Tom Hall raised to 3,600 preflop and found himself three customers to go to a flop of . Two checks and Hall made it 15,000 to go. Wing Cheong Chong provided the only resistance from the big blind.
The turn was the and Chong decided to lead at the pot for 20,000. Hall instantly declared himself all in, rocking Chong in his chair. He count does his last 33,000 chips but decided to wait for a better spot as he released his hand and went on break.
Hall flashed and ends the level on a great note and over 180,000 chips!
Shortly after the break we spotted PokerStars qualifier Ricky Kroesen shaking hands with his opponents and exiting the tournament floor. We scurried over to his table where Van Marcus was able to recall to us that Kroesen three-bet all in for his last 18,000 with only to run into an opponent's pocket queens.
The flop of was no help to Kroesen but he was delighted to spike an on the turn to take the lead. It was short-lived as the two-outer on the river sent him to the rail.
Sida Yuen entered the pot with a raise to 4,200 from under the gun, and as the action folded round to Joshua Ang in the small blind he announced his intention to raise.
Ang threw in the 4,200 before sliding in a stack of 500-denomination chips amounting to a re-raise to 19,200 total.
Yuen instantly moved all in for roughly 130,000 more to Ang and his tournament life.
His enjoyable table massage turned into anguish as Ang looked visibly distressed at the decision he was facing for his last 40,000 in chips.
Nearly four minutes went by before Ang angrily threw his cards into the muck as the masseuse kept working hard at his now tenser shoulders.
Yuen checked his cards once more before sliding them to the dealer as he raked in the pot to send him to over 180,000 in chips.
With 9,500 chips in the middle and out as the community cards, David Saab made a suspiciously small bet of 4,000 from the small blind. His lone opponent stared at the ceiling for a few sconds and then called.
The river fell . Saab bet 6,000. His opponent instantly raised to 20,000.
"Really?" asked Saab. "You have ace-queen? That would suck."
He continued talking even though his opponent offered no response. "Oh such sickness. I've got too much of my chips in there. Can I possibly fold here? I want to fold so badly." Saab had only 10,000 behind his original bet.
"Oh, I am such a fish. I have aces. Good bluff sir," Saab said. He open-mucked his hand and, true to his word, showed .
Andrew Scott has slipped to 33,000 after a strange little hand went against him. We arrived at the table on the turn with the board reading , Scott check-called a bet of 9,000 before the landed on the river.
Scott paused and led out with a bet of 9,000. His opponent appeared dismayed by the bet, but maybe there was a touch of Hollywood as he popped it to 30,300 to play. There was no Hollywood in Scott's reaction, as he quickly mucked his cards and the steam rose from his forehead. Scott has slipped to 33,000 chips.
Tom Hall opened with a raise to 4,500 before being shipped on by an opponent.
Hall made the call and the cards were tabled.
Hall:
Opponent:
The board ran out and Hall knocked out another opponent while soaring to the chip lead with 216,000 in chips.
For his table that includes Bertrand 'ElkY' Grospellier (47,000), Theo Tran (70,000) and Kristoffer Myhre (210,000) - there is bound to plenty of action as everyone jostles for position as we begin the approach to the money.