Samuel Trickett raised to 135,000 under the gun, and he found a call from Jeff Williams in the big blind, the two men heading off to a flop heads up.
It came 
, and Williams check-called a follow-up bet of 165,000. That lead to the 
turn, and another check from Williams. Trickett went a bit bigger this time, firing out 325,000 to take down the pot before things got too messy. Williams is trending downwards with a quickness.
Williams - 3.7 million
Trickett - 2.2 million
Peter Gilmore raised to 115,000 first in from the button, and David Benefield three-bet to 300,000 from the big blind. Gilmore instantly called, and the two men took a flop of 
. Benefield led out with 330,000 chips, and that was good enough to earn him the pot without too much trouble.
Gilmore - 1.6 million
Benefield - 1.8 million
The first raise came from Amit Makhija, opening the pot to 115,000 from the button. That drew another three-bet from David Benefield, coming over the top to 300,000 once again. Makhija promptly shoved all in for 730,000, and Benefield called off the extra chips to put the dangerous Makhija at risk. Let's flip a coin, shall we?:
Makhija: 
Benefield: 
The flop was a beautiful sight for Makhija, coming down 
to give him the set and reduce Benefield's outs to just four. The turn 
was a safe blank, and so was the 
that landed on fifth street.
Tens full earn Makhija the double up, and he's clawed his way back to about 1.5 million, while Benefield is now the shortest stack in the room with 845,000.
Amit Makhija opened to 115,000 from the cutoff seat, and Samuel Trickett matched the bet, coming along with him from the big blind.
Heads up, the flop came down 
, and Trickett checked to the raiser. Makhija fired out 140,000, and Trickett didn't waste too much time with the call, and the repeat dropped on the turn. That drew checks from both players, and the 
completed the board. When Trickett checked a third time, Makhija put out 375,000 across the imaginary betting line. He looked a bit surprised when Trickett announced a check-raise, sliding forward a total of 1.1 million in a tower of green chips. Makhija hemmed and hawed and tanked and eventually called for the majority of his own chips.
Trickett turned up 
for the full house, and Makhija slowly pushed his cards into the muck, waving goodbye to all but 525,000 of his newly-acquired chips.
Trickett is all the way up to 3.7 million, sitting dead even with Jeff Williams as the chip leaders.
Jeff Williams made a friendly limp first into the pot from the small blind, and Samuel Trickett took a freebie flop from the big.
The dealer rolled out the first three board cards: 
, and Trickett called a bet of 75,000.
The on the turn drew another bet from Williams, 175,000 this time. Trickett was right there with another call.
The last card off was the 
, and Williams loaded up another 475,000 chips and fired them at the pot. That was finally enough to push Trickett out of the way, and the pot goes to Williams.
Trickett - 3.5 million
Williams - 4.3 million
From the small blind, David Benefield limped into the pot, and Jeff Williams moved all in from the big. Benefield loved that, and he snap-called to put his tournament life on the line. He was in rather good shape, however:
Benefield: 
(sneaky)
Williams: (standard)
There was no help for Williams on board, and Benefield will be sticking around thanks to the dealer running out 
for the community cards. That gives Mr. Benefield the double up to 1.83 million, while Williams slides back a bit to 3.6 million
That's two after-dinner levels of poker, and it's time for one of those pesky twenty-minute breaks.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
3,550,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
|
|
3,450,000 | |
|
1,925,000
95,000
|
95,000 |
|
1,475,000
125,000
|
125,000 |
|
1,170,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
|
||
|
320,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
Level: 27
Blinds: 30,000/60,000
Ante: 5,000
It wasn't long after the break when Peter Gilmore raised to 140,000 and Amit Makhija moved all in for 345,000. Jeff Williams called in the big blind as did Gilmore.
The two live players checked down a board of 
in an attempt to eliminate the short stack. It didn't work as Makhija showed down the best hand with 
. Gilmore showed 
and Williams had 
.
Makhija triples up to around 1.2 million chips!
