After a player fired 3,300 on the board, six-time World Series of Poker gold bracelet winner TJ Cloutier raised to 10,000. The player gave it up, and Cloutier showed the for a turned straight.
Just before the break, Justin Custer won about 18,000 in chips and eliminated one player. The board was , and the first player to bet made it 3,500 to go. The second player went all in for around 14,000, and then Custer shoved over the top for 27,000.
The original bettor had a tough decision, but folded and later told the table he held . The two remaining players showed their hands, and it was Custer's full house against his opponent's for trip eights.
The board ran out with the and , and Custer won the pot.
Andy Philachack has joined the field, bringing over $1.6 million in live tournament earnings to the table. Philachack's biggest win came when he won the World Series of Poker Circuit New Orleans $5,150 Championship Event in 2007 for $247,860, but that wasn't the biggest score of his career. Philachack has two cashes for larger, both in WSOP events. He took second in a $1,500 no-limit hold'em event in 2007 for $394,594, and that was the largest prize of Philachack's career. In 2011, Philachack took third in another $1,500 no-limit hold'em event at the WSOP for $345,698.
With nearly $1 million in live tournament earnings, a World Poker Tour title, and a recent win in a side event at the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open, Aaron Mermelstein is emerging as one of poker's brightest young stars. In 2015, he's won over $800,000 on the live felt, thanks large in part to his victory in the WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Man Event for over $700,000.
While Mermelstein knows what it takes to win a big event, he also knows how hard it is to become successful in the game of poker. There are constant obstacles thrown in your path, and the game itself can be cruel for extended periods of time. Recently, Mermelstein was the subject of a feature interview by PokerNews' Chad Holloway in which he discusses the tough road to poker success.
The board was and the player in Seat 4 shoved all in. Rajeev Atriwal snap called.
"Oh no, don't tell me what you got, I got two nines," said Seat 4 as he turned over . Atriwal turned over for a set of tens and won a big pot, leaving his opponent with 8,000 of his 25,000 starting stack.