Kelly Minkin opened to 1,400 from early position and Kevin Eyster called on her left. The big blind also came along to see a flop of 
. The big blind checked and Minkin continued for 2,000. Eyster shipped all in for 9,650 and the big blind went into the tank for over a minute.
He eventually let his hand go and Minkin wasted little time before sending her cards to the muck as well. Eyster dragged in the pot to keep his tournament hopes alive.
Level: 6
Blinds: 250/500
Ante: 75
Anton Kruit limped in from early position and Scott Davies raised to 1,600 from the small blind. Orlando Romero just called from the big blind and Kruit also called. The flop fell 
and both Davies and Romero checked. Kruit pushed in a bet of 4,500 and Davies quickly folded. Romero check-raised to 14,000 and Kruit quickly called.
The turn was the 
and Romero shipped all in for 19,525. Kruit snap-called and turned over 
for two pair which was ahead of Romero's 
. However, the 
on the river gave Romero a bigger two pair and he scored a big double up at the hands of Kruit.
Chris Staats got his last 11,500 or so in with 
on a flop of 
and was up against the 
of a lone opponent, who had plenty of outs. He got there immediately when the 
fell to leave Staats dead to a chop and he took his leave when the river brought the 
.
Viet Vo just grabbed a seat on the left of Thayer Rasmussen. Vo ran deep in this in 2016 with a 31st-place finish, and he's coming off of a very strong result with second place in WPT Choctaw just a month ago for $302,725.
Another recent entry is DJ Alexander. The Houston native got 16th in this event last year in the midst of a career year, and he'll look to better that result here in 2018.
Meanwhile, Jeff Banghart and Jim Carroll are among those who have been forced to reenter after busting their first bullets.
The action folded around to Maria Ho in the small blind who limped in and Michael Simpson checked his option. The flop came 
and Ho led out for 400. Simpson called and the fell on the turn.
Ho fired in another 1,400 and Simpson still called to see the 
on the river. Ho reached back for a bet of 3,500 and Simpson wanted to see her cards. Ho turned over 
for a pair of jacks on the river and that was good enough to earn her the pot.
Level: 5
Blinds: 200/400
Ante: 50
Kevin Eyster opened to 700 from under the gun and was called by three players. Kelly Minkin was in the big blind and tossed in a three-bet to 3,800. Eyster quickly folded as did two other players. The button was the only player left to act and he thought about it for a minute before sending his cards to the muck as well.
Minkin raked in the pot and added to her ever-growing stack, climbing above 60,000 after stacking her new chips.
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