On a flop of 
Todd Wright checked and Joe Hebda bet 65,000. Wright called and the turn came 
. Wright bet 95,000 and Hebda called to see the 
come on the river. Wright bet 102,000 and Hebda casually called, tabling 
and Wright mucked.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
2,300,000
300,000
|
300,000 |
|
580,000
520,000
|
520,000 |
Action folded to Eric Crain in the small blind and he raised to 52,000, which the James Kasputis flatted from the big. Crain proceeded to bet 70,000 on the 
flop, Kasputis called, and the 
hit the turn. This time Crain shipped it and Kasputis snap-called with 
.
Crain rolled over 
for the nut-flush draw, which actually filled when the 
binked on the river. Crain has been running good, as evidenced by that hand. He is the clear chip leader with 4.45 million.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
4,450,000
750,000
|
750,000 |
|
Busted |
We didn't catch the betting, but Paul Storti ended up all in preflop for around 650,000 and was up against Drazen Ilich.
Showdown
Ilich:
Storti: 
Ilich was dominated and didn't receive much help on the 
flop. However, the 
turn gave him a flush draw. Much to Storti's dismay, the 
binked on the river to give Ilich the said flush. "I couldn't beat you in a hand all day," Storti sighed as he made his way to the payout desk in 29th place.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
1,850,000
750,000
|
750,000 |
|
|
Busted |
We're not sure how it happened, but Mike Scarborough has been eliminated from the tournament in 28th place. That means both the chip leaders from Day 1a and 1b have been eliminated here in the Main Event. It also means the remaining 27 players are redrawing seats and combining to the final three tables.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted |
The field has been trimmed to 27 players and are have redrawn tables.
| Seat | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dan Harrington | 365000 |
| 2 | Jonathan Job | 830000 |
| 3 | Dave Neff | 1000000 |
| 4 | Everett Carlton | 550000 |
| 5 | Shawn Quinn | 755000 |
| 6 | Khaled Nassar | 485000 |
| 7 | Bob Chow | 1900000 |
| 8 | Drazen Ilich | 1800000 |
| 9 | Edward Pham | 2000000 |
| Seat | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mark "P0ker H0" Kroon | 1750000 |
| 2 | Alan Murphy | 820000 |
| 3 | Michael Halen | 1500000 |
| 4 | Dominic Fosco | 550000 |
| 5 | Kenni Nguyen | 500000 |
| 6 | Daniel Gilmare | 460000 |
| 7 | Luther Lewis | 1900000 |
| 8 | Joe Hebda | 1800000 |
| 9 | Chris "Fox" Wallace | 870000 |
| Seat | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Erik Roussakis | 1625000 |
| 2 | Bryan Dillon | 750000 |
| 3 | Tom Koral | 430000 |
| 4 | Mike Burns | 750,000 |
| 5 | Eric Crain | 4500000 |
| 6 | Michael Miller | 700000 |
| 7 | Todd Wright | 600000 |
| 8 | Aaron Steury | 2300000 |
| 9 | Pawell Andrzejewski | 440000 |
Kennii Nguyen opened for 50,000 only to have Mark "P0ker H0" Kroon three-bet to 220,000. Nguyen responded by moving all in and Kroon snap-called, revealing a bit of a cooler hand.
Showdown
Kroon: 
Nguyen: 
We heard Kroon say something about the kings of hearts, as if trying to will it on the flop. That made it all the more amazing when the flop came down 
. Kroon had cracked his opponent's aces and took a commanding lead. The 
turn left Nguyen looking for an ace on the river, but it was not meant to be as the 
blanked.
Kroon chipped up to 1.75 million while Nguyen was eliminated in 27th place. Interestingly, Kennii Nguyen and Kenny Nguyen were both eliminated from this Main Event after having their pocket rockets cracked.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
1,750,000
750,000
|
750,000 |
|
Busted |
Daniel Gilmer shipped all in preflop and received an hesitant call from Joe Hebda, much to the former's dismay . . . at least until he saw he was racing.
Showdown
Gilmer: 
Hebda: 
The 
didn't hit Gilmer directly, but it gave him a ton more outs. While the added to those outs, the river missed them all to put an end to Gilmer's run in 26th place.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,300,000
400,000
|
400,000 |
|
|
Busted |
Level: 27
Blinds: 15,000/30,000
Ante: 5,000
As we were busy writing up a few hands and straightening out the chip counts, a slew of eliminations happened on the tournament floor. First to go was Mike Miller in 25th place. He was followed out the door by Tom Koral, who fell short of capturing another Chicago poker title (He won the last installment of the Chicago Poker Classic). Finally, Khaled Nassar became the 23rd-place finisher and will take home $15,274.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted | |
|
||
|
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
While a big hand at Table 2 captured our attention, a short-stacked Mike Burns was eliminated over on Table 3. He finished in 22nd place and will take home $15,274.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted |
