Kelly Minkin opened to 15,000 from early position, and Jeffrey Griffiths called from the cutoff.
Minkin continuation bet for 16,000 on the 
flop, and Griffiths folded.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
220,000
33,000
|
33,000 |
|
166,000
3,000
|
3,000 |
Curtis Kowalk went all in from under the gun for what was totaled to be 45,000 and Jeff Farnes reraised to 100,000 from the hijack, clearing the way for the two to turn up their hands in preparation for the runout.
Curtis Kowalk: 
Jeff Farnes: [8h8hs]
Kowalk's suited ace was in need of finding a pair or three more diamonds in order to stay alive. He was unable to do so as the board came 
and he found himself as the most recent elimination of the tournament as a result.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
344,000
39,000
|
39,000 |
|
Busted |
Dustin Crump open raised to 16,000 from middle position, and Paul Chai called from the cutoff.
Both players checked the 
flop. Crump bet 10,000 on the turn, and Chai called.
Both players checked the 
river, and that fourth spade brought in a flush for Chai, who showed 
. Crump mucked 
, and Chai took in the small pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
480,000
-2,000
|
-2,000 |
|
170,000
-8,500
|
-8,500 |
The PokerNews Live Reporting Team is at Thunder Valley to live report action from both the $1,700 Main Event and $3,250 High Roller, but those are just a couple of the dozen gold ring events at the stop. As such, we thought we’d profile some of the preliminary tournaments and those who struck it big.
In Event #3: $400 No-Limit Hold’em Knockout, 142 entrants created a $32,660 prize pool. That was distributed to the top 22 players including Niv Decalo (10th - $578), Andrew Duffy (13th - $497), Brian Borst (19th - $404), and Kevin Weinmann (22nd - $383).
In the end, it was recreational player Randy Gil taking home the title, $8,762 in prize money, and his first gold ring.
“It feels good. It was a long day but it’s worth it. It means a lot because it is a WSOP Circuit ring. I finished second a few times before. It’s nice to finally break through and get first place,” Gil said after his win.
To claim victory, he had to defeat two-time ring winner Jasthi Kumar in heads-up play.
“He is a great opponent, he is tough,” Gil said. “You gotta be on your game when you play against him. He is a very good player, he has a lot of cashes, and he is very respected in the poker community. It was definitely nice to get it against him.”
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Randy Gil | Roseville, California | $8,762 |
| 2 | Jasthi Kumar | San Ramon, California | $5,413 |
| 3 | Denis Lee | Fremont, California | $3,731 |
| 4 | Peter Dirksen | San Francisco, California | $2,636 |
| 5 | Daniel Guevara | N/A | $1,912 |
| 6 | Chet Sickle | Manteca, California | $1,423 |
| 7 | Christopher Vezzetti | N/A | $1,089 |
| 8 | Hakeem Mashal | Davis, California | $857 |
| 9 | Roberto Rosales | Fontana, California | $694 |
With the board showing 
, Eli Ross put in a bet for 40,000 from early position.
Calvin Liu reraised all in, putting his last 175,000 in the pot. Ross went into the tank for awhile before finally making an anguished fold.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
400,000
140,000
|
140,000 |
|
180,000
-50,000
|
-50,000 |
There was around 50,000 in the pot from preflop action on a board of 
and Soumitra Nagar checked from the big blind. Arish Nat was under the gun and checked as well, putting action on Bille Le, who was the final player in the hand out of middle position.
Le bet 23,000 and Nagar called. Nat then check-raised all in for over 200,000. Le went into the tank and took over a minute to determine his decision, which was to fold. Nagar took full advantage of Le's time in the tank to have already come to the same conclusion, quickly folding upon it becoming his turn to act.
Chip counts from Table 6 are as follows, with 50 players remaining in the tournament at present moment.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
518,000
38,000
|
38,000 |
|
496,000
-164,000
|
-164,000 |
|
363,000
60,000
|
60,000 |
|
284,000
90,000
|
90,000 |
|
264,000
129,000
|
129,000 |
|
|
203,000
33,000
|
33,000 |
|
63,000
-43,000
|
-43,000 |
|
35,500
-219,500
|
-219,500 |
The following players finished in 55-63rd place ($2,532).
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted | |
|
||
|
Busted | |
|
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
|
Busted | |
|
|
Busted | |
|
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
|
Busted | |
Khoa Tran, short stacked and in early position, ended up in an all in preflop situation against Allen Kessler in the big blind. Kessler had Tran covered going to the showdown.
Khoa Tran: 
Allen Kessler: 
Board: 
Kessler was behind preflop, but hit his ace on the flop. Kessler said he's only played three hands all day on Day 2, but he's still in the running as the eliminations keep coming on the penultimate day of the Main Event.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
140,000
18,000
|
18,000 |
|
Busted |
Bobby Pham opened to 12,000 from middle position and was three-bet all in by Daniel Henriks, who shoved his last 93,000 in from the cutoff. Eli Ross was on the button and went all in over the top, prompting folds from all remaining players.
Daniel Henriks: 
Eli Ross: 
The two were off to the races with Ross out-legging Henriks as the board ran out 
, leaving him with aces up to score the knockout.
Two hands later, Pham knocked out Simon Leung after Leung shoved his last few chips in preflop from the small blind with ace-ten. Pham called with ace-four and spiked a four to send Leung to the rail, prompting Table 6 to break as 45 players remain in the field.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
503,000
253,000
|
253,000 |
|
|
263,000
83,000
|
83,000 |
|
245,000
245,000
|
245,000 |
|
|
156,000
16,000
|
16,000 |
|
|
133,000
102,500
|
102,500 |
|
86,000
-80,500
|
-80,500 |
|
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
|
Busted | |
|
|
Busted | |
|
|
Busted |
Level: 19
Blinds: 4,000/8,000
Ante: 8,000
