Level: 17
Blinds: 4,000/8,000
Ante: 1,000
Level: 17
Blinds: 4,000/8,000
Ante: 1,000
Ty Reiman raised to 17,000 under the gun only to have Matt Affleck, who was next to act, raise to 42,000. Action folded back around to Reiman and he moved all in. Affleck called off for a total of 199,000 and the cards were turned up:
Reiman; 

Affleck: 

Affleck was ahead with a big pocket pair and had yet again run up against pocket nines. He was 1-1 against the hand and improved hi record to 2-1 after the board ran out 



. Reiman dropped to 585,000 after the hand while Affleck doubled to 400,000.
We didn't catch all the action, but we do know Ravi Raghavan picked up 
and doubled through Team PokerStars Pro (USA) Jason Mercier, who held 
.
Mercier dropped to 555,000 in the hand while Raghavan doubled to 445,000.
It has been awhile since any noteworthy pots have developed. Recently, Jason Mercier raised to 16,000 from the cutoff and Erik Seidel shipped his stack of about 80,000 into the middle. Mercier wasn't excited but made the call nonetheless.
Mercier: 

Seidel: 

The 

flop was help to neither player, so Seidel's ace high was still best. The
turn made no difference and the
on the river helped Seidel improve to a pair of kings. He doubled to 176,000 while Mercier continued to slide, this time down to 475,000.
Over the course of three hands, William Reynolds was all in twice. In the first, Reynolds held 
and was dominated by the 
of Tom Marchese. The 

flop hit Marchese, but the
turn gave Reynolds a straight. Luckily for Marchese, the river came the
and put a big straight on the board. Chop, chop.
In the second hand, Reynolds held 
and was once again dominated, this time by the 
of Moritz Kranich. The board ran out 



and each player's ace player. Chop, chop again. Reynolds is still short with 95,000.
Jason Mercier has had a crazy level. He went from chip leader to putting his tournament life on the line. In the hand, Mercier raised to 16,000 from early position and action folded all the way to Ryan Fair in the big blind. Fair reraised to 40,000, Mercier made it 93,000 to go, Fair moved all in, and Mercier called. With around 760,000 in the pot, the cards were turned up:
Fair: 

Mercier: 

No surprise that it was another race situation, the question was who would win to claim the chip lead. The 

flop soon answered that question. Mercier hit two pair and held on to win as the
hit the turn, followed by the
on the river. Just like that, Mercier is back up over 750,000 while Fair, who started the day as the chip leader, is down to just 83,000.
Action folded to Shander de Vries in the small blind and he shoved all in. William Reynolds was in the big blind and called for his tournament life.
De Vries: 

Reynolds: 

The 

flop didn't change anything but the
turn gave Reynolds a pair of queens and the best hand. In order to eliminate his opponent, de Vries needed to catch one of the two remaining nines. Given the title of this post, you know that is what happened. It was in fact the
and Reynolds' lives ran out. De Vries is up to 420,000.
Will Molson was UTG+1 and moved all in for 131,000. Brett Richey then moved all in himself from the cutoff. Philipp Gruissem, who was in the big blind, had both players covered and made the call.
Richey: 

Gruissem: 

Molson: 

Molson was in trouble since all signs pointed to a Richey/Gruissem chop, which was evidenced by the 

; however, Molson took the lead when the
hit the turn. The
on the river gave Molson a triple up while Richey and Molson chopped the side pot.
Action folded to Erik Seidel on the button and he moved all in with the 
. Ryan Fair, who was the shorter stack, called from the big blind with 
.
It was another race that saw Seidel pull ahead on the 

flop. The
turn changed nothing and neither did the
river. Just like that, the chip leader at the start of the day was sent packing shy of the money. Seidel is up to 320,000.
Shander de Vries raised to 16,000 on the button and Tom Bedell moved all in for 122,000 from the small blind. De Vries called and the cards were turned over:
Bedell: 

De Vries: 

Bedell was dominated and needed a seven or some hearts. The 

wasn't much help and the
turn left Bedell drawing to just a chop. It was not meant to be however as the
hit. Bedell was eliminated in 19th place while de Vries chipped up to 550,000.