Mickey DoftVivek Rajkumar
On a flop of , Vivek Rajkumar check-called a bet of 10,600 from Max Lykov. Both players checked the turn card, landing the on the river.
Vivek checked and Lykov fired 22,600. The action afterward is a bit unclear, but the result is not. Vivek's stack is at 310,000 after tabling for the flopped full house and Lykov is on the rail.
donpeters
Dmitry Stelmark
Brett Richey raised to 4,000 from early position and Dmitry Stelmak called from the button. The two players both held big stacks and took a flop of .
Richey continuation bet 7,500 and Stelmak called. The turn card brought the and Richey checked. Stelmak fired 13,000 and Richey folded. Stelmak remains atop the leaderboard with 280,000. Stelmak may be a relative unknown, but he does have over $175,000 in live-tournament winnings.
donpeters
Matusow left guessing
Mike "The Mouth" Matusow raised under the gun to 5,000 before Dario Minieri reraised to 14,600 from the button. Matusow made the call and the two went to a flop.
The first three community cards were the . Matusow checked and Minieri checked behind.
The turn card was the and both players checked again.
After the river card landed with the hitting he felt, Matusow fired 15,000. Minieri moved all in, putting Matusow to the test for his last 83,400 chips. Matusow went into the tank for over five minutes and began talking out loud. Here's some of the things he said.
"I can't remember the last time I stacked off all my chips like this."
"Would you really check the flop and turn with all those diamonds, flush draws and straight draws out there?"
"It makes no sense and they say when it makes no sense, you should call."
"I really have no f***ing clue, no f***ing clue."
"Concentrate Mikey, concentrate."
"Would you believe I have two kings here? Everyone else would've beaten you into the pot by now. I should probably have beaten Dario into the pot right now."
"F***ing f***, f*** me, f*** me, f*** me."
After nearly six minutes in the tank, Poorya Nazari called the clock on Matusow. Matusow heard the clock called on him and insta-folded his hand before the countdown even began. Minieri did not show his hand and moved up to 210,000 chips. Matusow claimed to fold two kings and it seems everyone believes him.
Right after the hand, the floor put a rack in front of Matusow and informed him that they were moving him to another table.
"WHAT!?!?!" yelled Matusow, "You've gotta be on crack! No way after the beat I just took." But, he had to go.
Mickey DoftJustin Smith - Out
Justin "BoostedJ" Smith opened to 3,200 in the cutoff and Vivek Rajkumar raised to 13,600 from the small blind. Smith called, leading to a flop of .
Vivek fired 20,200 into the pot, sending Smith into the tank for a few minutes. Finally, Smith announced all in and Rajkumar called with . Smith shook his head, tabling a trailing . The turn and river were no help to Smith, out just before the break.
donpeters
A few of the players in the field are expressing their opinions about the payout structure.
William Thorson said that he thinks it's a terrible structure and doesn't quite seem to understand how first place can only be a little more than $576,000. With nearly double the field and prizepool from last year, he reckons there should be a far greater first-place prize.
Chad Brown suggested that the final table should be paid only and not 16 places.
, Vivek Rajkumar check-called a bet of 10,600 from Max Lykov. Both players checked the 
turn card, landing the 
on the river.
for the flopped full house and Lykov is on the rail.
and Richey checked. Stelmak fired 13,000 and Richey folded. Stelmak remains atop the leaderboard with 280,000. Stelmak may be a relative unknown, but he does have over $175,000 in live-tournament winnings.
. Matusow checked and Minieri checked behind.
and both players checked again.
. Smith shook his head, tabling a trailing 
. The 
turn and 
river were no help to Smith, out just before the break.
