In a field loaded with talent, one name -- Phil Ivey -- stands above all others. Ivey's stack is also standing tall after winning a recent hand of limit hold'em. Mark Zajdner raised from under the gun, then was the only player to take on Ivey's re-raise. Zajdner check-called every street of a board that rolled out . At showdown, Ivey turned over for two pair, aces and eights. Zajdner quickly mucked, dropping his count to 68,000. Ivey, on the other hand,now has 112,000.
With only 4,700 behind, Bryan Micon faced a decision point on fourth street after his opponent bet. Micon decided to go with his hand and actually was in the lead. But his board developed poorly and, at the river, his opponent made an 8-7, leaving Micon drawing dead. He wished everyone good luck, saying, "I hope you all win the bracelet," and then left the tournament area.
Justin Smith was short and all in on third street against Konstantin Puchkov. The cards were being thrown around the table by the dealer so we're unsure of the order of the cards, but in the end the boards were as follows:
Smith:
Puchkov: -X
Smith tabled trip sevens but Puchkov made a straight and the only low to scoop the pot and eliminate Smith from the tournament.
Andrew Goesch joked with Sebastien Sabic recently that Sabic is a nit. Sabic mmay have used that image to his advantage in a hand against Daniel Makowsky. Goesch limped in before Makowsky raised and Sabic re-raised. Goesch cleared out, giving Makowsky space to four-bet. Sabic called.
Makowski continued on a flop of , with Sabic calling behind. That was enough to slow down Makowsky on the turn. He checked, then called a bet. The river double-paired the board. Again Makowsky checked. He folded to Sabic's last bet.
"Show?" Makowsky asked.
"No," Sabic replied as he mucked his hand. Makowsky is down to 109,000 while Sabic increased his count to 65,000 with that pot.
It seems odd for the tournament 's pace to be slowing at this spot but that's what we're witnessing right now. In the 90 minutes since the dinner break ended, only 15 players have been eliminated. Pots played to showdown are a rarity. It might take a while for this tournament to reach the money bubble -- where things will slow down even more.
Young: X-X / 3-2-A-J / X
Myerson: X-X / 2-4-10-8 / X
Jason Young's board started developing very well. He bet the lead on fourth street and then again on fifth street, showing three to a wheel. Alan Myerson called each time.
On sixth street, Myerson's board was slighly lower than Young's, causing him to take over the lead. He bet it and was called by Young. Down the river, Myerson checked and then called a bet. Young turned over 6-5-10 for a six-five low. Myerson couldn't beat it and as a result slipped to about 10,,000 in chips. Young has roughly 117,000.
Eric Brix is thankful that the game was Stud-8 and not just Stud, after chopping a pot against Steve Sung in fortunate circumstances. Brix completed, and Sung raised with Brix calling off his last chips. Brix started with split aces but Sung had rolled up queens! The boards ran out:
Brix: () / / ()
Sung: () / / ()
Sung didn't improve any further but Brix made a seventy-six low to collect half and stay alive with about 13,000.
John Juanda's been having an excellent day but even he has hit a few snags here and there. Juanda bet fifth street against Event 31 champion, Konstantin Puchkov. Puchkov called and made open kings on sixth street. His bet was called by Juanda.
Puchkov fired again on seventh street, but Juanda wasn't interested in a showdown. He folded, preserving his stack at 115,000. Puchkov is up to 86,000.
![[user75032]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
. At showdown, Ivey turned over 
for two pair, aces and eights. Zajdner quickly mucked, dropping his count to 68,000. Ivey, on the other hand,now has 112,000.
-X
, with Sabic calling behind. That was enough to slow down Makowsky on the 
turn. He checked, then called a bet. The river 
double-paired the board. Again Makowsky checked. He folded to Sabic's last bet.
)
) / 
/ (
)
to give him a full house and the double up to 12,500.
/ X
