Nashar the Final Elimination of Day 1a
On the second-to-last hand of the night, Hassan Nashar raised under the gun to 5,500 and Atilla Saracoglu moved all in from the button without looking at his cards for around 257,000. Nashar peeled one card to reveal the 2♣ before making the call with only a few big blinds more than Saracoglu.
Atilla Saracoglu: K♦9♦
Hassan Nashar: J♠2♣
In a pot worth more than 250 big blinds, neither player held even ace-high, and Saracoglu simply needed Nashar to miss in order to end the night among the chip leaders.
The 9♥3♦8♥ flop pushed Saracoglu further in front with top pair. Nashar was drawing dead by the 9♠ turn as Saracoglu improved to trip nines, and the Q♥ completed the runout to send Saracoglu's stack soaring to more than 500,000.
On the very next hand, Nashar called off his last 7,000 from the big blind but finished second best against his opponent's flush, making him the final elimination of Day 1a.