It happened when Vornicu, the Harrah's Rincon Casino Champ, opened for 8,000 only to have Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Champion John Bowman three-bet to 21,000 from the small blind. At-large qualifier Jonathan Hilton then four-bet to 41,000, Vornicu five-bet all in for 145,000 and Bowman moved all in over the top for 159,500. Hilton threw up his arms in disbelief and then tossed his cards to the muck.
Vornicu then rolled over the only to discover he was dominated by Bowman's . Vornicu was distraught and understandably so. He began the day with high hopes of becoming the National Champion, and now here he was in dire straits.
"I'm going to bubble," Vornicu said to no one in particular. While it wasn't the stone bubble, Vornicu would leave empty handed as the board ran out .
Austin Apicella got his stack of 112,500 all in preflop holding the and was looking to improve against the of Robert "Uncle Krunk" Panitch. The flop allowed him to do just that when it paired his king, but the turn gave Apicella pause as his opponent picked up straight and flush draws.
Much to the delight of Apicella's rail, the blanked on the river and their man doubled through one of the big stacks.
Jeremy Ausmus opened for a raise on the button, Joe Tehan three-bet from the small blind, and Sam Panzica moved all in for 80,000 in the big blind. Ausmus quickly folded, and Tehan snap-called.
Tehan:
Panzica:
Panzica held as the board rolled out , doubling to 170,000 chips. Tehan now has 430,000.
Jeff Gross was all in and at risk preflop with against the of Joe Tehan. Gross flopped a pair of aces when the dealer fanned , but the spiked on the turn to give Tehan a set. The completed the board, and Gross was eliminated.
Jason Mercier opened to 8,000 from early position, Jim Willerson called in the big blind, and the flop fell . Willserson checked, Mercier continued for 9,000, and Willerson check-raised to 20,000. Mercier moved all in for around 60,000 or so, and Willerson quickly called.
Mercier:
Willerson:
The on the turn was clean, but the completed the board, giving Willerson an ace-high flush. Mercier was eliminated, and wish the table good luck before exiting.
Brock Parker is on fire! After eliminating at-large qualifier Blake Barousse in 25th place, he has notched another high-profile knockout.
A preflop raising war saw Joe Kuether shove for 183,000 total holding the and Parker make the call with the . Like we've seen so many time before, it was a flip for a lot of chips. With nearly 400K in the pot the dealer burned and put out the flop. Parker had survived the hard part but Kuether was still drawing to two overs. The turn kept Parker in the lead, while the river gave him the monster pot. Kuether was eliminated on the hand in 22nd place.
Joe Tehan opened for 8,500 from the cutoff only to have Bossier City Main Event Champion Jeff Gibralter three-bet all in for 63,000 more from the button. Both blinds folded, Tehan asked for a count and then the call was made.
Tehan:
Gibralter:
Tehan was ahead, and stayed there on the flop. Gibralter picked up a gutshot straight draw to go with his live cards, but he'd receive no reprieve as both the turn and river blanked.
"You're not going to call me that light when I move in?" another player at the table asked Tehan.
"I don't like folding when I raise," Tehan responded as Gibralter was leaving the room in 23rd place.
In an all-in preflop situation Graham got his stack in holding the only to run into the of Max Steinberg. The board ran out a clean and Graham's New Orleans fairytale came to an end in 24th place. Meanwhile, Steinberg, who won the 2012 WSOP Event #33 $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em for $440,238, is sitting pretty with 330,000.
only to discover he was dominated by Bowman's 
. Vornicu was distraught and understandably so. He began the day with high hopes of becoming the National Champion, and now here he was in dire straits.
.
and was looking to improve against the 
of Robert "Uncle Krunk" Panitch. The 
flop allowed him to do just that when it paired his king, but the 
turn gave Apicella pause as his opponent picked up straight and flush draws.
against the 
, but the 
spiked on the turn to give Tehan a set. The 
completed the board, and Gross was eliminated.
on the turn was clean, but the 
river gave him the monster pot. Kuether was eliminated on the hand in 22nd place.
flop. Gibralter picked up a gutshot straight draw to go with his live cards, but he'd receive no reprieve as both the 
river blanked.
and Graham's New Orleans fairytale came to an end in 24th place. Meanwhile, Steinberg, who 
