disaster, coming . Kirchner was now looking for one of the two remaining sevens, but they never came, as it completed and .
Kirchner will walk away with $13,135, while Hedin jumped up to 1.6 million.
Wow. Ashly Butler went from 2nd in chips to out in two hands. On the hand right after the one with Kevin Eyster, Rosie Paules raised it up to 40,000, and Butler called in the small blind.
The flop came down , and both players checked. The turn brought the , and Butler checked to Paules, who fired out 75,000. Butler clicked it back with a min raise to 150,000, and it was back to Paules. She put in a three bet to 450,000, and Butler made the call to put the pot over 1 million.
The river came the , and Butler checked to Paules. She quickly moved all in, and Butler called even quicker. Paules tabled for a flopped full house, and a dejected Butler mucked his hand.
Butler headed to the payout desk, while Paules is our new chip leader with 2.1 million.
On the very next hand, Lawrence Blazer open shoved for his last 271,000, and Benjamin Kim looked him up from the small blind. It was a race, as Blazer held , and Kim held . The board ran down , and Kim's full house got the job done.
Blazer will have to settle for just under $21,000, while Kim, who started the final table 2nd to last in chips, is now a threat with 1.15 million.
Benjamin Kim was on the wrong side of a pretty sick cooler that saw him bow out in 6th place. Kevin Eyster opened the action to 90,000 from the button, and Kim three bet it to 200,000. Eyster made the call, and the flop came all paint: . Kim led out for 100,000, and Eyster made the call. The exact same thing happened on the turn, the , and the river brought the .
For the third street in a row, Kim fired out 100,000, and Eyster responded by raising to 625,000. Kim moved all in, and Eyster snap called.
Eyster:
Kim:
Kim had the third best possible hand, but unfortunatley for him, Eyster slow played the nuts until the end. Kim will walk away with $26,883, while Eyster takes a commanding chip lead of 3.2 million.
The action has really picked up here over the last few hands, as we just saw Rosie Paules make her exit.
Kevin Eyster made it 90,000 out of the small blind, and Paules defended her big blind. The flop came all spades: , and the action was lightning quick. Eyster bet out 100,000, Paules moved all in, and Eyster snap called.
Eyster:
Paules:
Eyster had flopped the second nut flush, but Paules still had outs, as she had the nut flush draw. Paules had pulled out a number of miracles while behind all in, but her luck finally ran out, as the board finished and .
Paules made a great run, but she will have to settle for $35,124. Meanwhile Eyster, who won another huge pot against Jonathan Taylor just a few hands after, is back up to being our big chip leader with 4.2 million.
Jerry Johnson opened the action with a raise to 80,000, and Kevin Eyster three bet from the small blind to 210,000. Johnson called, and the flop came down . Eyster c-bet it to 175,000, and Johnson moved all in for his last 630,000. After a few moments, Eyster called, though he didn't look thrilled about it.
Johnson:
Eyster:
Johnson was looking to fade a diamond, and he did that on the turn, the . However, the came on the river, and Eyster collected the pot to up his stack to 3.5 million, while Johnson will have to settle for 4th place.
Allan Hedin came back from dinner with just 12 big blinds, and he had already shoved once without getting called. However, the second time he shoved all in for 555,000, Jonathan Taylor called him from the big blind as soon as he looked at his hand. When the cards were tabled, we could see why.
Hedin:
Taylor:
Hedin was in a world of hurt, but the flop was as good as he could have asked for, coming . Hedin could now catch a club for the win, and the turn was black, but it was the . Hedin needed a club and a club only, but the river was the .
Hedin will have to settle for 3rd place, and the $62,733 that goes with it. Meanwhile, Kevin Eyster and Jonathan Taylor are now heads up, with virtually even stacks.
Kevin Eyster made it 120,000 to go, and Jonathan Taylor made the call. The flop came down , and Taylor fired out 100,000. Eyster made the call, and the turn was the . Taylor led again, this time for 375,000, and Eyster made the call.
The river brought the . Taylor thought for about 20 seconds before putting out a bet of 1.7 million. This bet had Eyster covered, and he stood up out of his chair. Eventually, he dropped a chip in for the call, and Taylor rolled over for a jack high flush. Eyster mucked his hand, and that was all she wrote!
Eyster played a fantastic tournament, and he will walk away with $85,852.
, and Ho and Jonathan Taylor got in a raising war that saw all the money go in. Ho had flopped a monster holding 
, but she was drawing very thin, as Taylor held 
.
hit the river. Taylor took the pot to bump his stack up to 1.7 million, while Ho is the dubious final table bubble girl.
. Kirchner was now looking for one of the two remaining sevens, but they never came, as it completed 
and 
, and both players checked. The turn brought the 
, and Butler checked to Paules, who fired out 75,000. Butler clicked it back with a min raise to 150,000, and it was back to Paules. She put in a three bet to 450,000, and Butler made the call to put the pot over 1 million.
, and Butler checked to Paules. She quickly moved all in, and Butler called even quicker. Paules tabled 
for a flopped full house, and a dejected Butler mucked his hand.
. The board ran down 
, and Kim's full house got the job done.
, and the river brought the 
, and the action was lightning quick. Eyster bet out 100,000, Paules moved all in, and Eyster snap called.
. Eyster c-bet it to 175,000, and Johnson moved all in for his last 630,000. After a few moments, Eyster called, though he didn't look thrilled about it.
. Hedin needed a club and a club only, but the river was the 
