From middle position, Yervand Boyadjian moved all in for his last 59,000, and the table folded all the way around to the blinds. In the big, Taemee Feuer looked down at and made the call with her big stack. Boyadjian only held , but it was good enough to be in a coin flip for double or nothing.
It would be double. The board came , and that's another double up for the short stack. Boyadjian is back up over 120,000, while Feuer is bleeding chips. She's dropped another pot in the meantime, and her stack is back to non-massive status with about 290,000 chips. Still not too shabby for one of the last three ladies left.
Matthew Waxman opened to 11,500 from the cutoff seat, and Josh Brikis three-bet him to 25,000 straight from the small blind. When it came back to Waxman, he let out a big sigh.
"This is friendship abuse, Brikis. You know that?"
Brikis just smirked, and Waxman flashed the as he surrendered his hand. "Next time you're getting four-bet. That's what's happening. You better have aces."
"I hope I have aces," Brikis replied, deadpan. He's dropped a bit since our last count, sitting now with about 315,000. Waxman may well be the reason for the slide as his own stack is now in the chip-leading position with about 430,000 chips in it.
From early position, Robert Hwang opened to 12,000, and both Charles Croft and Yervand Boyadjian called from their respective blinds to go three-handed to the flop.
It came , and all three men checked to the turn. Croft checked, and Boyadjian took a 13,500-chip stab at the pot. Hwang quickly called while Croft ducked out, and it was heads up to the final card.
River: . Boyadjian was first to speak, and he spoke loud with an all-in shove for 103,000 total, a big overbet of the pot. Hwang took a minute or so to deliberate while Boyadjian stood up from his chair and projected confidence to the spectators and floor staff searching for the bubble elimination. Hwang had him pegged; he eventually called with , and he would learn that his call was the right one as Boyadjian had bluff-shoved his .
That's the end of the day for Boyadjian and the end of the bubble as well. He's the last man out without a paycheck, and the 36 survivors are all in the money and playing for a seat at tomorrow's final table.
With the elimination of Boyadjian, the field has been reduced to the final four tables. T.D. John has been on the mic for a minute giving the players the scoop. We've broken a table now, and we'll have a redraw coming at the next table break. There will also be redraws at 18 and 10 players left, the last one cueing the move to the unofficial final table to play for one more knockout.
We just heard Chris Tryba and Matthew Waxman introduce themselves to each other, and moments later, they were playing a decisive pot.
When the table folded around to Tryba in middle position, he stuck his last 68,500 chips into the middle, and Waxman made the call two seats over with his chip-leading stack. "I think I'm going to need some help," Tryba prepared himself for the bad news:
Tryba:
Waxman:
The flop missed Tryba, and he stood up, threw his jacket over his shoulder, and began counting out his debt to the massage therapist that had been working him over. The turn and river came and respectively, and Tryba can not catch up to stay alive. He's out in 25th place, and Waxman has vaulted up over the half-million chip mark. He's at about 540,000 by our count, the commanding chip daddy.
Under the gun, Josh Kay opened the pot by shoving his 80,000 chips into the middle. He made it all the way around the table to the big blind, but Yigal Hen squeezed out his cards and snap-called with the covering stack. Kay would have been content to flip with , but he instead ran his Big Slick right into Hen's .
The board was no sweat, coming to send Kay out in 34th place.
We missed the action that led to the money getting in, but we know that Russell Boyker was at risk with his in a bad spot against the of Mike Summers.
Board:
Boyker's ace-high was unable to improve, and he has followed Kay to the payout desk to pick up a check for his 33rd-place effort this week. That'll be good for a small pay bump up to $2,950.
Jeff Fielder open-shoved for 69,000 from middle position, and Mark Sykes immediately called all in for 53,500 next door. The rest of the table folded out of the way, and Sykes was heads up for his tournament life.
He was in a bad spot. Fielder opened up his , and Sykes' was dominated and drawing slim. The flop brought him a bit of light as it came to add another four outs to the straight. Sykes was not feeling it, though, and he slid his chair out and began to put his shoes back on his feet as the blank hit the turn.
River: ! "There's one," Josh Brikis said from across the table. Sykes could not believe it, sitting back down and apologizing for the suckout.
"Hey, don't ever be sorry at the table," Fielder turned to converse with him. "We're here to gamble. It's called poker. It's not called winning. Don't worry about it at all. Nice hand. I appreciate the gesture, but there's no need to be sorry."
Brikis commented that he loved the attitude from Fielder, and indeed it was refreshing to hear some genuine humility from a poker player. We'll see how long he lasts now, though; Fielder is left with just 15,500 chips after doubling Sykes up over 100,000.
![[user66118]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
and made the call with her big stack. Boyadjian only held 
, but it was good enough to be in a coin flip for double or nothing.
, and that's another double up for the short stack. Boyadjian is back up over 120,000, while Feuer is bleeding chips. She's dropped another pot in the meantime, and her stack is back to non-massive status with about 290,000 chips. Still not too shabby for one of the last three ladies left.
as he surrendered his hand. "Next time you're getting four-bet. That's what's happening. You better have aces."
turn. Croft checked, and Boyadjian took a 13,500-chip stab at the pot. Hwang quickly called while Croft ducked out, and it was heads up to the final card.
. Boyadjian was first to speak, and he spoke loud with an all-in shove for 103,000 total, a big overbet of the pot. Hwang took a minute or so to deliberate while Boyadjian stood up from his chair and projected confidence to the spectators and floor staff searching for the bubble elimination. Hwang had him pegged; he eventually called with 
, and he would learn that his call was the right one as Boyadjian had bluff-shoved his 
.
, running his pair smack into the 
of his next-door neighbor Paolo Nigris.
.
and 
.
to send Kay out in 34th place.
, and Sykes' 
hit the turn.