Tim Heath - Chip Leader
Marlon Goonawardana raised to 3,200 from under the gun and the action passed to Tim Heath on the button, who raised to 11,000. The blinds folded before Goonawardana moved all in. Heath snap-called and the cards were tabled.
Goonawardana:
Heath:
A huge cold-deck situation saw the board fall to hand the pot to Heath and send Goonawardana crashing out of the tournament in dramatic fashion.
Tim Heath is now our chip leader with 175,000 chips!
In a limped pot, four players took a flop of where Danny Mountt fired out 2,800 from the hijack position. Matthew Roberts then bumped it up to 6,000 from the button, forcing the blinds to fold as Mountt made the call.
The turn was a dangerous looking and Mountt led at the pot again, this time for 6,400. Roberts quickly called and the peeled off on the river.
Mountt quickly moved all in as Roberts sighed and folded face up! Without a heart in his hand Roberts was forced to release, as Mountt is now behind 90,000.
As the dramatic showdowns become more and more sparse, it is evident that the players have the end of the day fixed firmly in their sights. The pace of play has slowed considerably, and the majority of the pots are being taken down with a single preflop raise or one lone bet on the flop. It will be interesting to see how the short stacks handle the last level or so -- whether they try to sit on their chips and fold their way to Day 2, or they look for a spot to get all in for a double-up-or-go-home shot.
Manny Stavropoulos from Event 6
Graeme Putt started things with a preflop raise to 4,000. David Lee then made it 10,000 to play, and action came around to Manny Stavropoulos. Manny moved all in for his last 18,000 chips, enough to get Putt out. Lee came along though, having his opponent well covered.
Showdown:
Stavropoulos:
Lee:
The flop was disastrous for the all-in player, coming out . The turn and river were the and the respectively, and Lee draws out on Stavropoulos, sending him to the exit.
Gursel Ali
An interesting pot has just gone down with three different players taking the betting lead on each of the three streets of action. With the flop showing , Taner Durust was the first to tango, firing out 4,700 into the multi-way pot but not budging Nauvneel Kashyap or Gursel Ali as they both made the call.
The turn brought the and Durust slowed down and checked the action to Kashyap who bet out 13,500. Ali called as Durust stepped aside as a big pot was developing.
The arrived on the river and Kashyap checked to Ali who took control by moving all in for his last 25,000. Kashyup went into the tank but eventually folded as Ali raked in 68,000 worth of chips. Kashyup slipped to 49,000.
Michael Pedley - Eliminated
Michael Pedley was crippled in a race when he held and lost a big pot to an opponent with . A queen fell on the river, knocking Pedley down to just 1,450.
Those last few checks all went into the very next pot, and Pedley was looked up by two opponents. The board came . Pedley turned over for a miss, while one of his opponents tabled the winning for the flush, knocking Pedley out of here late in Day 1a.