Hand #5: Athanasios Polychronopoulos raised to 45,000 from early position, Nicotera shoved all-in for 389,000, and Polychronopoulos quickly called him down with . Nicotera was in bad shape with his , but the flop of gave him a few additional outs. The turn () and river () blanked off, however, and Nicotera was eliminated on the fifth hand of final table play.
Hand #33: Taylor opened for 65,000 from the cutoff, and Carlton three-bet to 155,000 from the small blind, forcing Taylor off his hand.
Hand #34: Polychronopoulos opened for 70,000 from the cutoff, Carlton called on the button, and Baker shipped his last 490,000. Polychronopoulos got out of the way, but Carlton insta-called with his . Baker was in very bad shape with his , and although he found a four on the flop, the turn () and river () both missed him, sending him to the payout desk in 8th place. With his third final table appearance in three WSOP tournaments this summer, Baker's amazing run here has come to an end, but he is sure to be a force at final tables to come for the foreseeable future.
Hand #65: Mutke raised his button to 80,000, taking a pot chocked full of blinds and antes.
Hand #66: Cada opened for 80,000 in the hijack, and the blinds surrendered.
Hand #67: Ward moved all-in from the cutoff, risking his last 290,000 with , and Taylor quickly called from the small blind with his . Ward was in bad shape, and the flop of only put him in a deeper hole. The provided a brief glimmer of hope, and he would need to spike one of the three queens left in the deck to survive.
River:
With that, Ward was sent to the payout desk, and his stack was sent to Taylor.
Hand #73: Cada opened for 80,000 from the hijack, Polychronopoulos three-bet for 265,000 from the big blind, and Cada moved all-in for his last 825,000. Polychronopoulos snap-called and revealed his , but found himself way behind the tabled by Cada. The final board ran out , and Cada's queens gave him the double.
Hand #74: Flush with chips from his win in the last hand, Cada opened for 80,000 under the gun, and the table folded to the champ.
Hand #75: Polychronopoulos raised to 90,000 on his button, Cada called to defend his big blind, and the flop fell . Cada checked, Polychronopoulos bet 125,000, and Cada called to see the turn come . Both players checked the deuce, as well as the on the river, and Cada's for ace-high was good enough.
Hand #76: Taylor opened for 90,000 in the hijack, and the action folded around to Mutke in the big blind, but he decided to release.
Hand #83: Action folded around to Mutke in the small blind, and his 80,000 raise was called by Kurth in the big blind. The flop of saw Mutke lead out for 65,000, but Kurth was ready to rumble, reraising to 200,000 even. After a minute long tank, Mutke moved all-in to put Kurth to a test for his tournament life. Kurth liked his enough to gamble, and he was delighted to see Mutke turn over just for no pair no draw. Kurth was looking for hearts, or baby cards to catch up, and the added even more outs to his arsenal. He would need any heart, deuce, three, or seven to survive, but the on the river missed him entirely.
Hand #112: Carlton won the blinds and antes with raise to 150,000 from the small blind.
Hand #113: Carlton raised from the button, but folded when Joe Cada reraised all-in for is last 840,000 or so chips.
Hand #114: Polychronopoulos opened to 125,000 from under the gun, Taylor reraised all-in for approximately 1.2 million big blind, and that was enough to force a fold.
Hand #115: Cada opened to 120,000 in the cutoff, stealing the blinds and antes.
Hand #116: Cada opened to 120,000 from under the gun, Taylor shoved all-in for 1.4 million, and Cada made the quick call for his last 1.165 million.
Showdown:
Cada:
Taylor:
The two were racing in this huge spot, but when the flop fell , Cada got a big head start. A on the turn improved Cada's hand, but actually gave Taylor four more outs to the Broadway straight. The on the river was a brick though, and Taylor shipped most of his chips across the table.
Hand #162: Under the gun this time, Polychronopoulos made it 190,000 to play, and Cada played back at him with an all-in reraise for 1.175 million, which Polychronopoulos quickly called.
Showdown:
Cada:
Polychronopoulos:
Cada was poised to double through with his dominant ace, and the flop of put him step closer to his second WSOP bracelet.
Turn:
Just like that, Cada was caught by a fishhook, and the on the river ended the proceedings, leaving Cada to shake hands with the remaining players and exit the Mothership main stage.
Hand #176: Mutke raised his button to 160,000, and Polychronopoulos reraised to 390,000, staring his opponent down and casually showing off his chip tricks while Mutke contemplated. Eventually, Mutke moved all-in for 2.165 million, and Polychronopoulos snap-called with the , standing and striding towards his supporters on the rail.
Mutke's was in bad shape, but he had live cards and lots of possibilities. On the flop, Mutke found a pair and took the lead in the hand, but the on the turn gave Polychronopoulos additional outs to the gutshot straight.
River: .
With that, Mutke scored a huge double up to survive, taking a chunk out of Polychronopoulos' stack while putting himself in contention for a WSOP gold bracelet.
Hand #182: After Polychronopoulos opened for a raise from the small blind, Carlton shipped his last 2.45 million into the middle, and Polychronopoulos snap-called with , putting him in dominant position over Carlton's .
With his rail now screaming for a clean board, the dealer spread a flop of .
Although Carlton had not found a six, he picked up chop possibilities if the board paired up, but the turn () and river () did not cooperate, sending the WSOP Circuit grinder to the rail in 3rd place.