Bryn Kenney has doubled-up to 88,000 after getting it in in bad shape on the bubble. Rudy Blondeau opened to 9,500 from the hijack and then snap-called when Kenney moved in from the SB. The play was paused as the camera's and media gathered round for this important show-down:
Blondeau:
Kenney:
The flop came to offer more help to Kenney and things got even better for him on the turn as he picked up a flush draw to go with the straight draw. Neither of those draws came in on the river but he did spike the to survive.
Moments later he doubled again to 200,000 through the big stacked Bojan Gledovic. Gledovic raised and then tank-called when Kenney moved in again. Kenney was the dominator this time with to Gledovic's . The board ran and uneventful .
Huck Seed has just been eliminated in 38th place to cue the tournament bubble.
There's not much to tell, it was a pretty unavoidable spot for Seed. Down around 100,000 chips, he had to love seeing two kings in the hole. Until, that is, Greg Mueller found two aces across the table. There was no funny stuff on board, and Seed could not find his two-outer to stay alive.
With Seed exiting, the dealers have been instructed to hold up for a moment. We'll deal hand-for-hand for now, one at a time until we find our bubble boy.
Guy Gorelik, down to just 45,000 or so, open-shoved - and to his immediate left Marc Inizan reshoved. Everyone else got out of their way, and they were on their backs.
Gorelik:
Inizan:
Board:
The online terminology for what Gorelik said upon seeing the ace on the river is "FFS". With that, he was gone, and Inizan was up to 200,000.
We found Yevgeniy Timoshenko tanking up on the turn of a board. Eventually he bet out 36,000 into a roughly 60,000 pot. His opponent John Eames had a little tank of his own for a while, before flat-calling with around 100,000 behind.
The river came down the , and Timoshenko now announced all in to cover. Back into the tank for Eames...
...and then a call all in.
Eames turned over - and it was good. Timoshenko just mucked and was left with 190,000. Eames, just a tiny hint of a smile creeping over his face, doubled to 320,000.
Brian Powell has hit a three-outer versus Phil Ivey to double-up to 267,000 and in the process Ivey dropped to 455,000. Powell opened to 10,000 from the cut-off and then moved all-in when Ivey three-bet him to 28,000 from the SB. Ivey got a rough count and made the call.
Powell:
Ivey:
The board ran . When the ace came on the turn Ivey shouted "BOOM". He took the defeat in a light hearted way and got on with it.
We've got 39 players left in the field, and only 36 of them will be earning a paycheck here today. We're three from the money, and we've already been seeing the play slow right down in this level.
Arnaud Mattern was noticing this just a moment ago, thinking the same things we were thinking. Mattern had raised the last pot from the button, and the small blind reraised. In the big, James Bord tanked for several long minutes before folding, and Mattern quickly released his cards as well.
"You're not going to think for, like, twenty minutes every hand, are you?" he asked. Mattern was smirking and speaking in jest to some extent, but his point was a serious one. "I know you want to make the money, but..." he added, trailing off.
Comparing this bubble to the bubble of the WSOP in Vegas sheds a little bit of light on the seriousness of the situation. Those who squeaked into the money took home $19,263 this summer, not a bad paycheck at all. The inflated £10,000 buy-in here across the pond, however, makes cashing in this WSOPE Main Event a much more pocket-padding experience. The first man out in the money today will earn the equivalent of $33,388, and that's nothing to blink at.
The only mitigating factor that could help break our bubble is that we've got a lot of high-level players left who are more or less unconcerned about a minimum cash. Whereas hundreds of qualifying amateurs were just looking for a free $20,000 in Vegas, the men and lady still left in this event seem much less inclined to fold their way through the bubble.
Darren Woods relieved Huck Seed of over 50k in a hand which seemed to run out of gas as soon as the first board card hit the felt - the pot stayed tame until the river as the board ran out ....... On the river there was a bet and a call of c.30k, Woods showing . That pot either could have been much bigger or was the maximum it was going to get - Seed mucked so we'll never know.
From middle position, Phil Ivey was in action again with a raise to 10,000. Rudy Blondeau opted to fire out a three-bet to 27,000. The young Canadian was on the button and after the two blinds folded, action fell back on Ivey. He thought for a bit and then slid out a taller stack of chips than needed to make the call, signifying a raise. The amount was 88,000. Blondeau released his hand, dropping to 260,000 and Ivey won the pot.
We arrived to Phil Ivey's table to see him in a hand with Bojan Gledovic. The two have been going back and forth all day at the top of the counts and another 60,000-chip pot sat in the middle on the board of . Ivey had fired out 35,000 and Gledovic was in the tank for several minutes. He eventually made the call and then Ivey tabled the for two pair on the flop. Gledovic mucked his hand and Ivey's stack grew to 580,000 in chips. Gledovic dropped back to 650,000.
Having avoided getting involved (correctly) in another large hand just moments earlier and called over Greg Mueller from the next table over to tell him about it ("I tried to bust me...I folded pre though") David Baker did in fact bust himself in dramatic fashion.
Daniel Steinberg was the very player who was the loser in the previous Big Hand (Hoyt Corkins doubling up with a flopped set of Aces with Steinberg going for it with the when a second heart turned on a turn but missing the river). He made the first raise preflop to 9,500, and Baker raised to 26k. Back to Steinberg who sat still for a while, showing no agitation, but finally fourbetting Baker. Baker moved in quickly and was called even more quickly, and he had to face the bad news:
Baker:
Steinberg:
Mueller got to hear about it first, "He's a maniac," lamented Baker, "And he has to have the Aces..."
His poor timing seemed suddenly to have been a blessing in disguise as he flopped a set on the flop, but the turn was the and the river the bringing runner-runner flush for one of Steinberg's Aces.
to offer more help to Kenney and things got even better for him on the 
turn as he picked up a flush draw to go with the straight draw. Neither of those draws came in on the river but he did spike the 
to survive.
to Gledovic's 
. The board ran and uneventful 
.
board. Eventually he bet out 36,000 into a roughly 60,000 pot. His opponent John Eames had a little tank of his own for a while, before flat-calling with around 100,000 behind.
, and Timoshenko now announced all in to cover. Back into the tank for Eames...
. When the ace came on the turn Ivey shouted "BOOM". He took the defeat in a light hearted way and got on with it.
...
. On the river there was a bet and a call of c.30k, Woods showing 
for two pair on the flop. Gledovic mucked his hand and Ivey's stack grew to 580,000 in chips. Gledovic dropped back to 650,000.
turn but missing the river). He made the first raise preflop to 9,500, and Baker raised to 26k. Back to Steinberg who sat still for a while, showing no agitation, but finally fourbetting Baker. Baker moved in quickly and was called even more quickly, and he had to face the bad news:
bringing runner-runner flush for one of Steinberg's Aces.