Thiago Nishijima opened for 5,300 from middle position and was met with a three-bet to 12,000 by Brian Yoon in the cutoff. Mark Zajdner was next to act on the button and opted to move all in for right around 90,000.
After the blinds got out of the way, Nishijima took his time before moving all in. Yoon folded and it was off to the races for a 200K pot.
Showdown
Nishijima:
Zajdner:
It was a tense moment, but it all disappeared when the flop came down to give Nishijima a set. Zajdner shook his head and knew he would need runner-runner straight cards to stay alive. The turn gave him a sliver of hope to a five, but while the river was close, it was not what he needed.
In a recent hand, Le opened to 6,000 from under-the-gun and found one caller in Jason Mann in the cutoff position.
The flop came and Le fired 7,000 into the middle. Mann called to see a turn, which brought the .
Le fired again for 15,000 and Mann again called.
Le slowed down and checked on the river and, after some thought, Mann checked behind and announced that he held an ace. Le didn't show and Mann flipped over for a pair of aces. Le took one last peak at his cards and mucked.
With about 10,000 in the pot and a flop of , Tommy Vedes checked and allowed Aurelien Guiglini to bet 4,000. Vedes, who was enjoying a salad, thought for a moment and check-raised to 10,5000 before returning to the salad.
As Vedes was chowing down, Guiglini picked up his cards and tossed them to the muck. It wasn't much of a hand, but gave us a good excuse to tell you that Vedes is eating a salad and sitting on a stack of about 90,000.
2008 Main-Event Champion Peter Eastgate pushed all in for his last 22,600 from the hijack seat. Action folded around to Randy "Nanonoko" Lew in the big blind, who asked for a count. After deliberating for a while, Lew committed calling chips to put Eastgate at risk.
Eastgate:
Lew:
The board left Lew with a pair of fives, which was good for the knockout.
We saw 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event champ Jonathan Duhamel exiting the Purple Section of the Amazon Room. While we didn't catch his elimination hand, Will "The Thrill" Failla was kind enough to fill us in.
According to him, Duhamel opened with only to have Harold Evans, who happened to hold , three-bet. Duhamel responded by moving all in and Evans, who had him covered by a couple thousand, made the call. The board ran out dry and Duhamel fell shy of the money.
On a flop, Miguel Borrero checked and Eric Cloutier bet 10,000. Borrero then shoved all in for 31,500. Cloutier made the call and the two players turned their hands over.
Borerro:
Cloutier:
Borerro was in good shape and it would stay that way as the turn and the river ensure Borrero would double up to around 65,000. Cloutier's stack is still very healthy as he sits as one of the chip leaders.
Jeanluc Voyer opened to 6,200 from the button and it was folded to Galen Hall on the big blind, who checked out Voyer's remaining stack and made the call.
Both players checked down on the flop and turn, however, when the landed on the river, Hall led out for 10,500. Voyer quickly called and Hall tabled for fours-full of kings. Voyer shook his head and mucked.