Hands #53-54: Jonathan Little raised to 50,000 on the button and cutoff, winning both pots uncontested.
Hand #55: Connor Drinan raised to 54,000 on the button and Jonathan Littled called from the big blind. The flop came down and after Little's check, Drinan continued for 62,000. Little, though, check-raised to 170,000. Drinan called, resulting in the falling on the turn. Little bet 200,000 and after about two minutes, Drinan folded.
Hand #56: Connor Drinan raised to 54,000 from the cutoff and took down the blinds and antes.
Hand #57: Erick Lindgren limped from the small blind and Connor Drinan checked his option. The flop came down and Lindgren check-folded to a bet of 28,000 from Drinan.
Hand #58: Jonathan Little raised to 50,000 from the cutoff and Erick Lindgren called from the button. The flop came down and Little continued for 50,000. Lindgren folded.
Hand #59: Lee Markholt limped from the small blind, Jonathan Little checked his option, and the flop came down . Markholt bet 26,000 and Little called, landing the turn card. Markholt bet 55,000, Little raised to 135,000, and Markholt called to see the river. Both checked and Markholt tabled , besting Little's holdings.
Hand #60: Markholt raised his button to 65,000, and Little reraised to 170,000 from the small blind. After a pause by Lindgren, Action folded back to Markholt, who slowly studied his opponent before four-betting to 335,000 total. Little responded with a quick all-in declaration, putting 1 million more in the pot. This convinced Markholt, and his hand was tossed into the muck.
Hand #61: Little raised his button to 60,000, taking down the blinds and antes.
Hand #62: Little opened to 60,000 and we had a family pot with all three other players flatting. On the flop, the action checked around to Lindgren, who fired 125,000 into the middle. Drinan mucked his hand, but Markholt raised to roughly 500,000, which was enough to earn the pot.
Hand #63: Markholt limped in from the small blind, Little checked his option, and the flop fell . Markholt led out for a bet of 30,000, Little flatted, and the turn came . Little won the pot with a bet of 45,000 after Markholt slowed down.
Hand #64: Drinan opened for 65,000 from under the gun, Lindgren called to defend his big blind, and the flop came . A bet of 65,000 from Drinan was flatted by Lindgren, and the came on the turn. Both players tapped the table, and the completed the board on the river. The man they call "E-Dog" fired 125,000 at Drinan, who deliberated for a minute before calling. Lindgren rolled over the for top pair, and that was good enough for the win.
Jonathan Little is a published book author and two-time World Poker Tour champion. He has one World Series of Poker final table on his list of successes. Currently sitting fourth in chips at the final table of the $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em Six-Handed event, Little is hoping to run it to the end to score his first WSOP bracelet of his career.
During the break, PokerNews' Pamela Maldonado chatted with Little to try to get some insight to his strategy for the rest of the tournament.
Being a No-Limit Hold’em tournament book author, do you think having an analytical mind of the game deters you from playing with a strong intuition?
No not at all. I think some people naturally have a lot of it and some people don’t and I probably don’t but I’ve played a lot of poker that I have at least some. At this final table I could have bluffed twice on the river but didn’t so obviously my intuition isn’t the strongest.
So you’re sitting fourth in chips. Is aggression important for you even more so at this point, or are you now just hoping for some run good?
I have been playing extraordinarily aggressive and the other players have been catching me so now I’ll probably have to sit back and wait to catch cards at this point. Now that I have 30 big blinds I can just wait for good cards hopefully. It is four-handed though, so you definitely have to try to steal here and there.
What advantages do you think you have going for you right now?
I have no advantages. Actually, the other three players are really, really good. If I had a tenth of the chips then I am probably 1-in-10 to win at this point because were all equally good.
Hand #65: Erick Lindgren limped from the small blind, Connor Drinan raised to 85,000 from the big blind, and Lindgren folded.
Hand #66: Connor Drinan raised from the small blind and Lee Markholt called from the big blind. The flop fell and Drinan checked-folded to a bet of 50,000 from Markholt.
Hand #67: Connor Drinan raised to 65,000 on the button and Lee Markholt called from the small blind. Jonathan Little joined from the big blind, too, and the flop fell . The blinds checked to Drinan who bet 75,000. Markholt called, but Little raised to 240,000. Drinan gave his hand up and after about 60seconds, Markholt folded as well.
Hand #68: Lee Markholt raised to 60,000 on the button, Jonathan Little called from the small blind, and Erick Lindgren call from the big blind. They checked to the turn of a board where Little bet 100,000 and took it down.
Hand #69: Erick Lindgren limped from the small blind, Connor Drinan checked his option, and the flop fell . Lindgren bet, Drinan called, and Drinan took the pot with a bet on the turn, which was the .
Hand #70: Jonathan Little raised to 60,000 in the cutoff and Erick Lindgren called on the button. Lee Markholt called from the big blind and the flop came down . Markholt checked, Little bet 100,000, and only Markholt called to see the turn. Markholt check-folded to Little's bet of 200,000.
Hand #71: Lindgen opened for 60,000 from under the gun, and Drinan flatted from the button. The two took the flop heads-up, and Drinan bet 70,000 after Lindgren checked. On the turn, Lindgren checked once more, but folded to Drinan's 130,000 second barrel.
Hand #72: Drinan took down the blinds and antes with a preflop raise to 65,000.
Hand #73: Markholt raised to 65,000 from under the gun, and Little three-bet to 155,000 from the button. The table folded around to Markholt, who mucked as well, and the pot was pushed to Drinan.
Hand #74: Holding the button, Lindgren raised to 60,000, Markholt called from the big blind, and the dealer fanned the flop. Both players checked to see the arrive on the turn, and Markholt led out for 65,000. After Lindgren flatted, the river fell . Markholt fired another 110,000 at Lindgren, who took one last look at his cards before tossing them to the dealer.
and after Little's check, Drinan continued for 62,000. Little, though, check-raised to 170,000. Drinan called, resulting in the 
falling on the turn. Little bet 200,000 and after about two minutes, Drinan folded.
and Lindgren check-folded to a bet of 28,000 from Drinan.
and Little continued for 50,000. Lindgren folded.
. Markholt bet 26,000 and Little called, landing the 
turn card. Markholt bet 55,000, Little raised to 135,000, and Markholt called to see the 
river. Both checked and Markholt tabled 
![[user253757]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
flop, the action checked around to Lindgren, who fired 125,000 into the middle. Drinan mucked his hand, but Markholt raised to roughly 500,000, which was enough to earn the pot.
. Markholt led out for a bet of 30,000, Little flatted, and the turn came 
. Little won the pot with a bet of 45,000 after Markholt slowed down.
. A bet of 65,000 from Drinan was flatted by Lindgren, and the 
completed the board on the river. The man they call "E-Dog" fired 125,000 at Drinan, who deliberated for a minute before calling. Lindgren rolled over the 
for top pair, and that was good enough for the win.
and Drinan checked-folded to a bet of 50,000 from Markholt.
. The blinds checked to Drinan who bet 75,000. Markholt called, but Little raised to 240,000. Drinan gave his hand up and after about 60seconds, Markholt folded as well.
board where Little bet 100,000 and took it down.
. Lindgren bet, Drinan called, and Drinan took the pot with a bet on the turn, which was the 
flop heads-up, and Drinan bet 70,000 after Lindgren checked. On the 
turn, Lindgren checked once more, but folded to Drinan's 130,000 second barrel.
. Markholt fired another 110,000 at Lindgren, who took one last look at his cards before tossing them to the dealer.