Our heads-upsers saw an flop and Mike Ellis bet 325,000. Christopher Gonzales announced all in, Ellis called, and they were on their backs for Ellis' tournament life.
Gonzales: for two pair
Ellis: for trips
Turn:
River:
"Nice hand," said a dazed-looking Gonzales as he paid up. Ellis is now at 4 million and Gonzales at 6.7 million. The end could still be a long way off.
Since doubling up to 4 million, Mike Ellis has taken a series of very small hits - but everything is relative, and with the blinds this big a small hit is bigger than you think.
There have been no big pots, but Ellis has slipped down to 2.3 million against Chris Gonzales' 8.4 million.
Chris Gonzales raised his button and then called the reraise to 500,000 from Mike Ellis. Ellis bet out another 500,000 on the flop and Gonzales laid it down, to a murmur of approval from the now rather subdued and sleepy Ellis rail which now includes reigning Irish Open champion James Mitchell and British circuit pro Chaz Chattha.
Since then, play has tightened up considerably. Most notably the two players checked a board all the way down, when Christopher Gonzales (out of position) turned over for a straight - he had presumably hoped that Mike Ellis would at some point bet but was disappointed.
With the stacks still very deep - around 38 big blinds for Gonzales and around 52 for Ellis - we're just going to have to wait for two big hands if we want to see some serious action.
A large pot had amassed in the middle of the table by the river of the board when Mike Ellis bet 600,000. The action moved back to Chris Gonzales, who announced all in. Various people with cameras and the like materialized out of the ether and crept up to the table. Ellis tanked up, standing over the table. Gonzales stared blankly at the felt, mouth agape.
Eventually Ellis folded and the camera people evaporated back into the air. With that, Gonzales was back in the lead on 6.7 million. Ellis dropped back to 4 million.