Sam Stein opened from the cutoff with a raise to 11,000. Jeff Sarwer calls from the small blind and they see a flop heads up.
When the board rolls off both players check and the hits the turn. Sarwer checked again and Stein bet 8,500. Sarwer then made a check-raise to 21,500. Stein decided to make the call and the two players saw the hit the river. Sarwer led the river for 33,000 and Stein snap-called.
Sarwer quickly turned over for the nut straight and Stein angrily mucked. Stein lost over half his chips in that pot and is now down to 55,000 while Sarwer, who had been giving some of his chips back to his table as of late, reshifted the momentum with this hand and stacks up 440,000 chips.
Jonathan Spinks raised it up to 11,500 in middle position, and Stanley Topol, who was next to act, went all in for 80,500 total. The rest of the table folded, and it came back around to Spinks. After getting a count, and cutting the chips out of his stack, Spinks decided to make the call. When the cards were tabled, Spinks was not happy to see that he was dominated.
Spinks:
Topol:
The news went from bad to worse for Spinks as the flop came out . The on the turn was as good a card as he could have asked for, giving him outs for a chop as well as a flush draw for the win. However, the river brought the , giving Topol the win. Spinks dropped down to 220,000 after the hand, while Topol jumped up to 170,000.
PokerStars Team Pro Leo Fernandez raised to 13,500 from middle position before Bruno Lopes three-bet him to 36,000 in position. It folded back to Fernandez who moved all in and Lopes made the call.
Fernandez:
Lopes:
The board ran out a clean for Lopes and his pocket queens held on to be the winner. Fernandez hits the rail while Lopes chips up to 490,000.
Michael Benvenuti opened to 12,500 in middle position, and Garrett Adelstein three-bet to 31,500. Benvenuti responded with a reraise to 60,000 total, and Adelstein took pause before shoving all in with his big stack. Benvenuti quickly called all in for 220,000 straight, and he was well ahead.
Showdown
Benvenuti:
Adelstein:
The flop was a good sweat as Adelstein flopped the open-ender to give himself another eight outs to the win. The turn left him dead to those eight outs, though, and the river was close but no cigar.
After paying off that big double, Adelstein drops back to 265,000 while Benvenuti lifts himself up to 451,500.
Whether way out front or far behind, it seems like nothing can stop Isaac Baron from winning pots in the last couple of hours. Baron scored a big double up just before the money hit, and since then, he has not looked back. Baron just knocked out Pokerstars Pro Johnny Lodden to up his stack to a whopping 600,000. Lodden open shoved in middle position for around 40,000, and next to act, Baron made the call. Everyone else folded, and Lodden had Baron dominated.
Lodden:
Baron:
Baron had just two outs to knock out Lodden, and he hit one of them on the flop, as it came out . The turn brought the , giving Lodden two additional outs, as another jack would give him a better full house. However, the river came the , and Baron scored the bounty, eliminating one of the most dangerous players in the field.
Jonathan Spinks might not be a household name yet, but anyone who has been roaming the halls of the Rio for the last month has certainly seen Spinks, and he was probably deep in a tournament. Coming into this year's World Series, Spinks had recorded just 12 live cashes, only one of them being in America. However, he has stormed onto the scene this year, as he has just registered his fourth cash of the series.
Spinks started off his success in Event #5 $1,500 Seven Card Stud event, where he placed 4th for $35,476. Proving he was no fluke, Spinks came back just a week later, and was at another final table. This time it was the $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout, where he took 4th again, but this time, it was for $108,358, easily his biggest career score.
Spinks continued his great play two weeks later, when he finished 15th in Event #38: $1,500 No Limit Hold'em for $24,679. In that event, he was the chip leader at the end of the first night. Now, he has set himself up for yet another deep run, as he is currently one of the top stacks in the room with just 64 players left. Will this be the event where Spinks is able to break through, making his third final table and claiming his first bracelet? Only time will tell, but we will be sure to keep an eye on this exciting young player.