Saved By the Bell
Nicolas Levi doubled through Chris Bell over at Table 364.
We missed the action, but the felt looked like this when we arrived:
Levi:
Bell:
Board:
Bell fell to 195,000 chips, and Levi is now up to 265,000.
Nicolas Levi doubled through Chris Bell over at Table 364.
We missed the action, but the felt looked like this when we arrived:
Levi:
Bell:
Board:
Bell fell to 195,000 chips, and Levi is now up to 265,000.
Justin "Boosted J" Smith opened from under the gun, and Maxim Lykov three-bet to 22,200 in front of the button. Smith called and the flop came .
Smith checked to Lykov who bet 31,600. Smith then re-raised all-in and Lykov made the call.
Smith:
Lykov:
The on the turn brought some extra outs for Smith, but the on the river did not improve his hand and he was busto.
"Not exactly happy with how the last hand played out," Smith said on his Twitter.
Lykov has to be happy, he now sits with over 400,000 chips.
With the board reading , Danny Estes check-called a 19,300-chip bet from Josh Tieman.
Estes checked in the dark, and the was dealt on the river. Tieman bet 38,000 and Estes called. Tieman opened .
"Unbelievable," Estes griped before mucking.
After raking in the pot, Tieman is up to 385,000 chips. Estes is down to 140,000.
There have been three busts in the last couple of minutes.
The first victim was Chad Brown who was all-in preflop against Neil Channing. Brown's was behind Channing's and did not improve on the board.
The next victim was Aaron Gustavson who lost a race against Heather Mercer. Again the chips were in the middle preflop and Gustavson's ace-king could not improve and Mercer's wired nines held.
The third casualty was Joseph McGowan. Maxim Lykov acted as the executor, but we missed the action. For what it's worth, they got it in on the flop.
Here's what not to say to someone after they bust out of a tournament:
Dealer: Aww, that's too bad. You'll get 'em next time.
BoostedJ: grunt
Dealer: At least you were in the money, right?
BoostedJ: That really doesn't help me at all.
William Molson and Danny Estes have bumped heads numerous times at their table today, but that has come to an end with their final confrontation.
The board read when the two got all the chips in the center. Estes held for three tens, and Molson held for top two-pair.
The river bricked, , and Estes eliminated Molson chipping up to 330,000 chips.
We've got our first heads-up match. Pablo Fernandez was all in preflop with and was covered by Neil Channing, who held . The board ran out . Channing rivered an unnecessary set to win the flip and eliminate Fernandez. Now it's just Channing and Chris Moore battling for a seat at the final table.
Moore - 535,000
Channing - 365,000
The pace of play in a tournament varies from table to table. In your standard freezeout, the more aggressive tables end up with all the chips on them and a revolving cast of characters. Here, they just end up with more leg room sooner. Table 363 is moving at lightening speed so far. Brent Hanks, Maxim Lykov, and Josef Monro made quick work of Justin Smith, Joe McGowan, and Faraz Jaka to get to three-handed quickly. Heather Sue Mercer, Josh Tieman, and Danny Estes are also three-handed over on Table 362.
Neil Channing and Chris Moore did work even faster and are already heads up on their table. And bringing up the rear, one table is still six-handed with Stuart Rutter, Aaron Been, John Duthie, Eugene Katchalov, Ben May, and Julien Nuijten.
At the end of Level 3 a tournament director grabbed one of the microphones in the Rio and announced that we were going on a break.
He misspoke.
We aren't scheduled for another break until after Level 4, but apparently a player scurried to the bathroom or the elegant Poker Kitchen for the moment so we have to take the twenty-minute break.
We'll cya in a few!
Team PokerStars Pro started the day with three representatives left in the $5,000 Shootout. After Chad Brown's elimination, European Poker Tour Director John Duthie and Team Italy member Dario Minieri are left to carry the team. And they've got some work to do if they want to get a Team Pro patch to the final table tomorrow. John Duthie is at the one table that is still six-handed, and he's the shortest of the bunch. Minieri is also the short stack at his four-handed table. He's on 95k and could stand to double through Chris Bell or Nicolas Levi, who both have around 240k, or through Blair Hinkle, who's got 330k.