Under the gun, Ketan Pandya raised to 11,000, and Eugene Katchalov three-bet to 28,000 in the hijack seat. From the button, Chris Bell made the third raise, stacking out 89,000 chips into the middle of the table. Pandya spent a minute or so in the tank, then reached for reraising chips of his own. He slid out two tall stacks of gray chips for a total bet of 200,000 straight, and Katchalov quickly surrendered.
Bell, however, was clearly considering a close decision. He asked how much Pandya was playing (about 180,000 behind), then looked down at his own stack of about 355,000 now. With a look of frustration, Bell eventually returned his cards to the dealer face-down, and Pandya gets a big chip boost in that preflop pot. He's all the way up into second place with 520,000 now.
Chris Klodnicki opened the action with a raise to 9,000, and Jason Burt flatted next door. In the cutoff seat, Brett Richey shoved his 76,500 chips into the middle, and Klodnicki made the call to put him at risk. Burt got the message and ducked out of the pot, and Richey was heads up for his tournament life. He was in fine shape:
Klodnicki:
Richey:
The flop brought the possibility of a split pot into play, but Richey would fade the deuces. The turn and river secured his double up to move him back up to 172,000. Don't worry about Klodnicki; he's still out in front with 536,000 chips left.
Duane Goodison - owner of the proverbial wooden spoon
It took just one hand of hand-for-hand play to burst the bubble.
In middle position, Duane Goodison shoved his ~100,000-chip stack into the middle. It nearly got through, but big blind Nick Mitchell liked what he squeezed, and he called with the covering stack. The way this day has been running, it had to be pair-verus-pair or a big flip.
Showdown
Goodison:
Mitchell:
Goodison was in a bad way, and things would not improve. The dealer ran a board of , and Mitchell has earned the knockout to move to 260,000.
More importantly, however, is the fact that Goodison is out on the direct bubble, the last player to go home empty-handed today. Everyone left is now guaranteed at least $21,600.
With Christian Harder's elimination, we have 16 players left, and we have arrived squarely on the money bubble. As such, the tournament is being dealt hand-for-hand until we crown our unlucky bubble boy (or girl).
Christian Harder open-shoved from the button, and Jason Burt re-shoved from the small blind. Victor Ramdin was in the big blind, and he seemed to want to call very, very badly. He could not, though, folding with a look of agony on his face. With Harder at risk, the cards were on their backs:
Harder:
Burt:
The flop was a miss for Harder, and it would only get worse from there. The peeled off on fourth street, giving Burt the unbeatable full house and leaving Harder drawing dead. The river was meaningless, and Harder's knockout moves Burt up to 420,000.
"I look like a genius," Ramdin said. "I folded ace-king."
Eugene Katchalov raised to 9,000 to open the pot, and Micah Raskin called out of the big blind.
It was heads up to the flop, and Raskin led out into the pot with 15,000. Katchalov flatted, and the landed on the turn. Raskin checked this time, then called 25,000 from Katchalov. That led them to the river, and Raskin checked again. He had ulterior motives this time, however. Katchalov bet 50,000, and Raskin clicked it back to 100,000 total. Katchalov would spend a few minutes in the tank considering his decision before folding a set of sevens.
He was right; Raskin did him the courtesy of showing for the club flush as he stacked the pot.
The table folded around to the button where Bobby Wisiak limped in. Andy Frankenberger completed from the small blind, and Chris Klodnicki raised to 20,000 total. Wisiak called with just 36,500 chips behind, and Frankenberger ducked out of the way.
The flop came , and Klodnicki put out a covering bet. Wisiak called off his remainder with on the draw, and Klodnicki tabled . That was in the lead as the cards lay, but Wisiak was essentially a coin flip to stay alive, a very slight favorite even.
The turn was a blank, though, and so was the river. Queen-high is good enough to drag that knockout pot, sending Wisiak out the door in 18th place.
With Kenny Hicks' elimination, the field has been redrawn down to the final two tables. Here's how they lay out with nine players separating us from a final table:
Table 52
Seat 1: Brett Richey (82,000)
Seat 2: Frank Calo (330,000)
Seat 3: Matthew Waxman (95,000)
Seat 4: Bobby Wisiak (65,000)
Seat 5: Andy Frankenberger (103,000)
Seat 6: Chris Klodnicki (505,000)
Seat 7: Christian Harder (75,000)
Seat 8: Jason Burt (305,000)
Seat 9: Victor Ramdin (75,000)
If you're a fan of coin flips, Day 3 is making you awfully happy. We just watched another one a moment ago, and this one has culminated in another knockout.
Frank Calo opened the pot with the first raise, and Ketan Pandya raised it back. When the action came to Kenny Hicks, he cold four-bet shoved for about 70,000 total. Calo folded, but Pandya made the call with the covering stack and . Hicks' was racing, but it would not end well for him.
Board:
Aces are good for Pandya to notch the knockout, moving his stack up to 375,000.
![[user66118]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
flop brought the possibility of a split pot into play, but Richey would fade the deuces. The turn 
and river 
secured his double up to move him back up to 172,000. Don't worry about Klodnicki; he's still out in front with 536,000 chips left.
, and Mitchell has earned the knockout to move to 260,000.
flop was a miss for Harder, and it would only get worse from there. The 
peeled off on fourth street, giving Burt the unbeatable full house and leaving Harder drawing dead. The 
river was meaningless, and Harder's knockout moves Burt up to 420,000.
landed on the turn. Raskin checked this time, then called 25,000 from Katchalov. That led them to the 
, and Klodnicki put out a covering bet. Wisiak called off his remainder with 
. That was in the lead as the cards lay, but Wisiak was essentially a coin flip to stay alive, a very slight favorite even.
river. Queen-high is good enough to drag that knockout pot, sending Wisiak out the door in 18th place.
. Hicks' 
was racing, but it would not end well for him.
