The blinds are now up and things are getting hot in here...literally. The temperature in the TV studio area is extremely warm with all of the lights, cameras and audience making things very sticky in here. There's already been a call out to the waiters to bring in more bottles of water for the players...and hurry!
Van Marcus has been quiet so far at this final table. He did not win a single hand in the first hour. To start the second hour, he reraised Tae Jun Noh from 23,000 to 65,000 preflop. Noh folded. As Marcus collected the pot, he turned over two red aces.
Marcus certainly is giving off a tight image to start the final table.
Lee Nelson plays a cautious brand of poker. He is not the type to make an automatic continuation bet just because he raised preflop. Last hand, Nelson raised to 22,000 and was called by Hyoung Jin Nam on the button. On the flop, Nelson checked to Nam, who bet 30,000. After a few moments of thoughtful consideration, Nelson quietly folded.
Hyoung Jin Nam limped into the pot, as did Michael Chang. The action was then with Ramil Tandoc who announced he was all in! The crowd stood in anticipation as the dealer counted out the bet as 119,500. Play folded around to Nam who folded. Chang also gave it up as Tandoc flashed . A nice squeeze by Tandoc, picking up around 30,000 in dead chips.
Hyoung Jin Nam has been playing an unconventional brand of poker at the final table. He has limped into several pots and also does not seem to have any type of standard opening raise. His opening raises have ranged from just barely double the big blind to almost five times the big blind. He opened a recent pot for 18,000 and was called by Michael Chang. The flop came , prompting Nam to check to Chang, who bet 30,000. That was all Nam needed to see; he quickly folded.
Tae Jun Noh raised it up to 26,000 from middle position before Benjie Lim moved all in from the button. Manish Sansi, in the big blind, asked for a count and discovered it was 56,500 in total to make the call. Sansi released his hand and Noh thought for a moment before making the call.
Noh:
Lim:
The board ran out and Noh collects the pot with his ace kicker to end the tournament of Lim in eighth place, for a payday of $12,485.
The Koreans are at the top of the counts after another big pot was pushed to Michael Chang. He raised to 22,000 from the cutoff and was called by Lee Nelson in the small blind and Van Marcus in the big blind. All three players checked on a flop of . When the turn came , Nelson led out for 40,000. It took Marcus close to a minute to fold; he spent the time glancing back and forth from Nelson to Chang. After he folded, Chang made the call.
The river fell to put a possible flush on the board. Nelson checked to Chang, who didn't waste much time before betting 90,000. It became Nelson's turn to spend some time in the tank. He seemed to be debating a call with a weak jack. Finally, he sighed and folded.
After the hand, Nelson turned to Marcus and confirmed that he did indeed fold a jack.
Hyoung Jin Nam limped into the pot, before Manish Sansi moved all in over the top. The table folded around, as did Nam, and Sansi collected the blinds and antes uncontested, flashing the in the process!
The exact same situation presented itself the very next hand. Nam limped again and Sansi shoved again. Nam folded once more and this time no cards were shown, as Sansi collects another nice pot as he fights hard with the short stack.
Despite being raised out of a few recent pots, Hyoung Jin Nam continues to try to limp in preflop. He did so successfully in a four-way pot with Michael Chang, Tae Jun Noh and Van Marcus. Nam was the first to bet at a flop and was therefore the winner when all other players folded.