James Routos came in for a raise to 25,000 in early position, and Chiab Saechao was the only caller in the small blind. The flop came down , and Saechao led out for 35,000. Routos elected to call, and the turn brought the . Saechao checked, and Routos took little time in assembling a bet of 60,000. Saechao beat him into the pot, and the two saw the hit the river. Saechao quickly checked, and Routos checked as well after about 15 seconds of thought. Saechao grimmaced, and showed a failed trap, as he tabled for a rivered boat. Routos mucked, giving the pot to Saechao.
After the hand, Saechao is over 300,000, while Routos, who has been one of the big stacks all day, is now one of the short stacks.
Action began with Jay Pinkussoh, who opened for 30,000 from under-the-gun. Directly behind him, Steven Phan went all in for his last 38,000. Ray Pulford then re-raised to 138,000 total. Everyone else folded, including Pinkussoh and hands were revealed.
Jay Pinkussohn pulled off a miracle earlier in the final table, when his ace jack cracked the aces of Patricia Baker, but his luck has run out and he's been eliminated. James Routos did most of the damage when he raised from the button, and Pinkussohn moved all in from the big blind. Routos called fairly quickly with and saw that he had Pinkussohn's dominated.
Any chance Pinkussohn had of pulling off another suckout basically went out the door when the flop came down to give Routos a set. Pinkussohn would need runner runner fours or straight cards, but the turn and river came the and .
Just a few hands later, Baker limped in from under the gun, and Pinkussohn moved all in for about 50,000. It folded back to Baker who made the call. When the cards were flipped, Pinkussohn saw that once again he was dominated.
Pinkussohn:
Baker:
The dealer fanned out a flop of that provided no help for Pinkussohn. The on the turn paired the board, giving Pinkussohn some outs for a chop, but the on the river didn't bring any help. Pinkussohn headed to the rail, while Baker strengthened her chip lead.
Ray Pulford and James Routos have been fixtures at the top of the leaderboard all day, and the two just tangled in a big pot. Action folded to Pulford on the button, and he raised to 26,000. Patricia Baker called out of the small blind, and it was on James Routos in the big blind. He announced raise, and slid a bet of 55,000 into the middle. Both Pulford and Baker came along, and we had a rare three way pot.
The flop came down , and Baker checked to Routos, who kept his foot on the gas, betting out 70,000. Pulford thought for just a few moments before putting the chips in for the call, and Baker folded fairly quickly. The turn brought the , and this time, Routos checked. Pulford saw the opportunity to strike, and fired out 85,000 into the middle. After 15 seconds in the tank, Routos announced "fold" and Pulford's rail celebrated as Pulford showed his hand, for just third pair . That hand gives him the chip lead, while Routos is still plently healthy, sitting comfortably in 2nd place.
Play has slowed down a bit, with players opting to play a more "small ball" style instead of risking very large sums of their stacks.
In a recent hand, James Routos opened to 25,000 from the button and was 3-bet to 53,000 from Nicolas Vaca-Rondon from the small blind. Chiab Saechao folded the big and Routos flatted to see a flop.
Flop:
Vaca-Rondon checked and Routos, undeterred by Vaca-Rondon's 3-bet, fired 75,000 into the top. Vaca-Rondon quickly folded.
Action started with Nicolas Vaca-Rondon, who came in for a raise to 26,000 in the cutoff. Ray Pulford was the only caller from the small blind, and the two went heads up to a flop of . Pulford checked, and Vaca-Rondon bet out 33,000. Pulford thought for about 15 seconds before moving all in, and Vaca-Rondon took about 0.2 seconds to call.
Pulford:
Vaca-Rondon:
Vaca-Rondon had flopped top set, but Pulford had just about the worst hand Vaca-Rondon could see. He would have to fade a diamond to double up, and while the on the turn didn't complete Pulford's flush, it did give him straight draw outs. However, the on the river completed neither of those, and Vaca-Rondon secured the double up.
, and Saechao led out for 35,000. Routos elected to call, and the turn brought the 
. Saechao checked, and Routos took little time in assembling a bet of 60,000. Saechao beat him into the pot, and the two saw the 
hit the river. Saechao quickly checked, and Routos checked as well after about 15 seconds of thought. Saechao grimmaced, and showed a failed trap, as he tabled 
for a rivered boat. Routos mucked, giving the pot to Saechao.
and Phan was eliminated.
dominated.
to give Routos a set. Pinkussohn would need runner runner fours or straight cards, but the turn and river came the 
.
, and Baker checked to Routos, who kept his foot on the gas, betting out 70,000. Pulford thought for just a few moments before putting the chips in for the call, and Baker folded fairly quickly. The turn brought the 
, and this time, Routos checked. Pulford saw the opportunity to strike, and fired out 85,000 into the middle. After 15 seconds in the tank, Routos announced "fold" and Pulford's rail celebrated as Pulford showed his hand, 
for just third pair . That hand gives him the chip lead, while Routos is still plently healthy, sitting comfortably in 2nd place.
. Pulford checked, and Vaca-Rondon bet out 33,000. Pulford thought for about 15 seconds before moving all in, and Vaca-Rondon took about 0.2 seconds to call.