Erik Roussakis had hopes of making his fourth Main Event Final Table on the Circuit in this season alone, but he had a fairly quick day. Not long ago, we saw Roussakis casually talking on his phone at an empty table, and we saw that his old seat had a new player in it. He also busted last night, meaning that he is done for this event.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted |
Level: 8c
Blinds: 250/500
Ante: 50
Michael Sanders is keeping his dreams of back-to-back tournament wins alive after notching a big double just a few moments ago. Sanders won a $580 preliminary event yesterday to get his first ring.
Action started with the cutoff raising to 800. Sanders made the call from the button, and both blinds also came along. The flop came down 
, and it was checked to the original raiser, who bet out 2,300. Sanders was the lone caller, and the turn brought the 
. Here's where the fireworks went off.
The cutoff thought for about 30 seconds before checking, and Sanders took the window to bet, firing out 5,050. The second Sanders's chips hit the table, the cutoff threw out four T5,000 chips, a bet of 20,000. This was enough to put Sanders all in, and he took his time with the decision. After about 90 seconds in the tank, he made the call, and we saw that both players had monster hands.
Sanders: 
Opponent: 
The top pair nut flush draw of Sanders was leading his opponent's middle pair middle flush draw. Sanders would need to fade a diamond or a nine on the river, and the 
gave him an unnecessary flush.
"I thought you might have had queens," Sanders said after the hand. Once he collected the chips, we saw that Sanders upped his stack to 44,000 after that hand.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
44,000 | 23,500 |
David "ODB" Baker was heads up with another opponent, and we got to the table just in time to see both players check the turn with the board reading 
. The river was the 
, and it was checked to Baker. With about 13,500 in the middle, Baker put out a bet of about 20,000, which was enough to put his opponent all in. It didn't take long for his opponent to fold, and Baker scooped the pot to get up to 42,000.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
42,000 | 10,000 |
The players are back from break, and the cards are once again in the air.
Level: 7c
Blinds: 200/400
Ante: 50
Just like that, we are halfway through play today. The players are once again on a 15 break now.
As we walked back to Phillip Hui's table, we saw that he had suddenly assembled a big stack that was pushing 60,000. He walk us through the hand that got him there.
Hui opened the action to 400 from under the gun, and he recieved calls from the next two players, as well as the small blind. The flop came down 
with two hearts, and the small blind led right out for 2,000. Hui decided to min raise to 4,000, and the under the gun +1 player called, as did the small blind.
The turn brought a 
, and Hui bet 8,100 after the small blind checked. Again, the player to his left decided to flat call, and this time, the small blind got out of the way. The river came an 
, and the flop flush draw bricked out. Hui checked to his opponent, who fired out a hefty bet of 10,100. Hui went deep into the tank before eventually coming up with a call.
Hui's opponent rolled over a 10 high busted flush draw, and Hui tabled 
for second pair. After making that great call, Hui is one of our chip leaders, sitting on 58,000.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
58,000 | 26,400 |
We only caught the aftermath of the hand, but here's what we saw. The board read 
, and circuit grinder Phillip Hui held top pair . However, it wasn't good enough to beat the 
of his opponent. All the money got in the middle at some point, as Hui was counting out chips for the double up when we arrived.
Despite losing that hand, Hui is still plenty fine with 31,600.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
31,600 | -3,400 |
Level: 6c
Blinds: 150/300
Ante: 25
