Gregory Brooks folded and David Callaghan raised to 50,000 from the button before Jason Mercier folded from the small blind to David Chiu, who raised the pot, making it 160,000 to go.
Callaghan thought about it for almost a minute, then called before the dealer spread the flop of .
"How much do you have?" Chiu asked, but he didn't wait for an answer - Chiu insta-shoved. Callaghan didn't look too comfortable with that proposition and instead elected to fold.
A short-stacked Hans Winzeler limped on the button only to have Michael "timex" McDonald make it 80,000 to go from the small blind. The big blind gave it up, Winzeler made the call, and the flop fell . McDonald was first, asked for a count, and then bet pot. Winzeler snap-called and it was apparent he had a five.
McDonald:
Winzeler:
McDonald was clearly unhappy with his position, one that didn't improve as the hit the turn, followed by the on the river. Winzeler doubled on the hand while McDonald was left 260,000.
David Callaghan raised it up to 70,000 preflop from the cutoff and Jason Mercier re-raised to 120,000. Callaghan put the rest of his chips in (he only 150,000 at start of hand) with Mercier calling.
Mercier:
Callaghan:
The board ran out and Mercier's queens were good for the knockout and to move him up to 1,600,000
With Callghan's elimination we are now down to our final seven players who will move over to the ESPN main stage.
Now that we're down to seven, the remaining player will combined to one table and head on over to the ESPN Main Stage. It'll take a few minutes to make the transition, but the cards should be back in the air shortly.
Seat 1: Steven Merrifield
Seat 2: Jason Mercier
Seat 3: Joseph Ressler
Seat 4: David Chiu
Seat 5: Michael "Timex" McDonald
Seat 6: Greg Brooks
Seat 7: Hans Winzeler
In the first hand here at the ESPN Feature Table, David Chiu raised to 56,000 from middle position and was quickly three-bet to 154,000 by Greg Brooks in the cutoff. The blinds got out of the way and action was back on Chiu. He thought for a minute, double checked his cards, and then put in a four-bet to 461,000.
The decision was back on Brooks as to whether or not he wanted to play a big one, which he didn't as he tossed his cards to the muck.
The remaining seven players went through the ol'-raise-and-fold routine for almost ten minutes before we saw a massive hand play out between Steven Merrifield and Joseph Ressler.
Ressler raised to 40,000 from under the gun and the action folded around to Merrifield who called from the big blind before checking his option on the flop of . Ressler led out for 45,000 and Merrifield called before checking again on the turn of the .
Ressler opened for 260,000, but Merrifield re-potted, forcing Ressler all-in. Ressler called and the cards were tabled:
Ressler:
Merrifield:
Ressler was in the lead and he got well over the line after the came down on the river to give him the nut flush and the double-up.
Greg Brooks raised to 42,000 from the cutoff and received calls from Hans Winzeler on the button and Steven Merrifield in the big blind. Merrifield checked the flop, prompting Brooks to continuation bet 73,000. Winzeler then woke up with a reraise to 365,000, Merrifield folded, and Brooks three-bet. Winzeler didn't have much left and committed it to the pot.
Winzeler:
Brooks:
Both players had flopped the nut straight, but both had redraws. The turn filled Winzeler's flush and left Brooks looking either for a jack or eight on the river. The crowd was on its feet as the dealer burned and put out the inconsequential . Winzeler doubled to over 1.2 million while Brooks was left with just 289,000.
![[user135779]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
.
. McDonald was first, asked for a count, and then bet pot. Winzeler snap-called and it was apparent he had a five.
hit the turn, followed by the 
on the river. Winzeler doubled on the hand while McDonald was left 260,000.
and Mercier's queens were good for the knockout and to move him up to 1,600,000
. Ressler led out for 45,000 and Merrifield called before checking again on the turn of the 
.
. Winzeler doubled to over 1.2 million while Brooks was left with just 289,000.