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First to act, Scott Mandel raised to 140,000. Danny Smith called, and in the big blind, Kevin Boudreau tank-called as well. They were three-handed to the 
flop. Boudreau checked, and Mandel bet the pot, 450,000. The other two folded, and Mandel took it down, moving up to 950,000.
Chance Kornuth min-raised to 80,000 and it folded around to Julian Gardner in the big blind who thought about it for a moment and then made the call.
Gardner checked the 
flop and Kornuth ominously asked how many chips Gardner had left before betting 85,000. Gardner went all in, Kornuth called, and they turned the cards over.
Gardner: 
Kornuth: 
"All of it!" cried someone at the Kornuth rail.
"You've got me dominated," admitted Gardner.
Turn: 
leaving Gardner drawing dead.
River: a completely academic 
The man who went heads up with Robert Varkonyi in the 2002 Main Event hit the rail. Kornuth was up to 2.31 million.
By the by, Gardner's exit rather cheered up Kevin Boudreau. "Yeah, I just got out of make up!" he called over to his rail.
The pot limit party is under way once more.
Level: 25
Blinds: 20,000/40,000
Ante: 0
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
1,890,000 | 290,000 |
|
1,490,000 | 655,000 |
|
1,435,000 | 35,000 |
|
1,020,000 | -100,000 |
|
|
545,000 | -825,000 |
|
420,000 | 45,000 |
Last hand before the break, and some craziness occurred.
It started small.
Kevin Boudreau limped in on his small blind and Scott Mandel checked his big. They saw a flop.
Flop: 
Boudreau bet out 35,000. Mandel briefly paused, and then called.
Turn: 
Boudreau now bet out 130,000. Over to Mandel, who raised to 340,000. Slience descended on the final table. The action moved back on Boudreau - who reraised all in. Everyone held their breath. Mandel thought about it - and then folded, showing pocket jacks. Boudreau showed pocket eights. His other two cards will remain a mystery to all but Boudreau.
Boudreau moved up to 1.49 million. Mandel dropped to 545,000.
The final six and their fans are on a 20-minute break. If you didn't think to bring a case with you, now would be a good time to grab some beers put on your game faces for the Final Table Part II when we return.
Scott Mandel opened to 80,000 from the cutoff, and only Chance Kornuth in the big blind made the call. The flop brought the 
, , and 
. Kornuth checked, and Mandel checked behind. Another king, the , fell on the turn, and Kornuth checked a second time. Mandel bet 120,000. Chance responded by check-raising to 310,000. Mandel shook his head and folded, dropping under a million for the first time in awhile. Kornuth increased his chip lead, now stacking 1,775,000.
Young Kevin Boudreau, who had earlier been calling over to his rail, "I'm not even in the money yet!" despite being guaranteed over $90,000 now, has nudged his stack above the million mark and is now at roughly average.
Scott Mandel opened for 90,000 under the gun and Chance Kornuth called on the button before Kevin Boudreau in the big blind announced, "Pot," in a very matter-of-fact tone, and pushed out the requisite 375,000. Mandel gave it a good minute or so in the tank before he folded; Kornuth needed virtually no time at all.
Boudreau won the next hand as well, a small limp-checked affair that time. On both occasions, his by now rather beered-up rail went wild. Their boy is at around 1.1 million.
The stands today are the most crowded we've seen them in awhile. And they're full of big names too. Of course, Nacho Barbero's rail, including Veronica Dabul and a few other Team PokerStars members, left as soon as he did. And the Mizrachi clan followed Robert out the door. But that just made room for the overflow from other cheering sections.
Recent new bracelet winners Gavin Smith and Chris Bell are here and were joined by Erick Lindren and Carlos Mortensen during the break in their event. Chance Kornuth has a large and colorful rail. Cheering on Julian Gardner are Ben Roberts, Jeff Duvall and 2007 Irish Open champion Marty Smyth. And the loudest and best prepared (including 24-packs of Milwaukee's Best) belongs to Kevin Boudreau. He's got the usual durrrr crew, including Peter Jetten and Max Greenwood, plus occasional visits from the Dwan himself.
The secondary stage also has a raucous rail cheering on the heads-up match over there, and between both crowds, it's finally an atmosphere befitting the high energy poker we've been watching all day.
