A couple of the short stacks just went to battle, with the shorter of the two — Calvin Anderson — surviving. Anderson managed to draw a smooth eight — — while his opponent, Dale Townsend, ended up pairing a on the end. Anderson survives, but both remain short with 23 left.
Finally Ali Sarkeshik's Event #59 has ended in 24th place, but not before he left everyone with a few last grins by which to remember him.
All in from the small blind against Brian Brubaker (big blind) and Michael Mizrachi (cutoff), Sarkeshik took three cards and the others each took two.
"I check!" said Sarkeshik with a grin, even though he had no chips left with which to bet.
Brubaker also checked, Mizrachi bet, and Brubaker called. Sarkeshik and Brubaker both took two on the next draw, and Mizrachi just one. Again it checked to Mizrachi who bet, and Brubaker folded this time.
Both Sarkeshik and Mizrachi drew on the end, and Mizrachi showed his four cards — — then turned over the fifth, a .
At the sight of that Sarkeshik winced as he turned over his four cards — . "How many outs do I have?" he asked out loud. Mizrachi pointed across the room to the exit doors. "There are lots of outs," said the Grinder with a big grin.
Sarkeshik squeezed his last card — a — then bid everyone good luck before he departed. Meanwhile, Mizrachi has pushed up over 350,000 and into the lead once again.
Eric Wasserson raised it up from under the gun, and Eli Elezra three bet it from the cutoff. Wasserson made the call, then both players drew one card. Wasserson fired out, and Elezra made the call. Wasserson stood pat, and Elezra tanked for about 20 seconds before saying "I'm pat." Wasserson checked, and Elezra fired out. Both players stayed pat, and the same betting action occurred, with Wasserson tanking about a minute before calling.
Elezra chucked his hand face up towards the middle, showing the stone cold nuts: . Wasserson said something along the lines of "I thought you had that hand," before rechecking his hole cards, then mucking.
Ali Sarkeshik has been sitting with the shortest stack in the room for the last half-hour at least, and at present is now down to less than a single big bet.
He's had a smile on his face the entire time, though, laughing and chatting with others as he managed to make it past the first pay jump. He's been explaining how in cash games he'd be putting his chips in readily drawing three cards, but in tournaments he plays differently.
The blinds are about to reach him again, though, so he'll have to commit those last chips soon.
Ola Amundsgard had been a fixture at the top of the leaderboard for most of the day, but nothing went his way after the dinner break, as he was just eliminated after back-to-back clashes with Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi. In the first hand, both Mizrachi and Amundsgard stood pat on the second and third draws, and Mizrachi bet in the dark both times. Amundsgard called, and Mizrachi showed , which bested Amundsgard's hand, dropping him to just 4,000 in the process.
On the very next hand, Mizrachi opened the action for a raise on the button, and Amundsgard tossed in the call from the big blind. He then proceeded to draw four cards, while Mizrachi drew two. Amundgard committed the last 700 of his chips, and Mizrachi called. Amundsgard then drew two, while Mizrachi drew one, and Amundsgard stood pat on the final draw. Mizrachi drew one, and saw that he was up against the of Amundsgard. Mizrachi had , and was drawing to a six, five, or four to get the win. He flipped his card up: the , which was good enough to score the knockout and end Ola Amundsgard's run in 25th.
After winning those hands, Mizrachi is all the way up to 196,000.
Ali Sarkeshik was already all in when we arrived at the table. He drew two cards, while his lone opponent in the hand, Calvin Anderson, drew one. From there, Anderson would stay pat, while Sarkeshik would draw two on the second draw, before staying pat himself on the third. Anderson showed , but it was no good, as Sarkeshik tabled , giving him a much needed double up.
A short-stacked Matthew Smith recently lost the last of his stack to Benjamin Pollak after failing to outdraw him, thus knocking Smith out in 26th place.
Meanwhile, the other short stacks continue to persevere, with Ali Sarkeshik and Brian Brubaker currently the shortest of them with 25 left. Stian Amundsgard is also down to just a handful of big bets despite recently earning a double-up through Eli Elezra.
Dario Alioto was riding a short stack for the couple levels leading up to the money bubble, and he was still grinding after dinner, but we just saw him bust at the hands of Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi.
We saw Alioto commit most of his chips, then draw two cards, while Mizrachi opted for just one. The rest of Alioto's chips got in the middle, and Mizrachi called, then stood pat while Alioto drew one. Mizrachi rolled over for the second best possible hand, and Alioto had actually made an low on the final draw, but it was no good for him and he is out in 27th place.
Meanwhile, Mizrachi jumped up to 155,000 after winning that hand.