After hitting that big hand earlier against Phil Hellmuth, Jeff Blenkarn had slipped back down just under 9,000 when he found himself all in again, and once again he was up against the Poker Brat.
This time Blenkarn had the advantage when the chips went in, holding against Hellmuth's . "Don't worry," said Hellmuth to his opponent. "There's no chance I ever suck out on you."
The flop came , and Blenkarn was in even better shape. The came on the turn to make things more interesting, but the on the river ensured Blenkarn's survival. He's at 18,000 now, a little ahead of Hellmuth who now has 16,500.
After opening the pot with a raise, David Chicotsky saw Andrew Teng move all in from the button. After getting a count and thinking it over for a good while, The Maven made the call to put Teng at risk.
Chicotsky reluctantly tabled , trailing Teng's . The board brought a flush to keep the at-risk player alive, coming .
Teng doubles to about 40,000, now dead even with Chicotsky.
Jin Liu raised to 4,000 from late position, James Mackey raised to 12,000 from the small blind, and Liu called.
The flop came . Mackey checked, Liu bet 8,000, and Mackey called. The turn was the . Mackey again checked, Liu pushed all in for his last 24,000, and Mackey instantly called.
Bad news for Liu. He had for trips, but Mackey had him outkicked with . The river was the , and Liu is out. Meanwhile, Mackey is storming up the leaderboard with 245,000 now.
At the start of the day, Alex Kravchenko benefited greatly from a hand in which he was dealt pocket aces and Phil Hellmuth Q-Q. Just before the break, the tables were turned on the Russian, as this time he picked up only to run smack into Cody Slaubaugh's .
A series of raises got it all in preflop for Kravchenko, and the board came . Kravchenko is out, and Slaubaugh goes to the break with about 350,000.
Three players each put in 4,000 chips before the flop, and they saw the dealer run . Jeff Blenkarn was first to act, and he moved all in for 16,500. After the second player folded, Phil Hellmuth snap-called to put Blenkarn at risk.
Showdown
Blenkarn:
Hellmuth:
Blenkarn was in trouble with his underpair trailing Phil's top-top. To Hellmuth's unbearable torment (and his table's delight), the struck the turn like a bolt of lightning, drawing an eruption of profanity from Hellmuth.
After that two-outer, Blenkarn has more than doubled to 49,000, and Hellmuth has taken a step back to 60,000.
Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier is another dangerous player who is making his charge here on Moving Day. ElkY came into the day with 27,200 chips, well below the average stack. He's been knocking out players left and right already today though, and he just claimed yet another victim.
Before the flop, he made a sloppy raise to about 20,000, though it was tough to tell exactly as he just plunked a big tower of yellow chips out onto the felt. A short-stacked opponent called off his last 15,000 with , in bad shape against ElkY's .
The board ran , holding the overpair to give Grospellier another knockout. He's all the way up to 87,000 now, certainly a dangerous situation for the rest of the field.