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Andrew Nguyen made it 200,000 to play from the button and Justin Truesdell called. The flop came 
, Truesdell checked, Nguyen bet 320,000 and Truesdell called. The turn came 
and both players checked. The river brought the 
, Truesdell checked, Nguyen bet 450,000 and Truesdell check-raised to 1.45 million.
Nguyen called and mucked when Truesdell showed a straight holding the 
.
Justin Truesdell opened for 160,000 on the button and Andrew Nguyen made the call. The latter proceeded to check-call a bet of 250,000 on both the 
flop and 
turn, leading to the on the river. Nguyen checked for a third time and this time Truesdell did the same.
"Pair," Nguyen announced before showing 
. Truesdell flashed the 
before sending his cards to the muck.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
7,500,000
-500,000
|
-500,000 |
|
6,300,000
500,000
|
500,000 |
After a raise and a call the flop came 
. Nguyen checked, Truesdell bet 800,000 and Nguyen called after a moment of silence. The crowd quieted as well, sensing the tension. The turn came , Nguyen checked and Truesdell did some chip rearranging to consider his bet. He eventually pushed 1.1 million into the middle. Nguyen tanked for a short while and then kicked his cards back to the dealer.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
7,600,000
1,300,000
|
1,300,000 |
|
|
6,250,000
-1,250,000
|
-1,250,000 |
Both players have been playing small-ball poker and biding their time. It became apparent early on that a cooler hand would be about the only thing that would put an end to this match anytime soon, and we almost had such a hand.
It began when Justin Truesdell min-raised to 160,000 on the button, which he's prone to do, and Andrew Nguyen looked him up from the big blind. The latter proceeded to check-call a bet of 250,000 and then checked the 
turn. Truesdell fired out 550,000, but this time Nguyen woke up with a check-raise to 1.3 million. Truesdell made a quick call and it was off to the 
river.
Nguyen moved all in and Truesdell made another quick call. Nguyen rolled over for a full house, while Truesdell matched held the same full house (thanks to the river) with 
. Nguyen's king kicker was primed to win him a huge pot, but the river had different plans.
Andrew Nguyen raised to 160,000 on the button and Justin Truesdell called. The flop came 
and both players checked. The turn came , Truesdell bet 200,000 and Nguyen called. The river brought the and Truesdell bet 350,000. Nguyen called and Truesdell said, "You got it."
Nguyen tabled pocket fives and took the pot.
With stacks close to even and both players very deep, they've decided to take a dinner break. We'll get counts and then see you back here in an hour.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
7,860,000
1,610,000
|
1,610,000 |
|
|
6,000,000
-1,600,000
|
-1,600,000 |
Level: 32
Blinds: 50,000/100,000
Ante: 10,000
Over the dinner break, the final two players have agreed to speed things up a bit. Instead of playing the normal 75-minute levels, they've agreed to play each level in just 20 minutes. Needless to say, this will force some action and ensure a winner is declared sooner than later.
Heads-up play began with Nguyen holding a nominal 400,000 lead over Truesdell with the blinds being relatively low. That meant it was likely going to be a long affair, which it was for a couple levels until the two worked a deal where each would lock up $160,000 and then play for the remaining $11,400, a WSOP Main Event seat and a spot in this year’s National Championship. They also agreed to play short 20-minute levels as opposed to the normal 75 minutes.
Even still, it's been relatively quiet since returning from dinner.
