Sean Davis opened with a raise to 75,000 before Matusow shoved over the top for a total of 545,000. The action folded around and Davis quickly called.
Matusow:
Davis:
"I found the ten-five ladies and gentlemen!" said Matusow, displaying a quiet confidence that he could find his way out of the mess he'd just gotten himself into.
The crowd were on their feet as the flop fell and Matusow spiked a pair to roars of delight from his fans! The turn was the the and river the , as the chants of "Mikey! Mikey! Mikey!" broke out around the room as Matusow found a remarkable double-up to jump up to 1.1 million in chips.
"I shifted gears at the right time baby! I feel GOOD!"
From late position, Tim Taylor raised to 60,000. Action folded to Alan Gould in the big blind, who reraised to 210,000. Taylor mulled over his options, then shipped it all in, a total of 731,000. Gould made the call.
Taylor:
Gould:
The door card as the dealer put down the flop was the , but when the flop was spread it revealed as well. Gould made a set of queens, and filled up when the board ran out . He eliminated Taylor and moved up to 2.25 million chips in the process.
With the board showing and a sizable pot having already developed, Toni Judet checked, and Alexander Kostritsyn bet 250,000. Judet then check-raised to 575,000. Kostritsyn thought a moment, then pushed all in for 906,000. Judet made the call.
Judet:
Kostritsyn:
Kostritsyn was ahead with his set of deuces. He had to fade an ace, a nine, or a diamond to win one of the biggest pots of the tourney thus far.
The dealer burned one and turned over the river card -- the , giving Judet the flush and a huge pot.
After that one, Judet is up to 2.96 million, while Kostritsyn has slipped to 820,000.
Jamal Kunbuz raised to 75,000 from UTG, Jeffrey Papola raised to 154,000 from middle position and Kunbuz called. The flop was . Kunbuz checked, Papola moved all in for 185,000 and Kunbuz called.
Papola
Kunbuz
The turn was the , the river was the and Kunbuz knocked out Papola with a set of queens. He finished in 90th place, good for $64,333.
All eyes were on the figure of Phil Hellmuth as he approached the ESPN feature table, and word has soon spread that he is now sitting next to Mike Matusow.
“The Mouth” versus “The Poker Brat” was the contest that everyone wanted to see and the fans in the Amazon Room have flocked to the feature table to catch a glimpse of two of their favorite superstars.
So far the action on the felt has been pretty quiet as they chat and catch up on how they got to this point of the Main Event.
After a few minutes Matusow turned to the crowd and shouted, “Phil only just got here and I’ve already heard how great he is!” said Matusow “I only gotta put up with another hour and a half of this!"
After Mark Ketteringham raised from middle position Jose Barbero put his tournament life at stake by moving in with . Ketteringham called with pocket nines and this time it was the pocket pair that won the coin flip as the board came to eliminate Barbero.
From late position, Santeri Valikoski open-shoved for 179,000. He was called by Bob Whalen, sitting in the cutoff. Whalen was ahead with , by Valikoski had "two live cards" -- . The flop helped neither player, but Valikoski paired eights with the on the turn and then dodged the river when it fell a harmless . He doubled up to 423,000, while Valikoski slipped to 584,000.