We keep holding our breath, waiting for play to slow down. But even down to just 16 players remaining, that hasn't happened yet. It helps to keep the action moving when at least one player has a premium hand. Gregory Ronaldson was that player in a recent all-in confrontation with Frank Rusnak. Rusnak's were drawing thin against Ronaldson's , and in fact did not improve on a board of .
Ronaldson is up to 233,000. Rusnak still has plenty of ammunition with 620,000.
Nicholas Mitchell opened to 23,000 from late position, and James Akenhead responded by shoving for 220,000 over the top. Mitchell called when it came back around to him, and his covering stack put Akenhead all in for his tournament life.
Showdown
Mitchell:
Akenhead:
The news was not good for Mr. Akenhead, but it would quickly improve. The dealer ran a flop fo to pull him in a big lead and put him two cards away from a big double up. The turn kept things kosher, but the river came the dramatic . That re-improves Mitchell to the best hand with trip jacks, and Akenhead can not stay alive.
That's all she wrote for Michael Noda. He made the mistake of moving all in from the small blind after Noel Scruggs opened pre-flop with a raise. The reason it was a mistake was because Noda had only , and Scruggs showed down . Noda did manage to flop a wheel draw, , but everything blanked out from there, and .
James Akenhead did his best to knock out Tad Jurgens. Akenhead opened pre-flop for 24,000, then called Jurgen's shove of 103,000. At showdown, Akenhead's was the slightest of favorites against Jurgens' , but an ace on the flop vaulted Jurgens into the lead. He retained it through the turn and river to double up to about 220,000. Akenhead has roughly the same amount now.
Sergey Lebedev raised to open the pot from the cutoff seat before Zsombor Gall moved all in for 186,000 from the big blind. After just a few seconds to think it over, Lebedev called and Gall was at risk as the cards were turned up:
Lebedev:
Gall:
The board was pretty uneventful, coming . That's not what Gall was looking for, and he's been rid of the rest of his chip stack. He'll be rewarded with $17,471, but he'd rather have Lebedev's stack of 605,000 chips for sure.
Julien Arneodo opened for 25,000 pre-flop and then was put to the test when Aftab Ahmed re-raised all in. Arneodo eventually thrust all of his (shorter) stack into the center of the pot. Ahmed triumphantly slammed over two red aces, , in great shape against Arneodo's . Arneodo was drawing dead by the turn of a board. He exits in 20th place, leaving the field just one elimination away from the next re-draw.
Kirill Rabtsov was all in before the flop with a rather meager , and he knew he needed some help when Jon Eaton quickly matched the bet to put Rabtsov at risk. Eaton turned up , five cards from the knockout.
The board came out , and Eaton's set of tens is easily enough to drag the pot. That eliminates Kirill Rabtsov in 21st place, and he'll take home the $17,471 payday for his work.
Guillaume Darcourt was just getting started with the elimination of Michael Fong. Shortly thereafter, Brian Hawkins raised all in from late position for 118,000. Darcourt called with and found himself flipping again, this time against Hawkins' . Darcourt had the right side of it for the second time in a row, making aces on a board of . He's up to 1.25 million now, while Hawkins is off to collect some dough.
![[user75032]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
were drawing thin against Ronaldson's 
, and in fact did not improve on a board of 
.
to pull him in a big lead and put him two cards away from a big double up. The turn 
. That re-improves Mitchell to the best hand with trip jacks, and Akenhead can not stay alive.
, and Scruggs showed down 
. Noda did manage to flop a wheel draw, 
, but everything blanked out from there, 
and 
.
was the slightest of favorites against Jurgens' 
, but an ace on the 
flop vaulted Jurgens into the lead. He retained it through the 
. That's not what Gall was looking for, and he's been rid of the rest of his chip stack. He'll be rewarded with $17,471, but he'd rather have Lebedev's stack of 605,000 chips for sure.
board. He exits in 20th place, leaving the field just one elimination away from the next re-draw.
, five cards from the knockout.
. Darcourt had the right side of it for the second time in a row, making aces on a board of