Three players saw the flop and action checked to Poll, who bet 3,100. Denny Tucker raised to 7,000, and then the first player check-raised all in, putting Poll at risk if he called. Poll called, going all in, and Tucker folded.
Poll showed the nut flush with the against the queen-high flush of his opponent. The board brought another club, but it didn't change a thing, and Poll won the pot to double up.
Here's a couple examples of some continuation bets working.
Justin Pimpedly raised preflop from middle position, and Matt Harting called from the button. The flop came , and Pimpedly bet 3,200. Harting folded.
In another hand, Mark Wahba raised from early position, making it 2,700 to go. The player in the big blind defended with a call, and the flop came . The player in the big blind checked, and Wahba took down the pot with a bet to 4,900.
Nick Guagenti got all in against Wayne Smith preflop. Guagenti was up against it with versus the pocket kings of Smith. The board ran out , giving Guagenti a sliver of hope with some additional outs following the flop before shutting the door on his tournament life.
As he left the table, Guagenti tossed Chris Moneymaker the winnings from a last-longer the two players made before the tournament. Moneymaker said it was the sweetest money he's made yet.
John Nelson is sitting with over 160,000 in chips after eliminating a player who three-bet shoved all in from the small blind.
Nelson opened the action, raising to 2,100. The player in the small blind shoved all in for 35,800. Nelson took a moment before calling with the and was flipping against the pocket jacks of his opponent.
The board ran out , and Nelson scored the knockout with trip queens.
Justin Rice shoved all in for his last 17,600 and doubled up against Jeff Weiss. Rice had the against the of Weiss and hit a king on the flop to double up.
In other action, Mark Nienow doubled up through Phillip Wojtuniecki. Nienow had and turned a set against the of Wojtuniecki.
Lance Howard just won the biggest pot of the tournament, scooping in nearly 200,000.
The action started when Howard opened with a preflop raise to 3,500 and three players called. The flop came , and Mark Nienow was first to act. He shoved for his last 24,700. John Nelson was next to act, and after some consideration, he called. The action then fell to Lance Howard, who took a bit longer to decide, but eventually called, too. The other player in the hand had folded.
The turn was the , and Nelson checked to Howard. Howard took even longer this time, but eventually settled on a bet of 30,000. Nelson called.
The river was the , and Nelson checked again. Howard took a few moments and shoved all in for 85,000. Nelson had him covered and would be left with only about 12 big blinds if he called and lost the hand. Nelson called and saw the bad news when Howard turned over a flush. Nelson mucked his had, but because there was an all in, he had to show. He had flopped a straight with .
Nienow was in third place with and was eliminated.
Dennis Hugelet called two all-in shoves with pocket jacks. He was up against, and the . He had both players covered and his jacks held to give him the double knockout.
Elsewhere, Charles Maxcy, the defending Hollywood Poker Open Toledo Regional Main Event champion, was bounced to the rail by HPO ambassador Chris Moneymaker. Moneymaker is now sitting just ahead of Hugelet on the leaderboard, but both players trail Lance Howard.
The players are on their last 15-minute break of the night. Lance Howard, Hollywood Poker Open ambassador Chris Moneymaker, and Dennis Hugelet lead the pack of 21 remaining players going into the final two levels of the day.