We're down to 35 players, and for the first time in the tournament, things are getting tense. The bubble looms.
Oh, well there we go. As we type, a player has just been eliminated, and we're now at 34 players. With 33 spots paying, we're on the direct money bubble, and play has been paused for round-for-round.
An early position player opened for 15,000, the player in the cutoff called and Manuel Lozano called from the big blind. The flop came 
, Lozano checked, the opener checked and the cutoff moved all in.
Lozano paused for a moment and then re-shoved to isolate the cutoff. The original raiser folded and the hands were turned up.
Lozano: 
Cutoff: 
The board finished 
and Lozano chipped up to 235,000.
Under the gun, Adam Aronson opened with a raise to 11,500. Two seats over, Hank Czarnecki made the call, and the table folded around to the small blind. There, a third player reraised to what looked like about 35,000 or so. Either way, Player Aronshon shoved all in, Czarnecki called all in, and the small blind overcalled both shoves to put them both at risk!
Showdown
Aronson: 
Czarnecki:
Small blind: 
Wow!
The 
flop only grew Czarnecki's lead, and the small blind was drawing dead to runner-runner. Aronson had two outs. The turn and river 
missed them both, though, and it's Czarnecki notching the huge triple up. It vaults him all the way up to about 270,000, and it's robbed the small blind of almost all his chips.
Aronson is still rather short, too, but he's won the side pot to give himself a few hands of play.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
270,000 |
Patrick Rhamey, still feeling the effects of the hand with Hank Czarnecki triple up, moved all in from the button. The small blind folded and Adam Aronson called from the big blind. With the other 32 other players trying to watch the hand, the cards were turned up.
Aronson: 
Rhamey: 
The board ran 
and Rhamey was eliminated when Aronson's tens held. Since we're playing round-for-round Rhamey had to sit at the table until they were finished.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
101,000 | |
|
|
Busted |
Level: 19
Blinds: 3,000/6,000
Ante: 1,000
Well, it was quite a grind for Kody Tillotson on the short stack, and he eventually had to hold on tight and hope to squeak into the money. He somehow managed that, though he was left with less than 10,000 with which to try and mount a comeback.
On his final hand, the table folded around to the blinds, and David Clark made the covering raise. Tillotson only had 8,500 left, and he had no choice now but to call with 
. Clark's 
wasn't much better, but it was good enough to put Tillotson on the ropes.
The board ran out 
, and trips give the knockout to Clark. We've found our first in-the-money finisher, and it's Kody Tillotson at the front of the payout line.
In early position, Chris Clark opened with a shove for his last 65,000. A couple seats over, a younger player in a bright blue hoodie reraised all in for just less than 100,000 total. The rest of the table folded, and the race was on.
Showdown
Clark:
Mr. Blue Hoodie:
Clark looked pretty confident in his chances, and he'd like the flop a great deal. It came 
to all but end the hand right there, and the turn 
left his opponent drawing dead.
It's a big double for Clark, moving him back into contention with just over 140,000. For Mr. Blue Hoodie, it's a crippling blow to knock him back down to about 30,000.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
540,000
193,000
|
193,000 |
|
435,000
130,000
|
130,000 |
|
||
|
385,000
25,000
|
25,000 |
|
375,000
55,000
|
55,000 |
|
325,000
105,000
|
105,000 |
|
|
315,000 | |
|
280,000
175,000
|
175,000 |
|
265,000 | |
|
160,000
110,000
|
110,000 |
|
115,000 | |
Drew Levine was sweating the money bubble, having only 6 big blinds. A middle position player opened for 13,000 and Levine shoved from the button for 56,000. Action folded back around to the original raiser and he called.
Levine:
Opponent: 
The flop hit Levine in the face when ran giving him two pair. He was drawing thin, but missed when the board finished 
. Levine is up to 120,000.
We just caught the tail end of this pot, but it was enough to learn what we needed to know. On the river of a board, Jim Atwood led out with a bet of 45,000 into a pot of about 80,000. He was heads up with Trevor Pierce, and Pierce shoved all in for just over 200,000 total. Atwood had that just covered, and he quickly made the call to put his man at risk.
Pierce showed up 
for the set, but it was second best. Atwood's 
had run down the wheel, and that bi pot pushes him up among the chip leaders with more than a half-million chips!
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
510,000
245,000
|
245,000 |
