Benjamin Kang
Benjamin Kang has several stacks that are taller than 200,000 chips to deal with on his left-hand side. That's probably frustrating enough, but it must be even more frustrating to lose a pot to one of the shorter stacks.
Kang opened preflop for 8,500 and was called by the cutoff and the big blind. The big blind checked a flop of to Kang, who made a continuation-bet of 15,500. Only the cutoff called.
When the turn fell , Kang checked. His opponent thoughtfully pushed 25,000 chips into the middle after getting a rough eyeball count of Kang's stack. Kang immediately mucked and could be seen shaking his head and talking to himself after the hand.
We pick up the action in a heads-up pot between two of the big stacks from early in the day, Mohsin Charania and Chairud Vangchailued. On the turn, the board showed . Charania was first, and he bet 15,500, which his opponent called.
The river card came the . Charania led again, this time betting 24,000. Vangchailued popped it up to 60,000, and Charania called. Vangchailued tabled for the nut flush, and Charania slid his cards toward the muck. As soon as he did though, he reached for his cards and flashed the before sending them back again.
After that exchange, Charania is down to 87,000, while Vangchailued is charging toward the top, sitting on 245,500.
Albert Iversen limped into the pot from early position, and Butch Evans made a raise to 8,000. Iversen was the lone caller, and the two men watched the flop deliver . Iversen checked, then called a bet of 12,000 from Evans.
The turn was the . Iversen checked once again, and Evans moved all in for 25,300. After a bit of debate, Iversen called to put his opponent to the test. He turned over , only to find that he was already drawing stone dead to Evans' .
Albert Iversen has been in the business of doubling people up since he returned from dinner, and he has tumbled all the way down to 19,000 as a result. Evans, meanwhile, has been on the upswing, sitting now with 110,000.
We now have three stacks that have crested the 300,000-chip mark. Shawn Glines is still leading the tournament, but he is hotly trailed by Ray Davis and Brandon Cantu, each of whom is sporting about 310,000 chips. Each player also seems well in control of his table. We can perhaps expect them to crash into one another at some point later in the night as tables consolidate.
Darryll Fish
Darryll Fish came in raising to 8,000, but Raymond Davis wanted to play for more, reraising to 50,000. Fish then moved all in for somewhere in the neighborhood of 75,000, and Davis quickly called.
Showdown
Fish:
Davis:
Fish was in a good spot to double up, but trouble would find him. An ace on the flop put him behind, and the board ended up to end his tournament.
Davis, on the other hand, has moved up once again, sitting with 350,000 now -- still in the mix for the chip lead.
Amanda Baker just knocked out an opponent. She reraised to 24,000 after that player opened for 11,000. He called Baker's raise, then shipped his last 20,500 into the middle on a flop of . With the pot laying a great price, Baker called with ; she was up against . Catching the on the turn took away Baker's outs to a jack. She faded the spades when the river fell .
Life's good for Shawn "sprstoner" Glines. He watched one player open for 10,000 from early position before Chandrasekhar Billavara re-raised all in to 40,700. Glines looked down at and re-raised to 70,400. The got everyone else to fold, giving Glines a chance to eliminate Billavara.
Glines:
Billavara:
Glines flopped a completely unnecessary set, , then sealed the deal with a blank on the turn. We can't even count Glines' chips right now, but the total has to be between 350,000 and 400,000.
English gold medal heavyweight boxing sensation Audley Harrison is down for the count. No details; we just saw him towering over the payout table for a minute before walking out the door.
From middle position, Albert Iversen raised it up to 7,700 first into the pot. Action passed to the small blind, and the player there reraised to 20,000 straight. Iversen moved all in, and his opponent called all in himself for his remaining ~85,000.
Showdown
Iversen:
Opponent:
The board ran , improving the overpair to the winning trip queens. After that big exchange, Iversen has been knocked down a peg, sitting with 140,000 now.