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A small but necessary double up to keep Felipe Ramos in the tournament - moving in preflop for his whole 30k (actually, raising the max - 28k and getting John Racener to put the courtesy extra 2k in) he showed 
and looked a little disappointed that Racener had found 
. However his double flush draw proved decisive on a 
board and he's going to make the dinner break, it looks like.
Willie Tann made it 17,000 under the gun, and it folded around to Felipe Ramos on the button, who went all in for 40,000. The blinds folded but Tann made the call, and the cards were once more on their backs for Ramos' tournament life.
Ramos: 
Tann: 
"You'll get there, Willie!" called over the recently eliminated Andrew Miles, "Don't worry!"
But he didn't.
Board: 
Tann flopped a flush draw but failed to improve on the turn or river, and Ramos stays in the game on 92,000. That's still going to be less than 10 big blinds when we return, though.
The final table goes on a one-hour dinner break now, and these are the stacks they'll be returning to...
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
435,000
55,000
|
55,000 |
|
||
|
350,000
20,000
|
20,000 |
|
||
|
300,000
62,000
|
62,000 |
|
|
||
|
300,000
27,000
|
27,000 |
|
||
|
170,000
-65,000
|
-65,000 |
|
150,000
-20,000
|
-20,000 |
|
|
||
|
92,000
32,000
|
32,000 |
|
||
Level: 19
Blinds: 5,000/10,000
Ante: 0
John Racener opened for 24,000 and Jeff Madsen (by the by, things are getting easier for the announcers now that there are only two Jeffs in the field rather than three) called in the big blind.
Madsen checked the 
flop and called a 35,000 bet from Racener before both players checked the turn. The river was a second ace, the this time, and Madsen now paused, chewing on the collar of his T-shirt, before betting out 62,000.
Racener tanked up, completely motionless. He briefly started to riffle some chips but soon slowed back into stillness once more, as though he'd suddenly thought the riffling might give something away. Eventually he folded, and with 280,000 remaining he has been knocked off the second spot in the chip counts. Madsen moved into that spot instead - on 370,000.
Well, three double-ups so far today, and the third one propels him up to a comfortable 230k or so! Maybe it's the support from the rail (he's definitely got a lot of well-wishers in this London crowd) but he's holding where he needs to and drawing when that's necessary.
After two hands in which Madsen and Racener traded some more chips taking turns raising and calling each other, Madsen took the initiative on the third and this time lost Racener's interest in the small blind, but picked up a caller for his 24k in the big blind in the form of Willie Tann.
The flop: 
. Check to Madsen who bet 39k. Tann counted this amount out, then looked at his stack and announced, "All in," called immediately. Tann showed a set with his 
vs. Madsen's nut flush and straight draws 
. The turn and river bricked ( 
) and a 100k dent appears in Madsen's chip towers.
Felipe Ramos was the shortest stack coming back from the break, and in a trio of unpleasant experiences, that stack has been reduced to zero.
Hand 1
Ramos raised to 27,000 under the gun and Willie Tann - who if you remember was responsible for most of the damage to Ramos' stack before dinner - called in the cutoff. Ramos had only 50,000 behind, but that didn't stop him check-folding to a pot-sized bet from Tann on the 
flop.
Hand 2
Next hand, John Racener (mid position) and Jeff Madsen (small blind) both limped in. Ramos resignedly checked his big blind, and they saw a flop.
In fact they saw a turn and a river too - they checked it down and the board read 
by the end of it. Racener turned over 
, the other two mucked, and Ramos' stack was now 40,000.
Hand 3
Ramos' head and stack alike sank a little further towards the felt with each of these hands, and we couldn't see his face at all when he potted from the small blind - it had folded around to him, and he duly stuck in 30,000, with 10,000 left behind.
Joe Serock tanked up for a while before calling; the rest of the chips went in on the flop.
Ramos: 
Serock: 
Board:
Ramos had flopped a gutshot draw, but Serock had flopped two pair which filled up on the river for good measure.
Now we are six, as the poet said.
As you can see from these revised counts early huge-stack-wielder Jeff Madsen has really sunk to become the second-shortest stack after Karl Mahrenholz, who's stuck between Lisandro (active and accumulating continually this level) and Madsen himself. Mahrenholz has been quiet while the big stacks make it 24k to go every hand; the only time he raised recently (28k) he instapassed to a threebet from button Joe Serock (only marginally less quiet than he is).
Lisandro's most recent 50k came from Madsen when he called his raise preflop and then check-raised a 
flop bringing Madsen's hand into the muck faster than the dealer could announce, "Raise."
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
580,000
145,000
|
145,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
345,000
45,000
|
45,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
320,000
-30,000
|
-30,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
230,000
80,000
|
80,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
170,000
-130,000
|
-130,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
115,000
-55,000
|
-55,000 |
Joe Serock, resplendent in some rather fetching blue plastic rimmed sunglasses, opened for 28,000. Serock had no reason to be blue, though - he would soon find himself in a rather nice position.
In the big blind, Karl Mahrenholz - the tallest man in the room, now our official shortie, chip-wise - reraised the pot, or 74,000. He had 40,000 left behind. Serock disappeared into the tank for a little while, and when he emerged he made the call.
The flop came down and with the very minimum of fuss Mahrenholz went all in and Serock called, to the soundtrack of encouraging words from Mahrenholz' friends at the rail (Paul Parker must be the most devoted railer on earth - he must have been at every WSOP/E final table involving a British player for the last couple years at least. But we digress).
Mahrenholz: 
for aces that had turned into two pair, threes and fours
Serock: 
for a pair of jacks and a flush draw
Turn: making Serock trips, and leaving Mahrenholz in need of one of the two remaining aces
River: not an ace, but the
With that, Mahrenholz fell into the consoling arms of fellow Hit Squadders James Akenhead and the Chattha brothers at the rail. Serock meanwhile is now second in chips, on 465,000.
Level: 20
Blinds: 6,000/12,000
Ante: 0
