David "Doc" Sands raised to 18,000 and action moved to Jason Mercier in the small blind. He reraised all in for 205,000. Sands tanked for a bit and then made the call holding the . Mercier had him bested with the , but he didn't stay in front for long.
After the flop fell, Mercier fell behind to Doc's pair of queens. The turn and river sealed the deal to send Mercier out the door in 14th place.
"Good luck, guys," Mercier said as he exited to the rail after the hand.
Viktor Blom raised to 18,000 and Will Molson called on the button before the dealer spread the flop. Blom continued with a bet of 34,000 and Molson made the call.
Fourth street was the and both players checked to see the land on the river. Both checked again.
Molson tabled the for a pair of sixes and Blom showed the . Molson's sixes were best.
Jonathan Duhamel raised to 17,000 to open the action, and Sam Stein three-bet to 43,000 in position. Out of the cold, Mike "Timex" McDonald shoved all in for 180,000 total, and Duhamel quickly folded. Stein had , though, and he matched the bet to put McDonald at risk. Timex turned up , and the race was on.
The flop was a good sweat, but McDonald jumped into a huge lead with the turn. He needed to fade the four queens in the deck to double, and the river was too little, too late for Stein.
The two men have essentially traded places now with McDonald stacking up just shy of 400,000 chips.
Sam Stein raised to 17,000 under the gun and Humberto Brenes called from the big blind.
The flop fell and both checked. Brenes checked the turn and Stein bet 24,000. Brenes, though, put in a raise to 80,000. A call from Stein led to the river and Brenes bet 85,000. Stein shook his head and tossed his hand to the muck.
From the button, Galen Hall raised to 20,000. David "Doc" Sands called from the big blind and the flop came down .. After Sands checked, Hall bet 22,000. Sands called.
The turn was the and Sands checked again. Hall fired 32,000 this time and Sands called.
The river completed the board with the and both players checked.
Hall showed the for a pair of eights, but Sands held the for the winner.
Will Molson raised to 20,000 to open the pot, and both Galen Hall and Isaac Haxton called from their respective small and big blinds.
The three of them took a flop, and Molson continued out with another 35,000. Hall made the check-call, Haxton check-folded, and the landed on the turn. It went check-check there, and check-check once again on the river.
Molson showed for queen-high, and Hall's was good enough to earn him that little pot.
Action on the outer tabe has been a bit slow to start this new level.
For two days now, we've been keeping an eye on the play between Isaac Haxton and Viktor "Isildur1" Blom, two of the long-standing big stacks in our field. Haxton, as you would likely guess by looking at him, has one of the more calculating and intelligent minds in the game, and it appears he came prepared for battle with the dangerous Blom this week.
Maybe a half-dozen times or so, we've seen Haxton throw out oversized bets and raises against Isildur. Some of his early three-bets were enormous on Day 1, and we just saw another oversized pot developing between the two men here on Day 2.
It began with Blom opening to 22,000, and this time Haxton elected to flat-call from the small blind. They both checked through the flop, and the turn drew a leading bet from Haxton. It was a pot-sized 60,000, and Blom came right along with a call to see the river.
It was the , and Haxton bet again. This time, it was a big overbet of 275,000, and Blom tanked and surrendered.
Dan Shak opened the pot with a raise to 30,000, and Will Molson three-bet to 62,000. When it came back around to Shak, he looked down longingly at the 233,000 chips he had and shoved them all in. Molson called with the , and his overpair had Shak's in a world of trouble.
"Everyone peels a nine..." Isaac Haxton said in a fine case of dramatic foreshadowing.
The flop came , and Shak flopped the lucky set to pull into a big lead. He was unsatisfied with his edge though, and he asked the dealer for a diamond on the turn.
It was indeed the , stealing one of Molson's outs and leaving him dead to the queen of clubs.
"Here comes the queen of clubs," Daniel Negreanu chimed in, trying his own hand at the fortune telling. Almost.
The river was the frightening , scary but ultimately safe for Shak. That secures his double, moving him up close to the half-million chip mark. Things are not so good for Molson now; he's left with just 80,000 chips.
. Mercier had him bested with the 
, but he didn't stay in front for long.
flop fell, Mercier fell behind to Doc's pair of queens. The 
turn and 
river sealed the deal to send Mercier out the door in 14th place.
![[user66118]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
flop. Blom continued with a bet of 34,000 and Molson made the call.
and both players checked to see the 
land on the river. Both checked again.
. Molson's sixes were best.
, though, and he matched the bet to put McDonald at risk. Timex turned up 
, and the race was on.
flop was a good sweat, but McDonald jumped into a huge lead with the 
turn. He needed to fade the four queens in the deck to double, and the river 
was too little, too late for Stein.
turn and Stein bet 24,000. Brenes, though, put in a raise to 80,000. A call from Stein led to the 
river and Brenes bet 85,000. Stein shook his head and tossed his hand to the muck.
.. After Sands checked, Hall bet 22,000. Sands called.
and Sands checked again. Hall fired 32,000 this time and Sands called.
for the winner.
river.
, and Haxton bet again. This time, it was a big overbet of 275,000, and Blom tanked and surrendered.
