Twelve players came back today with the relative same size chip stacks. Thirty minutes into the day Zachary Korick and Jarred Solomon were eliminated and all players were transferred from the Amazon room over to the feature table in the Pavilion room.
Layne Flack came out pretty strong once the final table commenced, and once he eliminated Dylan Horton in 10th place he secured a massive chip lead on the others at the table. The elimination of Dylan Horton brought us to our official nine handed final table. Flack started the final table by dictating a lot of the action, but he didn’t always come out on top. In fact he is a big reason Brandon Schaefer got to heads up play. Flack slowly got shorter and shorter, and eventually he was forced to go all in and things didn’t go in his way and the six time bracelet winner was eliminated in fourth place.
Layne Flack wasn’t the only bracelet holder to make an early exit on us today. Jeff Madsen also came to play. However Madsen never seemed to really pick up any steam though and was knocked out in 7th place.
Once Adam Kagin was eliminated in third we found ourselves in a highly competitive heads up match between Brandon Schaefer and Jonathan Cohen. Schaefer maintained a steady lead for the entirety of the match, but just because he held a lead does not mean it was an easy undertaking. Cohen continually check-raised pots and put Schaefer in tough spots. Schaefer eventually started to pick up on Cohen’s tendencies and managed to make a great call. In the end though Schaefer came out on top.
Congratulations to Brandon Schaefer on his first WSOP bracelet. Come back to Pokernews tomorrow and find out who the next great poker champion will be.
It all came to an end in dramatic fashion. There was a semi-bluff all-in, a great call and...
Jon Cohen opened the pot to 90,000 and Brendan Schaefer called to see a flop appear. Schaefer check-called a 105,000 bet to head to the turn where he faced a 230,000 bet.
His response was to check-raise all-in. Cohen stood up out if his chair and this caused the rail to pile forward. He hadn't called yet though but that came 30 seconds later. He had 1,800,000 chips when he called all-in.
Schaefer: for a an open ended straight draw.
Cohen: for top pair.
The river came to complete Schaefer's straight. He stood there staring at the board and there was an eery silence that seemed to last for a minute but was more like three seconds. The silence was interrupted by the floor man who confirmed Schaefer the victor. Half the rail wet crazy, half consoled their broken man.
A big congratulations go to Cohen who played a major part in making this a great final table.
All of a sudden two players are heads up for the bracelet and all the glory that goes with it.
Adam Kagin left us in third spot after he and Brandon Schaefer went to war pre flop. Schaefer opened to 55,000 from the button and then moved all-in after Kagin three-bet to 200,000 from the small blind. Call.
Kagin:
Schaefer:
The board ran to make Schaefer two-pair by the river.
He and Jon Cohen have almost even stacks, at more than 100 big blinds each, heading into their heads up battle.
It was battle of the blinds as Layne Flack in the small blind made it 56,000. Adam Kagin in the big blind moved all in, and Flack made the call.
Flack:
Kagin:
With Flack's tournament life on the line the dealer spread a flop. Flack needed a king or a queen if he wanted to add to his jewelery collection. A on the turn changed nothing, and a on the river sent Flack packing.
Flack came out swinging at today's final table, collecting a large chip stack and mandating action for most of the early levels. After losing a few flips though Flack's stack shrank and shrank, making him the short stack at the table. Flack will be leaving with $87,446 for his efforts today.
Jon Cohen is on a roll and has found a lucky hand. He just took care of David Chase to make this a four-handed affair.
The action folded to Cohen on the button and he opened to 33,000 and called when Chase shoved from the small blind for another 277,000.
Cohen:
Chase:
The board ran . Cohen's lucky hand flopped a set, turned a sweat, and rivered a full house.
Cohen had a ton of small denomination chips after this hand. The break's coming up in a few minutes and we'll verify his and all the other player's chip counts then. His rush could well have taken all the way to the chip lead.
With players taking turns stealing the blinds and antes we didn't expect anything different when Jonathan Cohen opened for 33,000. Action folded around to Michael Corson who moved all in for around 200,000. Cohen called immediately and flipped over . Corson countered by flipping over , which at the moment wasn't up to snuff.
Three cards were placed in the middle of the felt for the flop and they came out . Corson needed an ace, and an ace badly if he wanted to continue his run. A on the turn, and a gave the hand to Cohen, who's kings were best.
Jeff Madsen's dream of winning his third bracelet, and first for six years, had ended. He'd shoved three times in recent orbits, and on the fourth time he was called.
The action folded around to Jon Cohen on the button and he raised to 33,000. Madsen was in the big blind and moved all-in for 264,000. Call.
Madsen:
Cohen:
Madsen winced when he was called but must've been happy not to be a big dog in the hand.
The board ran to miss Madsen's over cards, despite picking up a draw to the world on the turn.
Brandon Steven started out a recent hand by opening to 27,000 from middle position. David Chase reraised to 75,000 in the cutoff. It then folded around to Layne Flack in the big blind who threw in 212,000. Steven immediately went all in, and Chase folded. Lack completed the call and put Steven at risk.
Flack:
Steven:
Once the flop was exposed Flack took the advantage. The on the turn helped no one, and the on the river sent Steven packing.
Justin Schwartz folded his big blind to action and had 51,000 remaining when open shoved from the small blind the next hand. Brandon Steven was in the big blind and called.
Schwartz:
Steven:
The board ran to end Schwartz's dreams. Steven added those much needed chips to his stack.
Our official final table has been set with the elimination of Dylan Horton.
He opened to 16,000 from mid position before Layne Flack three-bet to 49,000 from the next seat. Horton responded by moving all-in for a little more than 300,000, and Flack called after giving it some consideration.
Horton:
Flack:
The board ran to give Flack a set and a commanding lead moving forward.
There will be a short break before we start the official final table