We were noticing on media row a few moments ago that Redmond Lee hadn't been very active. His short stack precluded him from mixing things up too much. He finally found a hand he liked and open-shoved for 2,445,000. Michiel Sijpkens called from the button with pocket tens, very bad news for Lee's pocket fours. There wasn't any kind of a sweat on a board of 
. Lee stood up, shook Sijpkens' hand, and then quietly departed.
Sijpkens is now up to about 13.5 million.
Michiel Sijpkens was able to hang on to his new chips for less than five minutes. After eliminating Redmond Lee, he opened the very next pot for 380,000. Brandon Steven defended the big blind. He checked a 
flop, then called all in for 1.7 million after Sijpkens shoved. Sijpkens knew he was in trouble with 
, top pair and top kicker. Steven turned over the nuts, 
. Sijpkens was drawing dead after the turn and is back down to 11.5 million. The double-up gives Steven roughly 4.4 million.
There was an issue that came up on the main feature table where Joseph Cheong bet the board of 
into Filippo Candio. Candio went forward with chips, released them and then pulled them back before releasing his cards according to the tournament staff. The cards didn't touch the muck and it was ruled that Candio called the bet and would get his cards back.
The river was the 
and Cheong fired another bet. Candio called again. Cheong showed a set of nines and Candio mucked.
Candio was upset he lost the hand and his rail section began commenting and complaining before the announcer warned them to be quiet.
Pascal LeFrancois raised to 375,000 first into the pot, and Patrick Eskandar made the call to go heads-up to the flop.
The dealer spread out 
, and the two men checked through to the turn. Eskandar apparently wasn't going to do it for him, so LeFrancois fired out a bet of 475,000 chips. He found a call there, and another call when he bet 980,000 on the 
river. He tabled 
for the set, and that was the winner-winner. Eskandar mucked and said, "Nice bet," as his stack has once again slid back close to the million-chip mark. We count him at 1.2 million now, while LeFrancois has joined the 20-million-chip club.
It's been an adventurous level for Michiel Sijpkens. He's trending downwards again after doubling up John Dolan. Michael Mizrachi opened first for 380,000 from under the gun. Sijpkens then made it 960,000 to go. Dolan had the button and quickly moved all in for 2,265,000 total. That was enough to fold Mizrachi, but Sijpkens called with 
. He had one overcard to Dolan's 
.
While this hand was in progress, a HUGE roar erupted from the main feature table (more on that in a moment!). The room was still abuzz as the board rolled out 
to double Dolan up. His supporters tried to shout and applaud their approval, but they were largely drowned out by the noise from the feature table area.
Dolan now has about 5.2 million.
Filippo Candio raised and Joseph Cheong reraised to 1.125 million. Candio made the call.
The flop came down 
and Cheong fired 1.55 million. Candio thought and then announced a raise. He made it 4.425 million. Cheong now had the pressure back on him and tanked. He then moved all in, putting Candio at risk if he would make the call. Candio had 12.1 million and made the call, creating a massive pot of over 25 million!
Candio turned up the 
for sixes and fives. He was in a world of hurt to Cheong's 
.
The fans rose and inched closer as Candio left his seat and took refuge behind the media desk. Cheong sat in his chair and waited patiently for the turn and river.
The turn brought the 
and Cheong dodged one card, but Candio did pick up outs. He now had a straight draw.
The river completed the board with the 
and Candio spiked his straight. He began running and jumping around off the final table set before embracing with a friend in celebration. Cheong just sat in his seat and counted out the chips to be sent over to Candio. He was knocked down to about 13 million while Candio jumped to a whopping 27 million and is the new leader.
Pascal LeFrancois raised to 375,000 to open the pot, and Patrick Eskandar moved all in for 845,000 total. Soi Nguyen called from the big blind, and LeFrancois called as well to give Eskandar a shot at the triple-up.
The flop came 
, and Nguyen made a bet to shake LeFrancois out of the hand. With Eskandar at risk, the cards were on their backs:
Eskandar: 
Nguyen: 
"Any ace," someone at the table said, and that was pretty much what Eskandar was going to need. The turn was most definitely not an ace, and neither was the 
that filled out the board on fifth street.
Unable to improve, Patrick Eskandar has been eliminated in 20th place. He'll take home more than $300,000 for his efforts over the past two weeks.
We're not sure what's gotten into Michiel Sijpkens. It's like he decided about an hour ago that he wants to play a lot of very big pots with marginal holdings. We're kidding, of course, but Sijpkens has been involved in a great number of big pots since the last break.
It was Sijpkens getting things started again with a raise to 380,000. John Racener had position and called to a flop of . Sijpkens continued for 480,000, then called Racener's raise to 1.0 million straight.
The turn card was the 
. Sijpkens checked and drew a bet of 1.6 million from Racener. There was a pause as Sijpkens considered what to do. He finally opted to call to a 
river. Sijpkens checked again. Racener silently slid out a tall stack of lavender (100,000) and green (25,000) chips. It amounted to 3,925,000.
Sijpkens tanked for an eternity. We're guessing it was at least four minutes. Usually players that tank that long fold, but Sijpkens surprised us by calling. He couldn't beat trip sixes, which is what Racener showed down with . Sijpkens, who had been looking so strong an hour ago, now finds himself on the short side of things with just 3.8 million in chips. Racener is up to almost 26 million.
Michael Mizrachi's stack goes up a bit, then down a bit. Down a bit, then up a bit. He's back to about 5.5 million in chips after being shoved on by Brandon Steven. Steven opened for 430,000 pre-flop and was called by Mizrachi from the button. It was the same action on a flop of 
. When the turn came an 
, Steven checked. That opened the door for Mizrachi to fire a bet of his own, but he had to give up his cards and his claim to the pot after Steven check-raised all in for about 2.3 million total.
