Under two minutes remain in Level 27 (12,500/25,000/3,250) and 15 players still have chips as three more doubles have been earned by the likes of "PrinceTurtle", "tsaroffish4", and "Batmanstein".
"9NINENINE" still finds themselves atop the counts, and updated stacks for everybody have been provided below once again.
In Level 27 with blinds of 12,500/25,000 and an ante of 3,250, action folded to "ParryGreen$tein" in the small blind and they open-jammed for 248,944. "Batmanstein" called in the big blind.
"ParryGreen$tein": 
"Batmanstein": 
"ParryGreen$tein" flopped an open-ended straight draw on 
but saw their six live outs abolished on the turn 
. No matter, the river 
brought a wheel on board and gave "ParryGreen$tein" the six-high straight to double and bring their stack over half a million.
In Level 26 with blinds of 10,000/20,000 and an ante of 2,500, "WadeDavenport" found a double with 
on a board against pocket sevens and further chipped up to 281,184 before facing an under-the-gun open from "9NINENINE" to 40,000. One to the left, they re-popped it to 280,000 and called off the remaining crumbs after being put all in.
"WadeDavenport": 
"9NINENINE": 
"WadeDavenport" was now facing a coin flip for their tournament life and stayed ahead for the flop 
. The turn 
gave them top set and reduced their opponent's outs from six to four before the river completed the runout, giving them a full house along the way. After the double, they now have over 600,000 and one of the top stacks just moments after being the shortest stack among the 15 remaining players.
We have exciting news for poker fans around the world!
Given it's all the virtual series, we thought players and fans should have an interactive platform in which to engage with one another, as well as us here at PokerNews. That's why we've created a PokerNews Discord server and are inviting you to join our new community.
Discord specializes in text, image, video, and audio communication between users in a chat channel. It's a digital message board where you can share your thoughts with others who also love poker. The Pokernews Discord will give you a place to get caught up on what's going on in poker today and a place where you can share your thoughts with others.
Think of Discord as a house where different categories within the server are like a different room in the house. You can jump from one to the other to interact, gather information, or just have some fun.
We give you an area to share your bad beats, share your big wins, and talk about what is going on in poker today. We'll share links to live updates, highlight the biggest poker news, and offer special promotions.
Level 26 has just begun with blinds reaching 10,000/20,000 and an ante of 2,500. "gets2u1975" and "tkfly1324" have been recently eliminated to bring the field down to 15, and update chip counts for all who remain have been provided below.
In Level 25 with blinds of 8,000/16,000 and an ante of 2,000, "Owens18853" saw their luck run dry to bust in 19th place just after Henry "xlzou1990" Zou doubled. Eighteen then remained across the final two tables of play.
Later in the level, "Coolriver84" opened to 36,000 in middle position and was called by "9NINENINE" on the button. "justinbrown69" was in the big blind and "squeezed", re-shoving for 350,112. "Coolriver84" re-jammed for 379,956 and "9NINENINE" folded.
"justinbrown69": 
"Coolriver84": 
"justinbrown69" ran a big hand into an even bigger one and saw the runout come 
to result in their elimination in 18th place. The pair of knockouts rounds out the second-round payouts good for $657, and all 17 who now remain have locked up at least $782.
In Level 24 with blinds of 7,000/14,000 and an ante of 1,750, "gets2u1975" found a double through "megatron06869" to reach 160,000 before open-jamming on the very next hand from the cutoff. Henry "xlzou1990" Zou called all in on the button for less.
Henry "xlzou1990" Zou:
"gets2u1975":
Zou coasted to the double on a runout of 
to bring his stack over a quarter-million.
Much less fortunate were handful of others, all of whom busted in rapid-fire succession to bring about just 19 remaining players.
Matthew "Luna_Nova21" Davis is a 31-year-old former director of mortgage banking for Quicken Loans and now an owner of his own Allstate Insurance Agency. Davis, who is single with no kids, resides in Washington, Michigan not far from Detroit.
"I started playing poker when I was 15 with friends from school," he said when asked how he learned the game. "There was about four of us who would play $5 sit n gos. I play mostly Texas hold ‘em, but I mix in PLO, 7-Card Stud, and five-card PLO from time to time. I play mainly tournaments but I do want to start playing more cash. I do really well in cash games but I love to hunt for titles."
He continued: "I used to play online before Black Friday. I’ve been playing on another site for the last few years but now play on PokerStars. I’ve mostly played tournaments. I typically will play the mid to higher-stakes games online."
In the live realm, Davis has more than $160K in lifetime earnings according to The Hendon Mob. That includes a career-high $98,120 for finishing 76th out of an 8,569-player field in the 2019 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. He also finished 24th in the 2015 WSOP Circuit Horseshoe Hammond $1,675 Main Event for $13,437, 28th in the same tournament in 2019 for $8,065, and 21st in the 2014 Heartland Poker Tour Mount Pleasant $1,650 Main Event for $4,933.
After falling short of a cash this evening, only time will tell if Davis' live success will translate to the online felt here in the 2021 MICOOP.
In Level 23 with blinds of 6,000/12,000 and an ante of 1,500, "GoGreen35" opened to 24,000 under the gun and received calls form "megatron06869" in middle position, "PimpMyBalance" in the hijack, and "BigRon324", who defended their big blind.
The four saw a flop of 
and "BigRon324" checked, first to act. "GoGreen35" continuation-bet 42,000 and "megatron06869" called. "PimpMyBalane" and "BigRon324" folded, taking action heads up to the turn 
where "GoGreen35" shoved for 135,119. "megatron06869" called.
"GoGreen35":
"megatron06869": 
"GoGreen35" had jammed with two overs and a gutshot, but one of those overcards was dead due to the open-ended straight draw of "megatran06868". Additionally, one of their gutshot outs was also dead, leaving them with only six outs to stay alive. None came on the river 
and they were eliminated as a result with a pot of over 460,000 being shipped to the "megatron06869", whose stack is now just shy of 750K.
"xXColdCallXx" was also eliminated earlier in the level, and 24 players now remain
In Level 23 with blinds of 6,000/12,000 and an ante of 1,500, action folded to "ParryGreen$tein" on the button and they opened to 22,000. "Batmanstein" three-bet jammed for 149,759 in the small blind and "JaDoncic" called all in for less in the big blind, totaling 97,551. "ParryGreen$tein" folded.
"JaDoncic":
"Batmanstein":
"JaDoncic" found no help on a runout of 
and their ace-ten remained second best against the two ladies of "Batmanstein" to bring about the end of their run. Moments earlier, "brybrypokerguy" was also knocked out of the tournaments, and the pair of eliminations has rounded out the first level of payouts at $552. All 26 remaining players have now locked up at least $657.
button in Safari
