Play Resumes
Cards are back in the air. The average stack now has only 22 big blinds. Expect some movement this level.
Cards are back in the air. The average stack now has only 22 big blinds. Expect some movement this level.
It's safe to say that this final table has not started out how Daniel Ospina hoped it would. He raised pre-flop from early position and was called by big blind (and new chip leader) Pablo Gonzales. Gonzales check-called a bet of 145,000 from Ospina on a queen-high flop, . Both players checked the turn. Gonzales also checked the river.
Ospina studied the board an his opponent carefully for about 30 seconds before announcing a bet of 200,000. Gonzales snap-calledwith , a hand that had out-turned Ospina's . For the second time day, Gonzales slapped the table in triumph, clearly pumped to be the player in command of this table right now.
Gonzales: 2.25 million
Ospina: 560,000
What started out as a very tight final table has loosened up. Right now Pablo Gonzales is providing most of the action, which was good news for Kemal Ferri in a recent pot.
Ferri opened pre-flop to 94,000, with Gonzales tagging along for the ride. An all-club flop of brought a bet of 150,000 from Ferri and a snap-call from Gonzales. On the turn, Ferri moved all in for 251,000. Gonazles snap-called again with top pair, . It was drawing slim against Ferri's aces and nut flush draw, . The river blanked to double Ferri up to about 1.0 million. Gonzales is down to 1.4 million.
The first four-bet of the day came from Raul Pino, and it brought a tight fold from Leonardo Zepeda. Pino opened pre-flop with a standard raise under the gun. Action passed all the way to Zepeda's small blind. He squeezed out his cards and then three-bet to 250,000, folding big blind Samar Hodali. Pino then four-bet all in for 782,000 more. Zepeda gave the matter some thoguht before open-folding .
Karlo Lopez was short-stacked for a long time before we got to today's final table. He was 8th of 8 to start the day, and that's where he ends it. When action passed to him in the hijack position, he opened all in for about 300,000. Leonardo Zepeda was dealt on the button. Lopez didn't have much of a hand, , but he did manage to flop a straight draw with a flop. The board bricked from there, and , to eliminate Lopez in 8th place.
Michael Barham's stack is quickly evaporating. Two hands cost him half his stack. First, sitting in the big blind, he called a raise to 120,000 made by Samar Hodali. Barham checked an all-small flop of , prompting Hodali to move all in. Barham open-folded , prompting Hodali to show .
The next hand Barham opened to 140,000 on the button and was called by Kemal Ferri in the big blind. Ferri check-called another 140,000 on a king-high flop, . Both players checked the turn. At the river, Barham sighed, shook his head and folded in the face of a 300,000-chip bet from Ferri.
Many players would be filled to finish in 7th-place in today's tournament. For Daniel Ospina it has to be a disappointment. Ospina led this tournament since Day 1 but a series of unlucky hands crippled him early at this final table. With about 10 big blinds remaining, Ospina open-shoved from the button with . Kemal Ferri held in the big blind and went for the kill. Each player caught a piece of the flop, . Ferri had top set; Ospina had an up-and-down straight draw. Running nines, and , gave Ferri a full house and sent Ospina to the rail in a disappointing 7th-place. He shook everyone's hand before going to collect his winnings and -- perhaps -- to think about what might have been.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Kemal Ferri |
1,800,000
-50,000
|
-50,000 |
Pablo Gonzales
|
1,405,000
5,000
|
5,000 |
Leonardo Zepeda
|
1,380,000
430,000
|
430,000 |
Raul Pino
|
1,230,000
764,000
|
764,000 |
Samar Hodali
|
600,000
-275,000
|
-275,000 |
Michel Barham
|
450,000
-303,000
|
-303,000 |
Level: 26
Blinds: 25,000/50,000
Ante: 5,000
Poker players coined the phrase "suck, re-suck" for the type of hand that just took place at the final table. Samar Hodali was all in on the flop against Pablo Gonzales with an over-pair of 10s against Gonzales' top pair of eights. Gonzales turned two pair to take the lead but Hodali spiked her two-outer set on the river to double up and stay alive. She now has about a million in chips, wihle Gonzales has just slightly less.