Moments after that huge hand with Nesrine Kourdourli, another big preflop raising battle broke out between Gray and the two opponents sitting to his direct right.
This one involved the button and small blind — both of whom Gray had well covered — starting the skirmish, then Gray waking up with a hand in the big blind to get involved as well.
When the dust settled, the three players showed their hands and the button had , the super-short-stacked small blind shruggingly showed , and Gray turned over… !
"Wow," said a player from across the table when seeing Gray's hand. That sentiment was then repeated by others in various ways after the board rolled out . Gray had made a king-high flush, then unlike Kourdourli before had faded the full house draw to win the hand and knock out two opponents.
On the brink of elimination with one card to come, Gray has suddenly chipped up over a half million and into first position.
We seen Bryan Leskowitz exiting the room and he was kind enough to tell us about his demise, which included a missed opportunity. Instead of relating that story to you, we've opted to let Leskowitz tell the tale through Twitter:
Shortly after being crippled in that huge hand against Jonathan Gray, Nesrine Kourdourli was knocked out shortly thereafter, leaving just over 100 players left in the tournament.
Meanwhile, Ben Reason chipped up some more over at the neighboring table, then that table broke and Reason was moved into a spot at Gray's table — not into Kourdourli's vacated spot, but just a couple of seats away.
All of which is to say, the two overwhelming chip leaders at the moment are seated in close proximity to one another. And considering how both have been running so far today, it'll be worth keeping an eye on what might happen next.
We happened by Table 6 just in time to see Lawrence Greenberg take down a large pot when his held up against an opponent's after the board had run out . The win increased Greenberg's stack to 245,000, which was especially nice considering he was down to 25,000 about a half hour before.
Meanwhile, Brandon Mandy is attempting to make a comeback. He began the day on the second shortest stack, a mere 12,300, but he has managed to work it up to 75,000. It's still less than average, but he's hanging tough.
Ronnie Bardah's day is done as we near the end of Level 17. The WSOP bracelet holder battled gamely with a short stack for nearly four hours today, but finally met his end in a hand against Alex Ortiz.
That hand began with Bardah open-raising from middle position for 30,500, then Ortiz calling from a seat over. Bardah turned over , and when he saw Ortiz's he moved to gather his belongings.
The flop came . "Is that a nine?" asked Bardah, then he saw the jack as well and continued to move to leave. The turn was the and river the , and Bardah gave Ortiz a pat on the back as he left.
Mike Newman limped under the gun and then called when Terry Grimes raised to 16,000. Newman then checked the flop and Grimes moved all in for roughly 50,000. Newman called with and was well out in front of Grimes' . Neither the turn nor river helped Grimes and he made the long walk out of the Foxwoods tournament area.
Ben Reason just took a bit of a hit after losing a preflop all-in hand versus Matt Sedgeman, relinquishing his hold on first position in the process.
All in for 92,500 with , Sedgeman had the advantage over Reason's , and when the board came both players had made two pair but Sedgeman's was best.
Right after that hand, the table broke, thus moving Reason and Jonathan Gray apart from one another as Level 18 continues, with no major confrontations having happened between the two chip leaders during their time together.
"He's going to get a tattoo of a roller coaster on his arm to signify his chip stack," Aaron Massey said of his friend Kurt Jewell earlier in the day. Well, that roller coaster has crashed.
It happened after Jewell picked up and ran it straight into the of Buck Ramsay. A preflop raising war saw all the chips get in, and Ramsay's kings held to give him a double to 315,000 while Jewell fell to 23,000.
Not long after, Ramsay min-raised from the button and then called when Jewell shoved from the big blind. Ramsay tabled the and was out in front of Jewell's . The board ran out and just like that Jewell's day was done.
We've also noticed that John Dibella is missing from the tournament. Since his former seat is now occupied by another player, it's safe to say he has been eliminated from the tournament.
, the super-short-stacked small blind shruggingly showed 
, and Gray turned over… 
!
. Gray had made a king-high flush, then unlike Kourdourli before had faded the full house draw to win the hand and knock out two opponents.
held up against an opponent's 
after the board had run out 
. The win increased Greenberg's stack to 245,000, which was especially nice considering he was down to 25,000 about a half hour before.
, and when he saw Ortiz's 
and river the 
flop and Grimes moved all in for roughly 50,000. Newman called with 
and was well out in front of Grimes' 
, Sedgeman had the advantage over Reason's 
and was out in front of Jewell's 
. The board ran out 
