"It's so sick I should have 220k right now." These were the words of Michael Taylor as he was walking back to his table from the break. Taylor told us about a big hand he played just before the break that left him with just 30,000 chips.
There was a middle position limper when the small blind raised it up to 12,000. Taylor peaked down at his cards in the big blind, and raised it up to 31,000. According to Taylor, as soon as the original limper folded, the small blind moved all in for 80,000, and he snap called.
Taylor:
Opponent:
Taylor was in fantastic shape to build a big stack, but that all changed when the flop came down . Another on the turn sealed it, and Taylor had to ship most of his stack over.
We just took a walk through the tables to get some updated counts, and saw that Bryan Campanello has taken the chip lead as the first person to crack the 400k mark.
The eliminations have been fast and furious today, and with 80 minutes to dinner, we are less then a table away from the money. We have 52 players left, but only 45 of them will walk away with extra cash in their pockets. The money bubble awaits.
Earlier we reported that ring winner Michael Taylor lost a huge pot when his kings couldn't hold up against his opponent's ace-five. Well the poker gods must have thought that Taylor was due for revenge, as he was the one cracking the cowboys this time.
Taylor got the rest of his money in preflop holding and was up against his opponent's . Taylor caught a nine on the flop, and another one on the turn, giving him the much needed double up to 80,000.
We mentioned this on Friday night, but it's worth talking about again as we are edging close to the money bubble. Before Day 1b started, Chris Karambinis walked up to us and confidently said "This is over. You're looking at the winner." Well thanks to a huge hand he just won, he just might be right.
Action started with our chip leader Bryan Campanello raising to 8,000. Karambinis was on the button, and he put in a three bet to 20,000. The small blind tanked for about 30 seconds before moving all in for 73,000 total. Campanello got out of the way, and Karambinis made the call after 20 seconds of tanking.
Karambinis:
Opponent:
Karambinis held the slight advantage going to the flop, and that never changed as the board ran down . Karambinis made an unnecessary full house on the river, and after stacking up his chips, we pegged him at 310,000.
We didn't catch the hand as it happened, but a disappointed Mitch Schock came over to tell us how he went out. According to him, the button came in for a raise, and he moved all in from the small blind for his last 60,000 with . Unfortunately for him, Kevin Eyster woke up with in the big blind, and Schock was not able to catch up, ousting him just three spots from the money.
On the other side, Eyster took over the chip lead with that pot, as he is now sitting on 435,000.
We lost a few more players to get us to the money bubble, including Ralph Massey in a huge pot. We will type that up and another huge hand involving Kevin Eyster as soon as the money bubble bursts.
We had a ton of action on the money bubble, including three consecutive hands that involved David "ODB" Baker. But first, the bubble hand. We didn't catch the exact action, but Matt Zoorob was all in preflop holding . Michael Taylor was also all in for a bit more with , and Bryan Campanello held , having both players easily covered.
Campanello spiked a nine on the flop, and the board ran down . Zoorob is our bubble boy, while Michael Taylor went out in 45th place, the first person in the money.
Meanwhile, Campanello jumps back into the chip lead with 636,000.
We mentioned earlier that Ralph Massey was eliminated in a huge pot, and here are the details of the hand. We came in towards the tail end of it, but here's what we know. The board read , and Massey had shoved all in for 109,500 total. David Pecaski was his lone opponent, and he had a huge decision on his hands. Not having Massey covered by much, Pecaski elected to make the call.
Pecaski:
Massey:
Massey had turned two pair to take the lead, but the slammed down on the river to get Pecaski a winning set. A stunned Massey could only say "oh my god," as he walk away from the table, busting two spots from the money.
. Another 
and was up against his opponent's 
. Karambinis made an unnecessary full house on the river, and after stacking up his chips, we pegged him at 310,000.
, having both players easily covered.
. Zoorob is our bubble boy, while Michael Taylor went out in 45th place, the first person in the money.
, and Massey had shoved all in for 109,500 total. David Pecaski was his lone opponent, and he had a huge decision on his hands. Not having Massey covered by much, Pecaski elected to make the call.
slammed down on the river to get Pecaski a winning set. A stunned Massey could only say "oh my god," as he walk away from the table, busting two spots from the money.