Ali Eslami raised to 40,000 from the button, and Jeff Tims three-bet to 140,000 next door in the small blind. The two men had a quick conversation about their chip stacks to figure out who was shortest. As it turned out, Tims' 164,000 was the slightly covering stack. That didn't stop Eslami from shoving all in, and Tims made the call for nearly his full stack, too.
"I got a pair," Tims announced.
"Then it's a flip," Eslami answered.
Showdown
Eslami:
Tims:
Tims' pair held a big lead after the flop, and the turn made him the straight to the six. Eslami was drawing dead to a chop and one card from the exit.
The river dropped the , though, and that puts the same straight on board. Tims was none too pleased at the way that coin flip ended, and he'll have to settle for his money back plus half the big blind.
Phil Ivey is down to 170,000 in part to these two losses.
He raised to 40,000 on the button and Daniel Weinman called in the big blind. The flop was and Weinman took 40,000 off Ivey when he check-raised to 120,000 and the great man folded.
Then a few hands later Ivey opened up to 40,000 in first position and Matt Marafioti three-bet to a smidgen over 100,000. Ivey folded and Marafioti showed .
"Look at Phil," said Eslami, "he must be thinking how do these people get these hands so late in the tournament? He {Marafioti} has at least queens or aces once per orbit."
Jeff Tims becomes the last player to take home $28,334 after being eliminated by the cheeky, chirpy Ali Eslami.
It was Alexander Venovski who started the ball rolling when he raised to 40,000 from the hijack. Eslami raised 'pot' from the button, Tims moved all-in for 154,000 in the small blind, Venovski folded and Eslami called.
Eslami
Tims
Venovski told the table that he folded ace-queen, so less outs for Tims.
Board:
"Hey, Ali how is it going?" Came a shout from the rail.
"Not bad. Just doubled up. Got tens against ace-king, flopped a set…" said Eslami.
"Anything else?" Shouted Deeb from the other table.
Eslami is doing very well as he moves up to 402,000 and Tims is out.
Two-time bracelet winner Hoyt Corkins has just put it all on the line with the lowest pair in the deck. Steve Landfish was the unlucky loser and moved down to 442,000 chips as a consequence. All of the money went into the mixer pre flop.
Corkins
Landfish
Board:
A set on the flop good enough for Corkins to deliver the suckout. He is now up to 208,000 chips.
Phil Ivey has been short-stacked for a while now, but he's out to change that.
A few hands ago, Ivey found his double. The pot began with him opening from the cutoff. Alex Venovski reraised from the big blind, and the last of Ivey's 126,000 went into the middle. He was working with and drawing live against Venovski's . A king on the flop saved Ivey's tournament life, and the doubled him back to 262,000.
Ivey made a raise-and-take one hand later, then played a three-bet pot from his big blind in the same orbit. Venovski had opened to 40,000, but Ivey was having none of it. His reraise to 100,000 took down the pot without incident.
Don't look now, but Mr. Ivey is approaching the chip average once again. He's got 330,000 chips now.
Alex Venovski has been trying desperately to win a pot for a couple orbits now. In the last hand, he opened to 40,000 in early position, and Matt Marafioti reraised to 120,000 from the big blind. Venovski wasted no time reraising all in for about 340,000.
Marafioti did waste a lot of time in the tank. He is a serial tanker, though, so it came as no surprise. Five or six agonizing minutes later, his cards hit the muck.
Manuel Bevand raised to 40,000 in the cutoff, Antonio Esfandiari three-bet to 102,000 from the big blind and Bevand folded.
Then Bevand tried again, this time from the hijack, and Esfandiari once again raised the stakes by making it 102,000 from the small blind. This time Bevand moved all-in and Esfandiari called.
The flop was and Esfandiari's pose still looked confident. The turn card was the and any jack would now fill up a straight for Bevand. Then the river delivered a punch right to the heart of the former WSOP bracelet winner .
"Dammit," said Esfandiari before composing himself to shake everyone's hand.
It's a shame to see The Magician leave because he would have been a great spectacle at the final table.
[user169505]
Andy Frankenberger doubles through Bevand
Our chip leader Manuel Bevand raised to 48,000 and Andy Frankenberger bet 'pot' from the big blind. The pair decided to play for stacks and Frankenberger was in a great position.
Frankenberger
Bevand
The flop was and Frankenberger rose from his seat and turned away from the table. The turn card didn't change much, but the certainly did. The noise from the rail prompting Frankenberger to turn around and when he saw his set he was jubilant.
"Come on! Come on!" Shouted a fired up Frankenberger.
So far that is the most intense emotion we have seen from anyone in the closing stages of this tournament. It seems Frankenberger wants his second bracelet in a bad way.
![[user66118]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
flop, and the 
turn made him the straight to the six. Eslami was drawing dead to a chop and one card from the exit.
, though, and that puts the same straight on board. Tims was none too pleased at the way that coin flip ended, and he'll have to settle for his money back plus half the big blind.
doubled him back to 262,000.
and Esfandiari's pose still looked confident. The turn card was the 
.
