Down to just 700 chips and all in in the blind less than a half hour ago, Carlos Mortensen has just rallied his way right back into contention. Two more double ups against the likes of Chad Brown and Tom Schneider have Mortensen at a cool 55,000.
Carlos Mortensen has won back-to-back hands to keep him in the tournament. Mortensen was extremely crippled and all in in the blind when he went up against Eli Elezra. Both men drew one card and Mortensen's queen bested Elezra's ace for him stay alive. The next hand, Mortensen was all in again, this time against Tom Schneider. Not unlike the previous hand, both men drew a single card. Mortensen probably wish he had had more chips when he turned up the . He doubled up again and is still very much on life support with less than 10,000 chips.
Doyle Brunson raised to 6,000 from the button, prompting Brandon Adams to move all in from the small blind for another 23,000. Doyle made the call. Both players drew one card, with Brandon drawing into a ten-eight. Doyle flashed a nine before sending his hand into the muck. Adams survives and increases his stack to 48,000.
We didn't catch the hand, but we did catch Chau Giang getting up from his table and walking towards the doors leading out of the Amazon Room. It seems his day is done. He was eliminated by Stephen Wolff, who now wields a stack of 135,000.
Action folds to Tom Schneider and he raises to 3,500 from late position. Andrew Black calls from the button as does Chad Brown in the big blind. Schneider stays pat but Black needs one card and Brown needs 2 to make a hand. Brown and Schneider check and Black bets 7,000. Schneider and Brown both call. Schneider tables and the others muck. Tom Schneider picks up the pot.
Action folded around to Doyle Brunson on the button and he put in a raise to 4,200. Billy Baxter reraised all in from the button for his last 17,000 and Brunson made the call. Baxter stood pat and Brunson drew one. Brunson picked up a to go with his . Baxter says he had a low as he headed for the door.
All you need in poker, it's said, is a chip, a chair and a prayer. After Tom Dwan raised to 6,000 and Phil Ivey called, Layne Flack put his last 8,300 in the middle. Both Dwan and Ivey called and drew one; Flack stood pat. After Dwan and Ivey checked, Flack opened a 10-9, which was good enough to take the pot. He tripled up to 28,000.
Chau Giang recently took a 40,000-chip hit to his stack. His 9-8-5-3-2 was just not quite good enough against his opponent's 9-8-4-3-2. Giang is down to about 47,000.
Eli Elezra put in a raise to 4,100 and both Tom Schneider and Carlos Mortensen made the call. Elezra and Schneider both drew one card while Mortensen decided he liked his hand the way it was. After the draw, all three men checked and Mortensen showed . The other two showed pairs and Carlos Mortensen took down the pot.