Massimiliano Martinez started the action, raising to 45,000 from the cutoff seat. Wesley Pantling called on the button, and Justin Filtz defended his big blind.
The flop came down , Filtz checked, and Martinez continued for 71,000. Pantling called, and Filtz check-raised to 171,000. Both Martinez and Pantling called.
The turn was the , and Filtz checked. Martinez fired 136,000, Pantling called, and Filtz check-raised again - this time to 336,000. Martinez moved all in, Pantling folded, and Filtz sweated his cards one more time before calling.
Filtz:
Martinez:
Martinez needed a ten to win or a seven to chop, but the river was the , eliminating him from the tournament. Filtz is now our massive chip leader with over 3 million in his stack.
Justin Filtz opened on the button to 62,000, and Daniel Hirleman moved all in from the small blind for 637,000. Filtz tanked for a bit, but eventually called.
Filtz:
Hirleman:
Filtz had Hirleman dominated, and held when the board ran , eliminating him from the tournament in 9th place.
When we first got back from the break, some time was taken over at Dan O'Brien's table to determine whether perhaps the stack to which he returned to was 20,000 short from what he had remembered when we went to break. The discussion lasted several minutes, with O'Brien ultimately deciding he must've miscounted. (A check of the video will be made nonetheless.)
Meanwhile, play resumed, and soon after O'Brien was moved to the neighboring table (following Daniel Hirleman's bustout), a hand arose in which he open-pushed all in from the small blind for his last 220,000 with and got a caller in Matthew Vengrin who held in the big blind.
The flop came , pairing O'Brien. His hand remained best through the turn and river, and he now sits with about 455,000. Vengrin now has 395,000.
Wesley Pantling open-shoved for 357,000 in first position, and Dan O'Brien re-shoved for around 60,000 more right behind him. The players in the blinds released, and the hands were opened.
Pantling:
O'Brien:
The all-diamond flop of left Pantling with just four outs, but unfortunately for O'Brien, the that came on the turn was one of them. O'Brien now needed a diamond or a nine to win the pot, but the bricked on the river.
"Brutal," Jason Mercier said from the rail as he watched his friend get crippled.
Robert Merulla opened to 56,000 from under the gun, and Mauro Stivoli moved all in for 259,000 from the small blind. Merulla called.
Merulla:
Stivoli:
There was a king on the [qd jh kj] flop, another on the turn which ended the hand, and the river was the . Stivoli was eliminated in 8th place, while Merulla now has 2.65 million chips.
As the elimination of Mauro Stivoli was taking place and the remaining players were readying for the move over to the main feature table, a big hand developed between Justin Filtz and Wesley Pantling. After Filtz had led the flop and Pantling called, the turn made the board . The pair then got the rest of Pantling's chips in the middle, with Pantling holding for top pair of aces and Filtz for sevens and a flush draw.
The river was the , and Pantling ended up carrying a lot more chips over to the feature table than he would have otherwise. He sits with over 1.8 million now, while Filtz still has about 3.5 million.
There will be another pause in play while the players get situated on the main stage for the (not-quite-final) final table.
The final seven players are now situated around the main feature table here on the main stage. Here's how they are arranged and their chip counts as play resumes:
Dan O'Brien open-shoved for a whopping 29,000 chips from under the gun. He was called by Matthew Vengrin in the cutoff seat, Robert Merulla in the small blind, and Justin Filtz in the big blind.
"I want an full-on investigation regarding this collusion," O'Brien joked.
The flop came down , Merulla checked, and Filtz tossed out 50,000 into a dry side-pot. Only Vengrin called.
The turn was the , and Filtz led for 200,000.
"Hope you got it," Vengrin said, mucking his hand.
Filtz did, opening for two pair, but O'Brien was very live with . O'Brien's rail, led by Jason Mercier, was on their feet, calling for a club as the dealer burned and turned one last card.
The .
O'Brien gave a smile, wished the remaining players good luck, and headed out of the Thunderdome.
![[user101598]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
, Filtz checked, and Martinez continued for 71,000. Pantling called, and Filtz check-raised to 171,000. Both Martinez and Pantling called.
, and Filtz checked. Martinez fired 136,000, Pantling called, and Filtz check-raised again - this time to 336,000. Martinez moved all in, Pantling folded, and Filtz sweated his cards one more time before calling.
, eliminating him from the tournament. Filtz is now our massive chip leader with over 3 million in his stack.
, eliminating him from the tournament in 9th place.
and got a caller in Matthew Vengrin who held 
, pairing O'Brien. His hand remained best through the 
turn and 
river, and he now sits with about 455,000. Vengrin now has 395,000.
that came on the turn was one of them. O'Brien now needed a diamond or a nine to win the pot, but the 
bricked on the river.
turn which ended the hand, and the river was the 
. Stivoli was eliminated in 8th place, while Merulla now has 2.65 million chips.
for sevens and a flush draw.
, Merulla checked, and Filtz tossed out 50,000 into a dry side-pot. Only Vengrin called.
for two pair, but O'Brien was very live with 
. O'Brien's rail, led by Jason Mercier, was on their feet, calling for a club as the dealer burned and turned one last card.