A short stack raised it up preflop leaving himself just 4,000 behind. Perhaps just for amusement, Sammy Farha flat called from the big blind before announcing, "Check in the dark."
The flop was , and the short stack inevitably threw in his remaining shrapnel and Farha made the call.
On their backs and Farha was a gnat's nose hair behind with versus . "It's OK," he smiled in his familiarly nonchalant manner, "we're going to chop."
And, indeed, chop they did, the turn and river coming and respectively to keep the short stack short-stacked and Farha on 230,000.
Whoa. This is one hand you'd certainly see on tv if the cameras had made it in time to capture the whole thing. But while his brother is on the feature table, Danny Mizrachi was grinding the short stack on a table behind it. He raised to 13,000 under the gun, and David Benyamine called in middle position. Both blinds came along, and the doozie of flop fell . The small blind fired out 38,000. The big blind folded, and Mizrachi raised to 80,000. Benyamine then tried to use his big stack to muscle everyone out, moving all in for around 700,000. The smal blind called for a total of 280,000. And Mizrachi called all in as well with his last 124,000. Time for showdown.
Mizrachi: for the flopped nuts
Small Blind: for a flopped set
Benyamine: for a flush draw and an open-ended second-best straight draw
"That's the last thing I wanted to see - a flush draw and a set," Mizrachi said. Eric Mizrachi, who was eliminated shortly after the bubble, ran over to sweat the hand, and Michael Mizrachi's wife jogged in from the feature table to watch as well.
The turn was a brick, and the river was more of the same. The Mizrachi clan went nuts with high fives and hugs as Danny tripled up to 455,000. The small blind got the side pot to stay alive, and Benyamine dropped to 470,000.
There are ten minutes left in the level, and it's time to pull the mythical card. It's a three tonight; we'll play that many more hands at each table before calling it a night.
Hasan Habib opened pre-flop for 16,000 and was called by an in-position Brandon Cantu. When the flop came highly coordinated, , Habib checked and called a bet of 22,000 from Cantu. Both players checked the turn when it brought four to a straight, . Habib led out for 45,000 on the river, and that brought some complaints from Cantu.
"So gross!" he said. He couldn't stop himself from tossing 45,000 calling chips into the pot. Habib turned over the nuts, .
"Goddammit!" Cantu yelled. "So unbelievable." He's down to 210,000 in chips. Habib is up to a very comfortable 865,000.
Josh Brikis put an opponent all in on the turn of the board reading with the for a combo draw and flush draw. His opponent committed himself with a bet and then called all in with the for a set of fives.
The river was just what Brikis needed with the . He hit his diamond and won the pot, scooping in the chips to put himself over 1.2 million as we move into the last few hands of the night.
We might not boast Phil Ivey this year, but there are still plenty of big names still alive in this event who could potentially squeak their way into the November Nine.
In the orange section, the biggest is perhaps 2007 finalist Allen Cunningham, who has 125,000. But he isn't the only former finalist, as just a few tables down is Sammy Farha with 115,000. Also still in are David Benyamine (430,000) and Evelyn Ng (115,000).
With a raise in front, Chris Klodnicki moved all in from the big blind.
"I feel like gambling," his opponent announced before finally calling.
Showdown
Klodnicki:
Opponent:
"I thought you had two fives," Klodnicki's opponent sighed.
The board ran , and Klodnicki stayed alive. There was some confusion after the hand though after the dealer counted Klodnicki's stack at 118,000.
"There's NO way it's that little," Klodnicki shot at him.
His stack was counted no less than three times, once by a floorperson, and each time it was indeed 118,000. Klodnicki was baffled by this, but we're sure he's content with the double-up to 340,000 chips.
"All in and call!" cried the dealer, then added, "Three-way!" We came running.
It was a bit of a cooler, really - the three players held , and respectively. The gentleman with the jacks, one Paolo Giovanetti, was all in for just 12,000.
Board: ...!
Giovanetti rejoiced as he rivered a flush and more than tripled up to a still short stack, but not one that was necessarily getting called if he were to shove. "That's more than you came to the table with," commented an amused tablemate - and indeed, it appears that Giovanetti was down to a single chip at one point not long ago. Could this be the start of an amazing comeback for the plucky Italian?
![[user4144]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
, and the short stack inevitably threw in his remaining shrapnel and Farha made the call.
versus 
. "It's OK," he smiled in his familiarly nonchalant manner, "we're going to chop."
and 
respectively to keep the short stack short-stacked and Farha on 230,000.
. He was in some trouble against his opponent's 
.
flop, but the turn and river ran out 
and 
and with a nod and a handshake, Kamutzki was gone.
. The small blind fired out 38,000. The big blind folded, and Mizrachi raised to 80,000. Benyamine then tried to use his big stack to muscle everyone out, moving all in for around 700,000. The smal blind called for a total of 280,000. And Mizrachi called all in as well with his last 124,000. Time for showdown.
for the flopped nuts
turn was a brick, and the 
river was more of the same. The Mizrachi clan went nuts with high fives and hugs as Danny tripled up to 455,000. The small blind got the side pot to stay alive, and Benyamine dropped to 470,000.
, Habib checked and called a bet of 22,000 from Cantu. Both players checked the turn when it brought four to a straight, 
. Habib led out for 45,000 on the 
river, and that brought some complaints from Cantu.
.
with the 
for a combo draw and flush draw. His opponent committed himself with a bet and then called all in with the 
. He hit his diamond and won the pot, scooping in the chips to put himself over 1.2 million as we move into the last few hands of the night.
to be racing against Eduardo Parra's 
!