Action folded to Nath Pizzolatto and he raised to 2,600 from middle position. The player in the cutoff seat moved all in for 8,900 and Pizzolatto made the call. The players showed:
Pizzolatto:
Opponent:
The board ran out and Pizzolatto's aces and kings were best. He eliminated a player and stacked up to just over 75,000.
Action folded around to Lou Esposito on the button and he moved all in for roughly 2,000. The small blind reraised all in and the big blind passed. The players showed:
Esposito:
Opponent:
The board missed both players as it ran out and Lou Esposito was eliminated.
Danny Ryan just found himself in a near ideal situation. He was all in preflop holding against his opponent who held the . Ryan's hand held up and he doubled up to just under 30,000 chips.
As we approach the bubble, and the end of level 8, the action has slowed considerably. Fewer and fewer hands are seeing a showdown and the big stacks seem content to throw those borderline hands away and coast into a payday.
Alan Jaffray raised to 2,200 from under the gun. Action folded to a late position player who made the call. The player on the button, who had the table covered, reraised all in. Jaffray called and the late position player passed. The players showed:
Jaffray:
Opponent:
The board ran out and Jaffray's holding was second best.
In order to accommodate the massive fields, these $1,500 NLHE tournaments typically start ten-handed. At this point however, as we approach the money, play will be nine-handed from this point on. Dealers have just been instructed not to alert the floor until their table has eight or less players.