Kim Rasmussen raised to 250,000 under the gun with Q♦Q♥ and Mark Fink three-bet to 750,000 in the hijack holding A♠A♦. Rasmussen made the call.
The flop came J♣K♥10♣ and both players checked to the 8♥ turn. Rasmussen bet 500,000 and Fink called.
On the 3♥ river, Rasmussen checked and Fink elected to check back to take down the pot.
Paul Johnson raised to 200,000 in the cutoff with A♣6♣ and Cody Slusher three-bet shoved in the big blind for 850,000 with K♠J♦ to put himself at risk.
Johnson took some time to think through his decision before showing Slusher the ace and mucking his cards.
Paul Johnson raised to 175,000 under the gun and Chad Knoblauch three-bet jammed for 425,000 in the hijack to put himself at risk. Johnson made the call.
Chad Knoblauch: 3♠3♥ 
Paul Johnson: 10♦9♦
The flop came 6♥4♥Q♠ with Knoblauch's pair of treys still in the lead. The turn landed the 4♦ and the river brought the 9♥ with Johnson pairing his nine to send Knoblauch packing.
Mark Fink raised to 175,000 in the cutoff and and James Girouard three-bet jammed in the big blind for 485,000 to put himself at risk. Fink made the call.
James Girouard: A♦10♥
Mark Fink: A♥8♦
The flop came 7♥9♥5♠ with Fink picking up additional outs with a gutshot. The turn landed the 3♦ and Girouard was in great shape to double up.
That was until the 8♥ landed on the river, ending his impressive tournament run.
Level: 25
Blinds: 50,000/75,000
Ante: 75,000
Dustin Benda limped in the small blind and Keith Kemper moved all in to put Benda at risk. Benda had right around ten big blinds to start the hand and made the call.
Dustin Benda: A♣4♣
Keith Kemper: Q♦4♠
Kemper pulled ahead on the Q♥J♣9♣ flop, pairing his queen but Benda still had outs with an ace or a club.
The K♠ turn and 5♠ river offered no help to Benda and he was sent to the rail.
Keith Kemper raised to 125,000 in early position and Kim Rasmussen three-bet to 350,000 in late position. Kemper called.
The flop came 4♠5♣Q♣ and Kemper checked-raised to 800,000 over Rasmussen's bet of 250,000. Rasmussen then moved all in for 2,215,000 total and Kemper quickly called.
Kim Rasmussen: Q♥Q♦
Keith Kemper: K♣J♣
Rasmussen locked up the win on the 5♥ turn, improving to queens full of fives. The meaningless 8♠ completed the board.
In the 919th episode of the PokerNews Podcast, Chad Holloway and Mike Holtz are joined by Connor Richards to talk about the latest stories from the poker world, including a discussion about the current poker content landscape on YouTube. If Brad Owen's recent experience is any indication, things don't look good.
The trio then discusses Martin Kabrhel's gold bracelet win at the 2025 World Series of Poker Europe, Michael Mizrachi's "Grinder's Game" coming to Venetian Poker Live, and All In with Jason Koon slated to take place during November's NAPT (info on hotel rates here). Speaking of which, Chad reveals another code word for this year's NAPT Gold Pass giveaway valued at $10,000! There are not many up for grabs this year, so you won't want to miss out on this limited opportunity to win one just by listening to the PokerNews Podcast and MSPT Podcast Presented By PokerNews.
You will also get a behind-the-scenes look at the recent Charity Series of Poker (CSOP) St. Jude, learn about winners from the 2025 Poker Masters and WSOPE, a new poker room coming to Las Vegas, and Chad's personal adventures involving the Miami Dolphins and Mötley Crüe. It's a fun episode that you won't want to miss, so tune in now!
The final 9 players have been sent on a 15-minute break. Play will resume at approximately 5:30 p.m. local time.
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paul Johnson | United States | 460,000 | 8 |
| 2 | Kim Rasmussen | United States | 2,780,000 | 46 |
| 3 | Mark Fink | United States | 4,725,000 | 79 |
| 4 | Chad Knoblauch | United States | 715,000 | 12 |
| 5 | Cody Slusher | United States | 1,640,000 | 27 |
| 6 | James Girouard | United States | 710,000 | 12 |
| 7 | Bridget Johnson | United States | 4,085,000 | 68 |
| 8 | Dustin Benda | United States | 1,110,000 | 19 |
| 9 | Keith Kemper | United States | 4,550,000 | 76 |
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