It's been a roller coaster day for Josh Hillock. Early on, he was at the top of the counts with 275,000. Not long after, he was down to about 50,000. However, a big hand before the break has upped his stack to about 150,000.
On an board, Hillock's bet of 13,500 was called by Charles Coates. When the river card fell, Hillock went all in for exactly 50,000. Coates called after a few moments, but mucked when Hillock tabled for a flush. Coates slipped to about 135,000.
Under the gun, Zhen Cai opened with a raise, and the action folded around to the cutoff seat. There, Ari "BodogAri" Engel three-bet him, and the decision came back around to the initial raiser. Cai was undeterred, sliding out another raise to Engel, but the latter came right back with a five-bet for an additional 79,500 on top. Cai had 104,100 chips left in front of him at that point, and he tanked for a minute before six-bet shoving those chips into the middle.
Engel sunk in his chair. "If I swore," he said, "I would swear right now." He apparently had his hand caught in the cookie jar, but here wasn't much of a decision to be made. With more than 250,000 chips in the middle, Engel called the extra bit to put Cai at risk.
Showdown
Engel:
Cai:
The flop was a massive hit for Engel, but neither player really reacted much as there were still two cards to come. Cai was looking for a king or a queen to stay alive.
Turn: .
That'll do it! With Cai improving to Broadway, Engel was now drawing dead to a chop. The river was not the two-outer he was looking for, however, and Cai has dragged the largest pot of the tournament.
He's now up to 285,000 and challenging for the chip lead, while that blow knocks Engel all the way down to just 58,000.
We just caught a bit of this monster hand, so we'll tell you what we know.
When we picked up the action, there was a flop of out on the table, and Yang had led out with a bet. He was heads up, and his opponent quickly put in a raise. Without missing a beat, Yang three-bet all in for more than 100,000 total, and his opponent made the call to put a huge pot up for grabs. It's hard to believe that neither player had anything:
Yang:
Opponent:
The on the turn put Yang one card away from the double, and the river was clean and safe. With just a king kicker to go with the pair of fours on board, Yang has doubled up in a big way. We count him at 292,000 right now, good enough for the overall lead.
"Well, at least those chips didn't go to a player with experience," someone at the table joked as the 2007 WSOP Champion stacked up.
Under the gun, Barry Wiedemann raised to 6,700. Ari Engel re-raised all in for about 62,000 from middle position and when action folded back to Wiedemann, he called.
Wiedemann:
Engel:
The one hand Engel absolutely did not want to see was what Wiedemann tabled. The board ran out , bringing Engel's tournament to an end.
It's been quite the day for Wiedemann. He started with 98,200, built it up to 135,000, then saw it tumble all the way down to 20,000. All is well now, though, as he sits with a stack of 210,000.
Under the gun, Robert Cheung open-shoved his last 30,000 into the middle. Around the table in late position, Zhen Cai flicked the calling chips from his towering stacks, but the action wasn't done yet. From the big blind, Greg Cohen put both hands behind his 96,300 chips and shoved them forward on a reraise. Cai called instantly, and Cheung said, "Oh, shit..." Cards on their backs, fellas:
Cheung:
Cai:
Cohen:
"What do I need?" Cheung asked aloud. "Queen-ten-nine. Or trip jacks. How about trip jacks?"
Well, the flop was a good start for the player in question, and he began asking the dealer for another jack. The on the turn didn't change anything, but the river card was lightning in a bottle. The peeled off the deck, a life saver for Cheung.
Finding those trip jacks he was pleading for, the short stack has tripled back into contention with just shy of 100,000 chips now. It's a big hit for Cai who drops all the way back to 184,000, and the give-and-take for Cohen bumps him up to 132,600.
Day 1 chipleader Ryan Sponaugle shoved on the button for 85,500 and was called by the player in the big blind. Sponaugle tabled and was trailing his opponent's , but luckily for Sponaugle the board came down and he is now back up to a healthy 175,000.
On a flop, Mike Minetti's bet of 15,000 chased away one opponent, but Josh Hillock stuck around and called. The turn card fell and Minetti fired 24,000. Hillock called again and when the hit the river, Minetti put out a small bet of 25,000. Hillock called, but saw the bad news when Minetti tabled for a flush.
Minetti: Up to about 260,000
Hillock: Down to 93,000
board, Hillock's bet of 13,500 was called by Charles Coates. When the 
river card fell, Hillock went all in for exactly 50,000. Coates called after a few moments, but mucked when Hillock tabled 
for a flush. Coates slipped to about 135,000.![[user66118]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
flop was a massive hit for Engel, but neither player really reacted much as there were still two cards to come. Cai was looking for a king or a queen to stay alive.
.
was not the two-outer he was looking for, however, and Cai has dragged the largest pot of the tournament.
out on the table, and Yang had led out with a bet. He was heads up, and his opponent quickly put in a raise. Without missing a beat, Yang three-bet all in for more than 100,000 total, and his opponent made the call to put a huge pot up for grabs. It's hard to believe that neither player had anything:
on the turn put Yang one card away from the double, and the 
river was clean and safe. With just a king kicker to go with the pair of fours on board, Yang has doubled up in a big way. We count him at 292,000 right now, good enough for the overall lead.
, bringing Engel's tournament to an end.
flop was a good start for the player in question, and he began asking the dealer for another jack. The 
on the turn didn't change anything, but the river card was lightning in a bottle. The 
and was trailing his opponent's 
and he is now back up to a healthy 175,000.
flop, Mike Minetti's bet of 15,000 chased away one opponent, but Josh Hillock stuck around and called. The 
turn card fell and Minetti fired 24,000. Hillock called again and when the 
for a flush.