We caught up with this one on the flop, with three players still in — Eugene Katchalov (big blind), Antonio Esfandiari (hijack), and Nick Schulman (cutoff).
The board read and Katchalov had just checked. Esfandiari fired a bet of 123,000, then Schulman raised to 277,000, forcing a fold from Katchalov. Esfandiari thought a moment, then called.
The turn brought the and a bet of 362,000 from Esfandiari. That sent Schulman into the tank for a full minute or so, after which he finally emerged to raise all in for about 1.1 million, and Esfandiari called.
Esfandiari:
Schulman:
Two pair for Esfandiari, better than Schulman's overpair. The river came the , and Schulman is out. Exactly 40 players remain.
Jason Mercier raised to 60,000 from middle position and Noah Schwartz called from the cutoff seat. Gus Hansen called from the button and then Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier called from the big blind.
The flop came down and action checked over to Hansen. He bet 111,000 and Grospellier check-raised all in for 444,000. Mercier got out of the way before both Schwartz and Hansen called.
The turn was a and both Schwartz and Hansen checked. They also checked after an fell on the river.
Schwartz showed the for two pair, jacks and eights. Hansen showed the for a full house and Grospellier showed the . Hansen won the pot and eliminated Grospellier.
Tom Dwan was all in and at risk preflop holding . Mikhail Smirnov had him at risk holding , and the board ran out , doubling Dwan to 1.7 million chips.
We came on a hand in which the board showed , Tom Marchese had just fired a river bet, and Ben Lamb was deep in the tank contemplating what to do. At last Lamb folded, and when he inquired of Marchese what he had, Marchese had an excuse for why he couldn't show his hand.
"I would have to give him $1,000," said Marchese, jerking a thumb toward Vivek Rajkumar sitting on his right. When Lamb pressed for details, it sounded like it the pair had made an agreement that if Marchese showed a hand, he'd owe Rajkumar a grand (and not vice-versa).
"I gave him a freeroll," said Marchese. Then he added, "That river was very bad for me."
Nick Schulman leaned forward at that. "Gotta solve a f*ckin' riddle every time... what did you have?!?"
The table laughed at Schulman's exasperation as the next hand began, during which they became aware that Paul Phua had busted in 44th. At that news, Marchese pulled out a small wad of hundreds fastened with rubber bands and tossed it to Lamb, settling yet another side wager.
Not sure exactly what the payment was... perhaps $10K? To those of us watching without much practice handling or wagering such sums, it's a riddle.
We don't know the exact details, but one of our field reporters just told us that Nick Schulman doubled through Erik Seidel holding pocket kings. Schulman is now around 1.7 million chips, while Seidel slipped to about 135,000.
Daniel Negreanu opened to 52,000 from early position, and the action folded to Paul Phua who moved all in for 418,000 from the cutoff. The button and blinds released, and Negreanu made the call.
Negreanu:
Phua:
Negreanu's wired eights held as the board ran out , and Phua was eliminated.
"Sorry Paul," Negreanu offered after the hand.
Phua made a quick pit stop at Table 401 to perhaps give Richard Yong a bad beat story, then exited the Amazon Room.
and Katchalov had just checked. Esfandiari fired a bet of 123,000, then Schulman raised to 277,000, forcing a fold from Katchalov. Esfandiari thought a moment, then called.
and a bet of 362,000 from Esfandiari. That sent Schulman into the tank for a full minute or so, after which he finally emerged to raise all in for about 1.1 million, and Esfandiari called.
, and Schulman is out. Exactly 40 players remain.
and action checked over to Hansen. He bet 111,000 and Grospellier check-raised all in for 444,000. Mercier got out of the way before both Schwartz and Hansen called.
and both Schwartz and Hansen checked. They also checked after an 
fell on the river.
for two pair, jacks and eights. Hansen showed the 
for a full house and Grospellier showed the 
. Hansen won the pot and eliminated Grospellier.
![[user101598]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
, and the board ran out 
, doubling Dwan to 1.7 million chips.
, and Seidel was eliminated.
