Daniel Negreanu raised to 475 from under the gun and reigning Main Event Champion Jonathan Duhamel called from middle position. The flop came and Negreanu check-called a bet of 875 from Duhamel. They both checked after the came on the turn and again when the hit on the river. Negreanu said "queen-jack" but mucked his cards when Duhamel showed his .
Negreanu was left with a starting stack while Duhamel had chipped up to 37,000.
From middle position, Josh Arieh raised to 475 and received calls from the hijack and big blind. The flop was and the player first to act checked. Arieh bet out 850 and the player to his left raised to 2,425. The third player got out of the way and Arieh immediately moved all in. The raiser seemed to know he was in trouble but threw in his last 9,625 anyway.
Arieh tabled and had his opponent in bad shape with his . But the turn changed everything. It was the and Arieh went from being a favorite to a huge dog. The river bricked off with the and Arieh slips to 31,000.
It's officially official - A very impressive 817 players showed up for this $5,000 Triple Chance event which means it will almost certainly take four days to play this thing out. The prize pool generated by the entrants tallies up to $3,839,000, and that money will be divided between the final 81 players.
The full breakdown of the payouts is in the appropriate tab below, but we can give you a few quick highlights. The mini-cash is worth $9,561, just a bit less than twice the buy-in. Going up from there, each of the final nine will be guaranteed at least $61,889, and the six-figure payouts start with 7th place. Get heads-up and you'll be guaranteed more than a half-million dollars, and the lucky man or woman who comes out of this thing with the bracelet will also pocket $825,604.
The action opened with a raise from the cutoff before the big blind moved all in for 2,650. Chad Brown was in the small blind and raised to 5,000 which forced the original raiser to fold.
Brown:
Opponent:
The flop was and Brown flopped a boat but was not in the clear because opponent flopped trip kings. The turn was the and Brown had to avoid a paint card. The river though was the which doubled up his opponent and left Brown with just 6,300. To add insult to injury, he won't be able to get his chips back from that player because the table broke immediately following the conclusion of that hand.
There's one table along the rail of the black section that stands out as being particularly tough right now. And particularly Canadian, as well.
Daniel Negreanu is in the one seat over there, and Jonathan Duhamel is in the three. The six seat belongs to Gavin Smith, and Terrence Chan is on his direct left to fill out the Canadian Quartet. The first three names there are, in that order, Canada's top three all-time money earners in poker tournaments. They've combined for just shy of $30 million in career cashouts. Chan is also in the Top 50 on that list with just less than $1 million in tournament winnings.
It's probably just as well Josh Brikis left the Penguins jersey at home today, because he's got a rowdy bunch of Canadians keeping him company on the felt today.
J.C. Tran raised from late position to 725 and was called by the player in the big blind. The flop came , the big blind checked, and Tran bet 1,025. The big blind then raised all in for a total of 8,725 (which had Tran covered) and Tran called.
Tran:
Big Blind:
Each player had a pair and a straight draw with Tran's pair of nines in the lead. The turn and river were the and which changed nothing and Tran doubled his stack to 16,800.
Although we didn't witness the hand that crippled Brenes, we were told that he and another player ended up all in after a flop of with Brenes holding against his opponent's . Brenes was unable to catch up and was left with around 1,500 in chips.
On the very next hand Brenes shoved all in from late position and was called by the player in the big blind.
Brenes:
Big Blind:
The flop brought bad news for Brenes when it came , giving his opponent a pair of nines and the lead. The on the turn and on the river were of no help to Brenes and he was sent to the rail.
Lars Bonding was in middle position and went all in for 3,350. The opponent to his left called and the big blind came over the top for 9,300, leaving himself just 800. The player who flatted the initial all in seemed more than stressed by the decision he had to make. Finally, he threw in enough chips to put the second player all in and the call was made.
Bonding:
Opponent 1:
Opponent 2:
Bonding was in a world of hurt as his King was very much dead to the other all in player. The big stack would likely need a nine to take both pots and that's exactly what he got. It came down . The turn was the which gave Bonding a live flush draw. The third opponent needed the case king to stay alive by winning the side pot, but that very same king would give Bonding a flush so he had no chance to win the main pot. Regardless, It bricked off with the and both players had to hit the rail.
After watching his table mate, Lars Bonding, get it in with King-high, Dunst decided to try it himself. From early position he moved in with for 1,850 and had one opponent make the call with to put him at risk. The board ran out and Dunst will have an early dinner tonight.
Kathy Liebert raised to 800 from middle position and was called by a player in late position as well as John Racener on the button and the big blind. The flop came and action checked to Racener who bet 1,500. The big blind called and the other players folded. Both players checked when the came on the turn but after the fell on the river the big blind tossed out a bet of 2,850. Racener called but then mucked his hand after his opponent showed the for a flush.