The biggest pot of the tournament so far has slid in Guillaume Darcourt's direction, and it was all in pre-flop on a flip. Michael Fong opened pre-flop for 26,000. Darcourt then made a huge re-raise, to 141,000. Fong put his whole stack of 569,000 at risk with and Darcourt called, having Fong barely covered, with !
Fong flopped two pair, , but the turn and river were also diamonds, the and , to give Darcourt a diamond flush. Dragging that massive pot pushed him up to 1.15 million in chips and sent Fong to the rail in 23rd place.
Florian Langmann represented his home country of Germany well in this event but he's finally slipped into the Great Beyond. He got 125,000 chips in pre-flop with and ran smack into the pocket queens of Tommy Vedes. A board of changed nothing. Vedes collected the pot and Langmann collected $17,471 for 24th place.
The shortest of the short stacks was Julien Arneodo. He's not quite as short after being dealt and getting action from Kirill Rabtsov. Rabtsov opened pre-flop for 20,500, then called after Arneodo moved all in for 73,000. Rabtsov tabled an ace, , but couldn't overtake Arneodo on a board of . Arneodo now has about 133,000 in chips.
Jason Helder lost a big pot earlier in the day with kings into aces. Down to just 98,000, he moved in over the top of an 18,500-chip open-raise by Frank Rusnak. Michael Noda was in the big blind and re-raised all in to isolate Helder. Rusnak got the picture and folded, leaving Helder and his heads up against Noda's . Nobody hit any piece of a nine-high board, . Noda took down the pot with unimproved ace-queen while Helder exited the room. He'll collect $17,471 at the cage.
Craig McCorkell opened the pot by moving all in from middle position, and Michael Fong quickly made the call with . McCorkell tabled his , needing to find some help to stay afloat.
There was a wee bit of help on board but not enough; the dealer spread out , giving the pot to Fong.
McCorkell is out of chips and out of the tournament in 26th place, and that pot lifts Fong up to about 710,000 and into second place overall.
Frank Rusnak opened the pot from late position, and Gavin Griffin got the rest of his chips into the middle with . Rusnak called with , and the race was on.
Griffin was unable to come out on the good side of this one, his last coin flip of the night. The board rolled out , changing nothing. Griffin was left with just ace-high, and that will rid him of the rest of his chips. He's out in 27th place, and Rusnak climbs further to 680,000.
Joseph Kuether made his stand with pocket deuces from the big blind. Koen Debakker was in there to take him on with which, incidentally, seems like it has been the absolute nuts tonight. Ace-queen triumphed again by flopping , then riding it out easily from there with the turn and river. Kuether exited the tournament in 28th place.
The remaining 27 players are now undergoing the three-table re-draw. We'll have new seat assignments in a few moments.
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and Darcourt called, having Fong barely covered, with 
!
, but the turn and river were also diamonds, the 
and 
, to give Darcourt a diamond flush. Dragging that massive pot pushed him up to 1.15 million in chips and sent Fong to the rail in 23rd place.
changed nothing. Vedes collected the pot and Langmann collected $17,471 for 24th place.
, but couldn't overtake Arneodo on a board of 
. Arneodo now has about 133,000 in chips.
. Nobody hit any piece of a nine-high board, 
. Noda took down the pot with unimproved ace-queen while Helder exited the room. He'll collect $17,471 at the cage.
. McCorkell tabled his 
, needing to find some help to stay afloat.
, giving the pot to Fong.
. Rusnak called with 
which, incidentally, seems like it has been the absolute nuts tonight. Ace-queen triumphed again by flopping 
, then riding it out easily from there with the 
turn and 
river. Kuether exited the tournament in 28th place.
