With just 75 players remaining, we're getting down to the nitty gritty of the money bubble. As marble-sized hail falls from the sky in the middle of summer, we're preparing ourselves to see just about anything on the tournament floor
Leandro Csome has been pounding away at his table all afternooon. He was at it again when he opened from the cutoff. Button player Joao Bauer three-bet Csome, clearing the blinds out of the hand. Csome wasn't willing to concede so quickly; he put in a four-bet to 35,000. Bauer considered his options and then moved all in for a total of 215,000. Csome asked for a count, pondered for about a minute, and then mucked his hand.
David Etter was ecstatic to see a flop of . He barely covered the 101,000-chip all-in bet of his lone opponent and held against his opponent's . Of course there were still two more board cards to come, and the on the turn was a bad one for Etter. It improved his hand to queens full of aces but gave his opponent aces full of kings. Down to one out on the river, the table got a momentary thrill as a face card peeled off -- but it was the . Once Etter paid off the double-up he was left with just 30,000.
In case we'd forgotten (it's difficult), Andre Scaff is still in the tournament. He opened a pot for 10,500, then called a shove from a player with only 29,000 left. That player opened , a live ace against Scaff's . The flop came and elicited Scaff's trademark "Filha do rei" shout. This time, for punctuation, he added, "KING! KING! KING!". Cue up the and and send a short stack packing.
The player in the cutoff moved all in for 63,500 and action folded to Jorge Pereira in the big blind. He squeezed slow and hard before jumping to his feet and making the call.
Pereira:
Cutoff Seat:
The board ran out and Pereira won the pot to eliminate his opponent and move back to 180,000 in chips.
The level of excitement that some players get after the flop comes out is only matched by the depths of their disappointment by the time the river is peeled off. Take the case of Jose Carlos Rodrigues, who found himself in a three-way all in against two short stacks, one with 32,000 chips and one with 57,000 chips. Those players showed and , respectively; Rodrigues had live cards with . He slammed the table and let out a yelp of joy on a flop of , as if he had already won the hand. Of course he hadn't, and that point was proven when the hit the turn. Rodrigues then begged the dealer for one more spade, but the didn't improve his hand.
The player with 57,000 chips doubled up. The shorter stack was eliminated. And Rodrigues was left ruing an unlucky turn card.
Santiego Nadal raised from middle position to 9,500. Otavio Mesquita called from the hijack seat and Andre Scaff called from the big blind. The three players saw the flop come down .
Action check to Mesquita on the flop and he bet 13,500. Scaff made the call before Nadal cut his losses and got out of the way.
The paired the board on the turn and both players checked to see the fall on the river. Scaff checked and immediately after Mesquita bet 25,000 he made the call.
Mesquita tabled the for ace-queen high with the two tens on board. Scaff showed the and tens and sixes to take down the pot.
We're down to 66 players now after the most painful of eliminations. A short stack at Maria Mayrinck's table got it all in with and was called by a player with . Two other players said they folded aces. Of course the flop came with an ace, and the player with pocket kings never improved from there.
"That's a five-ace deck for sure," quipped Mayrinck. She is in danger of bubbling the tournament, down to just 30,000 in chips.
![[user75032]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
. He barely covered the 101,000-chip all-in bet of his lone opponent and held 
against his opponent's 
. Of course there were still two more board cards to come, and the 
on the turn was a bad one for Etter. It improved his hand to queens full of aces but gave his opponent aces full of kings. Down to one out on the river, the table got a momentary thrill as a face card peeled off -- but it was the 
. Once Etter paid off the double-up he was left with just 30,000.
, a live ace against Scaff's 
. The flop came 
and 
and send a short stack packing.
and Pereira won the pot to eliminate his opponent and move back to 180,000 in chips.
, respectively; Rodrigues had live cards with 
, as if he had already won the hand. Of course he hadn't, and that point was proven when the 
didn't improve his hand.
.
fall on the river. Scaff checked and immediately after Mesquita bet 25,000 he made the call.
and tens and sixes to take down the pot.
. Two other players said they folded aces. Of course the flop came with an ace, and the player with pocket kings never improved from there.