Close to an hour into the money stage, nobody has taken the walk to the cashier's desk just yet. There are still 15 players remaining, and they stack up like so:
Micah Raskin made it 11,500 to go from the cutoff seat, and Eugene Katchalov got his last ~105,000 into the middle on a three-bet shove from the button. Raskin called with the covering stack (and the best hand), and Katchalov's tournament life was hanging in the balance.
Showdown
Raskin:
Katchalov:
The flop was just what Katchalov was looking for, making top pair to put himself two cards from a double up. The turn was a safe card, but the river was a disaster. Raskin's better hand holds up in the end, and he has sent Katchalov to the payout desk as the first in-the-money finisher of the event. He'll take $21,600 for 15th place.
Raskin is now essentially tied with Chris Klodnicki for the chip lead as both men with with right about 545,000 in front of them.
First into the pot from the hijack seat, Frank Calo opened to 11,000. Chris Klodnicki was in the small blind, and he three-bet to 35,000 only to see Calo raise it right back to 76,000 straight. Klodnicki's next play was the all-in shove over the top, and Calo called all in for about 300,000 total to put himself at risk. The good news was that he was very much in front:
Calo:
Klodnicki:
With the good news comes some bad, however, and the flop came a disconcerting to put Calo in a big hole with two to come. the turn left him dead to a king, and the river was close but no cigar.
In three-out fashion, Frank Calo has been eliminated in 14th place, while the knockout moves Klodnicki all the way up to 890,000.
We were caught up with a hand at the adjacent table while this pot was playing out, but we caught the crucial bits at the end.
The board showed when it retook our attention, and action was on Brett Richey. He was heads up, and he led out with 38,000. Jason Burt promptly raised him all in, and Richey called of the remainder of his middling stack. We'd never get to see his cards; Burt showed up for the five-diamond flush, and Richey mucked as he stood from his chair. He's out in unlucky 13th place, and Burt is just shy of a half-million chips now.
Under the gun, Nick Mitchell raised to 11,000, and Todd Terry shoved for 91,000 from the cutoff. Mitchell called with , and that was bad news for the at-risk Terry. He sheepishly turned up his , drawing slim for his survival.
The flop was not at all useful for Terry's chances, but things would get better in a hurry. The landed on fourth street, just what Dr. Terry ordered. He faded the re-suck three-outer on the river, and he's doubled up to 192,500. That's a big hit for Mitchell, leaving him with 137,000.
Andy Frankenberger raised to 12,000 from the hijack seat before Victor Ramdin moved his 60,000-chip stack all into the middle. Frankenberger called with his covering stack, and the two men were flipping for Ramdin's tournament livelihood.
Showdown
Frankenberger:
Ramdin:
Ramdin could not find anything useful on the board that ran out . As a result, he's run out of chips and been eliminated in 12th place. That's good for a pay bump up to $26,232, but Ramdin has come up short of a final table berth.
A succession of three hands between the two tables.
1) First in from the button, Beth Shak raised to 15,000, and Ketan Pandya three-bet to 38,000 from the button. Shak tanked and surrendered.
2) On the next hand, it was Pandya opening to 15,000 from the button, and this time Micah Raskin three-bet him to 45,000. Pandya folded.
3) Across the aisle, Seth Fischer was opening a pot to 15,000 as well, and Matthew Waxman reraised all in for about 110,000. There was no call from Fischer, and we just can't buy a three-bet flop these days.