D.J. Blanchard raised to 9,500, opening another pot as the most aggressive player at his table. He was in the cutoff seat, and Dana Kellstrom defended his big blind to see a flop.
It came , and Kellstrom checked. Blanchard checked behind, and that cued a leading bet of 9,500 from Kellstrom on the turn. Blanchard called, and the filled out the board on the river. Both men checked again.
"King," Kellstrom said, turning up . It was good. Blanchard shuffled his around in his hands so that Kellstrom could see the cards before spinning them into the muck.
Dana says hi to the boys from the cigar shop back in L.A., and he collects the pot to move close to 250,000.
Kyle Bowker moved all in for 72,000 and Dana Kellstrom called, turning over the . Bowker held the and began making his way out the door. Bowker was about halfway to the door of the tournament room when the flop came down and a few of the players called him back. Bowker came back to the table and needed to sweat the last two cards.
The turn brought the and that wasn't the ace Kellstrom was looking for. The river delivered though and in a big way. The hit the felt and Kellstrom cheered loud with a big clap of his hands, having re-sucked to send Bowker to the rail in 13th place. This time, Bowker hit the exit and didn't so much as turn his head back.
Kellstrom gave a few fist pumps and hugged some players knowing he's alive and well, in the money with 200,000 in chips. He also wanted to give a shout out to his cigar boys back home watching and railing.
Everyone left has locked up at least $19,653 in prize money and 100 points towards the National Championship leader board. There is no prize jump until the official final table of nine is reached and that's where play will end for the day. When the field is down to ten, the players will combine at one table until one more is eliminated.
Here are a few hands from one of the tables in action during round-for-round play.
On the first hand, Joe Parker raised from the button to 8,200. Dwyte Pilgrim reraised from the small blind to 24,500. Everyone folded and Pilgrim won the pot.
Two hands later, Dwyte Pilgrim raised to 7,000 from the cutoff seat. D.J. Blanchard reraised to 19,000 from the button and won the pot.
A couple hands later, Dana Kellstrom raised to 8,000 from under the gun before Joe Pakrer three-bet to 16,000 from the next seat. Action folded back to Kellstrom and he made the call. The flop came down and Kellstrom checked. Parker bet 19,000 and Kellstrom folded the face up. Parker showed the .
Later on, Dwyte Pilgrim opened from under the gun to 8,000. Everyone folded and he showed the .
On the last hand of the round before break, Steve Brecher raised to 7,500 from the cutoff seat and Joe Parker called from the small blind. The flop came down and Parker check-folded to Brecher's 12,000-chip continuation bet.
With Daniel Negreanu's exit, we are down to 13 players, and we've arrived squarely on the money bubble. We're now playing round-for-round as each table will deal a full orbit and then hold up. If only one player is eliminated during this format, he'll be the lone bubble boy. If two or more go broke, they'll chop up the bottom payout(s) between them.
We've reached the end of the level as well, so the players will play this first orbit and then take a 15-minute break.
![[user66118]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
, and Kellstrom checked. Blanchard checked behind, and that cued a leading bet of 9,500 from Kellstrom on the 
turn. Blanchard called, and the 
filled out the board on the river. Both men checked again.
. It was good. Blanchard shuffled his 
around in his hands so that Kellstrom could see the cards before spinning them into the muck.
and began making his way out the door. Bowker was about halfway to the door of the tournament room when the flop came down 
and a few of the players called him back. Bowker came back to the table and needed to sweat the last two cards.
and that wasn't the ace Kellstrom was looking for. The river delivered though and in a big way. The 
hit the felt and Kellstrom cheered loud with a big clap of his hands, having re-sucked to send Bowker to the rail in 13th place. This time, Bowker hit the exit and didn't so much as turn his head back.
and Kellstrom checked. Parker bet 19,000 and Kellstrom folded the 
face up. Parker showed the 
.
and Parker check-folded to Brecher's 12,000-chip continuation bet.
