Eliminations, which were in such abundance at the start of the day, have become a scarce commodity. But that doesn't mean they've stopped completely. Eric Kesselman was all in for 55,000 before the draw and called by Tim Phan. Kesselman rapped pat with J-10-6-5-2; Phan drew 1 holding 8-6-3-2 and caught a 10.
We're down to 23 players now with that elimination.
Ville Wahlbeck's image may be wide open at this point. We say that because he opened the button for 10,000 and was called by both blinds, Tim Phan and Archie Karas. Phan drew one; Karas drew two; and Wahlbeck drew one.
After the draw action checked to Wahlbeck. He made it 16,000 to go and was called by both opponents. Phan showed J-8-4-3-2; Karas showed a slightly better J-7-6-3-2; and Wahlbeck mucked.
Most of the game at this point is being played pre-draw. Justin Smith opened for 9,700 before the draw and then called after Hertzel Zalewski moved in for about 35,000. Smith drew first and took one card; Zalewski rapped pat with 10-8. That was good when Smith's 9-8-4-2 paired nines.
Zalewski is now on about 78,000. The loss didn't hurt Smith much. He still has 210,000.
It's good to be Archie Karas right now. His drawing after the dinner break has been exceptional. Sitting in the big blind, he called a raise to 10,000 by Roland de Wolfe that Ville Wahlbeck had also called. Karas drew three cards in front of his opponents, who both took one.
Karas and de Wolfe checked after the draw. Wahlbeck led out for 27,000 and was called by Karas. This time Wahlbeck had a hand -- 9-6-4-3-2 -- but Karas, after drawing three, showed down a better hand with 8-7-4-3-2.
We caught up to this hand after the draw, Roland De Wolfe leading out for 30,000. Tim Phan reraised to 90,000 from the button and De Wolfe made the call.
De Wolfe turned up an eight perfect, 8-5-4-3-2, to drag the 200,000 pot and put a serious dent in Phan's stack. De Wolfe is up to 259,000 while Phan was left with 62,000.
Now that the Lakers sealed up a third victory against the Magic in the NBA finals, our deuce to seven field can get back to watching their opponents rather than the TV set up next to the tournament clock!