James Akenhead and David Singer haven't been afraid to butt heads today, and so far it's Akenhead who's taken by far the best of it. The two were at it again on a heads-up flop of . We're not sure of the exact flop action, only that at some point the out-of-position Singer made it 18,600 to go and Akenhead called. Both players checked the turn and the river . Singer opened for a pair of sixes at showdown; he'd been out-turned by Akenhead's , which made a pair of tens.
Joe Tehan made it 5,800 to go from middle position, and Neil Channing moved all in for an additional 33,800. Tehan called with , and Channing was in bad shape as he rolled over his .
The board would not save Mr. Channing either, running to eliminate him as the potential bubble boy. Ah, but there was another hand in progress at an adjacent table...
Jonathan Tare saw Neil Channing bust as he was in the tank mulling over a big decision. The board showed , and Daniel Buzgon had made a covering all-in shove after the river. Tare called the floor and asked what would happen if he were to be eliminated, and the T.D. told him that he and Channing would split the bottom payout. "Okay, I call!" Tare said quickly.
He turned up for the set, but Buzgon had that beat. His turned a straight, and he's eliminated Jonathan Tare as the other half-bubble boy.
Tare and Channing will split $5,992, good for $4 short of their buy-in back each. The remaining 89 players are now in the money, and we're hunkered down for the short-stack double-up-or-go-home frenzy.
We're less than ten minutes until the dinner break, a good time for some of the shorter stacks to "double up or go home", as they say. Vitaly Lunkin moved his stack of 37,300 chips into the middle from the big blind after Marco Johnson opened to 6,000. Johnson got a count before calling with . Lunkin showed and the race was on. It was a in the window, but that card was followed by the and . Lunkin made a set of nines, which held with the turn and river. He doubled to about 80,000, while Johnson is down to 8,000.
We've played four levels of poker, and it's time for dinner. It's sixty minutes, and play will resume just a couple minutes after 8:00 p.m. Time to hit the poker kitchen. Or the blackjack tables.
Jared Hamby is moving on up in the counts after the recent elimination of Daniel Bertelsen. Hamby opened pre-flop with a raise, then called after Bertelsen moved all in. The race was on, for Bertelsen versus Hamby's presto, . A board of gave Hamby a bit of a sweat, but his two fives were still best after the river. He's up to 172,000 while Bertelsen is off to get paid.
We've lost our last Kim. John Kim got 62,000 chips all in pre-flop against Mark Leonard. Kim tabled the better starting hand with to Leonard's , but a flop of made it clear that things were far from decided. Leonard caught a straight-making on the turn, then ducked the three remaining kings in the deck when the river fell . Kim is busto, while Leonard is robusto with about 165,000.
Dan O'Brien was all in for just over 20,000 before the flop with against an opponent's pocket nines, and Dan-O was flipping for double or nothing.
The flop was a big blank desert, but there were aces on both the turn and the river, and that was a fine sight for the at-risk O'Brien. He's doubled back to about 45,000 now, though there are still several rungs left to climb on the long comeback ladder.
There will be no more triple chance hands played by Karga Holt. Holt got to the river of a board against James "Queso" Collopy. Collopy checked to Holt, who bet 20,000. Collopy then check-raised all in for about 60,000, enough to cover Holt. Holt called, but never turned up his hand. When he saw Collopy's , for aces full of fives, he just mucked his hand and stood up to await his payout slip.
Ardavan Yazdi took a bit of a flyer when he tried to knock out the short-stacked William Haydon. Haydon's was in the lead against Yazdi's . Nobody connected with a board of , allowed Haydon to collect the pot with his unimproved ace. He's up to 52,000, while Yazdi is still in the game with about 98,000.
![[user75032]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
. We're not sure of the exact flop action, only that at some point the out-of-position Singer made it 18,600 to go and Akenhead called. Both players checked the turn 
and the river 
. Singer opened 
for a pair of sixes at showdown; he'd been out-turned by Akenhead's 
, which made a pair of tens.
, and Channing was in bad shape as he rolled over his 
to eliminate him as the potential bubble boy. Ah, but there was another hand in progress at an adjacent table...
for the set, but Buzgon had that beat. His 
. Lunkin showed 
and the race was on. It was a 
and 
turn and 
for Bertelsen versus Hamby's presto, 
. A board of 
gave Hamby a bit of a sweat, but his two fives were still best after the river. He's up to 172,000 while Bertelsen is off to get paid.
, but a flop of 
made it clear that things were far from decided. Leonard caught a straight-making 
, allowed Haydon to collect the pot with his unimproved ace. He's up to 52,000, while Yazdi is still in the game with about 98,000.