Under the gun, Najib Bennani opened with a raise to 55,000. In the cutoff seat, Ben Grundy made the call, and it was heads up to the flop.
It came down . Bennani continued out with what appeared to be a full-pot bet. After a minute of careful consideration, Grundy moved all in for 257,000, and Bennani called.
Showdown
Bennani:
Grundy:
Grundy was looking at top two pair, but he needed to fade his opponent's flush draw to stay alive. To his dismay, the ripped off on the turn, putting Grundy behind and in dire need of a longshot redraw. And like a bolt of lightning, the struck fifth street, drawing a thunderous reaction from the railbirds as it improved Grundy to the winning full house. He has earned a big double up over 500,000, while Bennani has slipped all the way back to just 115,000.
With just 50,000 chips left, Najib Bennani moved all in first into the pot from the cutoff seat. Cornel Cimpan asked aloud, "Why not?" and made the call on the button. Big blind Daniel Makowsky also called, and Bennani was officially at risk for his tournament life.
The board ran out , with the two live players checking through fourth street. When the fifth card was dealt, Bennani flipped over his cards ( (X) (X))and announced, "I got a straight!" The only problem was that his two opponents had yet to act. After a quick discussion with the floor staff, the two men did indeed check, and both of them slipped their cards into the muck, unable to top Bennani's wheel.
Under the gun, Paul Parker opened with a raise to 84,000. Next door, Rami Boukai reraised the minimum, making it 144,000 to skate. The rest of the table ducked out, while Parker called off his last few thousand chips, putting himself in danger of extinction.
Showdown
Parker:
Boukai:
The board ran out bone dry for the at-risk Parker, coming . Failing to get over the hump, Paul Parker has been knocked off in 6th place. Parker was the life of the party for three days, and the best dressed man in the field. His cheeky wit and gregarious spirit kept this final table light and cheerful despite the pressure of playing for a big prize. Now he has good reason to be happy as he'll collect just under $40,000 for his work over the course of this event.
First into the pot from the small blind, Najib Bennani came with a pot raise to 84,000. In the big blind, Cornel Cimpan flat-called, heads up to the flop.
The dealer spread out the first three community cards, revealing . Bennani had moved all in dark, and Cimpan called the extra 64,000 to put his foe at risk. He tabled for second pair, while Bennani was in good shape to double up with . When the turn and river came and , he did just that, sitting now with 296,000.
He's not a big stack by any means, but he's out of the danger zone for now at least.
the cutoff spot, Cornel Cimpan opened the pot to 70,000. Next to act, Ben Grundy made the call, and the blinds folded out of the way.
The board came out with the two players check-checking it all the way down. In the end, Cimpan was first to show, but he pump faked and hesitated. Grundy went ahead and showed .
From the smirk on Cimpan's face, it was clear that he was ahead until the ace fell on fifth street. From across the table, Najib Bennani quipped, "River Ben!"
The five men are all laughing and joking with each other, but the situation is becoming serious for Cimpan. Since counting himself at over one million, he has dropped well over half of his stack in short order.
Just before the break, Daniel Makowsky opened with a raise to 70,000 from the button, and Rami Boukai folded from the small blind. "What do you have?" asked Najib Bennani of Makowsky from the big blind. A wordless grin was all the response he got. He made the call.
The flop was . Bennani bet the pot, leaving himself just 12,000 behind. Makowsky thought a moment, then reraised to put Bennani all in.
Bennani showed , and Makowsky . The turn was the , and Makowsky was ahead with kings and nines. But the river was the , giving Bennani a full house and the pot.
"How much did that card cost me?!" asked Cornel Cimpan good-naturedly. He's now the table's short stack (by just a tad).
Bennani doubles up once again, and now is right back in the thick of things with 464,000. Meanwhile, Makowsky slips to 662,000.
Shamus
Earlier when Cornel Cimpan asked that question about how much the non-elimination of Najib Bennani had cost him, more than one player quickly replied "$18,000." That's roughly the difference between a fourth- and fifth-place finish. Players are obviously well aware of what a good finish here could mean.
Here are the payouts for the remaining five spots:
![[user66118]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
. Bennani continued out with what appeared to be a full-pot bet. After a minute of careful consideration, Grundy moved all in for 257,000, and Bennani called.
ripped off on the turn, putting Grundy behind and in dire need of a longshot redraw. And like a bolt of lightning, the 
struck fifth street, drawing a thunderous reaction from the railbirds as it improved Grundy to the winning full house. He has earned a big double up over 500,000, while Bennani has slipped all the way back to just 115,000.
, with the two live players checking through fourth street. When the fifth card was dealt, Bennani flipped over his cards (
. Failing to get over the hump, Paul Parker has been knocked off in 6th place. Parker was the life of the party for three days, and the best dressed man in the field. His cheeky wit and gregarious spirit kept this final table light and cheerful despite the pressure of playing for a big prize. Now he has good reason to be happy as he'll collect just under $40,000 for his work over the course of this event.
. Bennani had moved all in dark, and Cimpan called the extra 64,000 to put his foe at risk. He tabled 
for second pair, while Bennani was in good shape to double up with 
, he did just that, sitting now with 296,000.
. Bennani bet the pot, leaving himself just 12,000 behind. Makowsky thought a moment, then reraised to put Bennani all in.
, and Makowsky 
. The turn was the 