Play in now hand-for-hand until we lose one more player.
The TD has asked the players to think if they'll want to play the first heads-up match tonight so the tournament can be finished tomorrow, or continue as scheduled. The former option allows players to jump the PLO tournament tonight.
We've witnessed Jennifer Tilly play two of the pots during hand for hand play and lose both of them.
During the first hand, Tilly bet 6,000 on a flop of 
. Jonathan Aguiar was her lone opponent and he called the bet. The turn was the 
and Tilly fired 11,000. Aguiar called once again and the river brought the 
.
Tilly slowed down and checked on this street only to find a bet of 32,000 from Aguiar. Tilly folded and Aguiar took it down.
The next hand saw Paul Tedeschi opened to 4,500. It folded to Tilly's small blind and she made it 20,000 to go. Tedeschi called and the flop was 
. Tilly continued for 25,000 and Tedeschi called. The turn was the 
and Tilly checked. Tedeschi moved out a bet of an unknown amount and Tilly threw her hand away. She's slipped a little since hand for hand began but is still the second biggest stack in the room.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
260,000
-91,000
|
-91,000 |
|
||
On a flop of 
, Brandon Cantu checked to Phil Hellmuth and he bet 8,000. Konstantin Puchkov folded and Cantu called.
The turn was the 
and Cantu came out firing with 30,000.
Hellmuth jumped in his seat and ripped his headphones off of his ears.
"This is SO stupid," Hellmuth muttered to himself. "These guys are like 'Let me see if I can outplay Phil Hellmuth. He probably has like eight-nine off-suit".
After about thirty seconds of deliberating out loud, Hellmuth threw away his cards.
"War!" Hellmuth boomed. "I declare war on you, Brandon! We are at war!"
While Hellmuth's declaration of war is now official, he's decided to go up against the man with all of the ammunition. Cantu's stack is now flirting with 800,000 while Hellmuth's has fallen to about 110,000.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
790,000
13,000
|
13,000 |
|
||
|
110,000
-12,800
|
-12,800 |
|
||
Action folded to Joe Kuether's small blind and he moved all in for 32,700. Brandon Cantu called from the big blind and the hands were shown:
Cantu: 
Kuether: 
Kuether jumped into the lead when he paired up on the 
flop. The turn was the 
and the river the , ensuring that Kuether stays alive in the tournament. While this double up was huge for Kuether, this was but a minor chip in the armor of Cantu's giant stack.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
757,000
-33,000
|
-33,000 |
|
|
||
|
65,000
19,800
|
19,800 |
On a flop of 
, Paul Tedeschi checked to Roger Hairabedian who bet 7,000. Jennifer Tilly quickly called and Tedeschi released his hand.
The turn was the 
and Hairabedian slowed down with a check. Tilly took this opportunity to bet 13,000 but Hairabedian decided to stick around. The 
finished the board and Hairabedian moved 25,000 into the middle.
Tilly took off her glasses and headphones and studied the situation carefully. Eventually she opted to fold her hand, which prompted Hairabedian to show the 
as he scooped his new chips.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
215,000
20,000
|
20,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
202,000
-38,000
|
-38,000 |
|
|
||
We've reached the point in play where normally the level of blinds and antes would increase, but since they players are playing hand for hand, they will continue to play at 1000-2000 with a 300 ante.
Valdimir Troyanovskiy, the shortest stack in the room, moved all in before the flop for 16,600. Brandon Cantu called and the cards were shown:
Cantu: 
Troyanovskiy: 
The board came down 
and Troyanovskiy's fours were able to hold, keeping him alive in this tournament and continuing hand-for-hand play.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
750,000
-7,000
|
-7,000 |
|
|
||
|
33,000
16,400
|
16,400 |
The war between Phil Hellmuth and chip leader Brandon Cantu continues.
Hellmuth has been talking Cantu's ear off throughout the entirety of this level. Cantu has been opening most pots with a raise before the flop as his large stack allows him to do so. Cantu's aggression over the table has infuriated Hellmuth to the point where it seems like Hellmuth's personal mission is to gun after Cantu.
Despite many stacks around the room being shorter than him, Hellmuth has shoved all in against Cantu twice, and so far it has been working as Hellmuth's stack has increased.
However, when we last came upon the table, Hellmuth was in the middle of another one of his tirades.
Cantu opened for 8,000 from the cutoff.
As Cantu reached for chips, Hellmuth said "OK, here we go. 10k. Oh eight? Eight this time? Alright." Hellmuth called and the rest of the table folded.
The flop was 
. Cantu continued out with a 10,000 bet and Hellmuth called. The turn was the and Cantu moved 35,000 into the middle.
"Trying to push me out now, huh?" said Hellmuth. "You see, the thing is, I've got it, but that's fine. You can push me out."
Hellmuth flashed 
and flung his cards into the muck.
As long as we remain in hand-for-hand play and these two players stay next to one another this clash is certain to continue.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
180,000
70,000
|
70,000 |
|
|
||
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Hand-for-hand play will resume after players return from their one-hour dinner break. However, the last couple of hands at Phil Hellmuth's table were filled with drama.
Phil Hellmuth open limped from under the gun and Vladimir Troyanovskiy moved his short stack all in. Action was on Joe Kuether who is also sporting a short stack. Kuether went into the tank for about two minutes before Troyanovskiy attempted to call the clock. Hellmuth objected and called the TD over explaining that Kuether needs more than just three minutes to make a decision for his tournament life on the bubble. The TD obliged but eventually Kuether relented and folded his hand.
The next hand was the final hand before the break and Troyanovskiy opened to 6,000. Kuether once again thought for a solid minute before folding his cards. Cantu called and Hellmuth made it 45,000 to go. Troyanovskiy called all in for 32,800 and Cantu folded.
Hellmuth tabled but Troyanovskiy kept his cards face down while waiting for tournament staff to come over to the table. The other two tables had wrapped up their action at this point and were waiting to see the results of this hand before adjourning to their dinner break.
As Hellmuth showed Troyanovskiy his hand he inquired as to what Troyanovskiy was holding.
"Only one hand I can have" replied Troyanovskiy without showing his cards.
Another roughly fifteen seconds passed before Troyanovskiy triumphantly threw 
on the felt.
Hellmuth jumped up from the table.
"He f*ckin' slow rolled me!" Hellmuth yelled. "Only one hand you can have...you just moved in with f*cking fours! That's horrible Vladimir. You are in the wrong. You tried to call the clock on him and then you go and slow roll me."
The dealer dealt out 
and Hellmuth was forced to ship over 32,800 to Troyanovskiy.
A steamed Hellmuth will have time to cool off during dinner, after which he and the rest of the players will return to hand-for-hand play.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
135,200
-44,800
|
-44,800 |
|
|
||
|
|
79,900
46,900
|
46,900 |
