Paul Taylor checked to Aleksejs Ponakovs on a flop of 
. Ponakovs fired out 80,000, Taylor check-raised all in for 385,000, and Ponakovs called.
Taylor: 
Ponakovs: 
Ponakovs held as the turn and river bricked 
, 
respectively, and Taylor hit the rail.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
3,940,000
890,000
|
890,000 |
|
||
|
Busted | |
Fabian Ortiz raised to 75,000 from under the gun, and it folded around to Jay Farber in the big blind who called.
The flop came 
and Farber quickly checked. Ortiz hesitated just a moment, then checked behind. The turn was the 
and Farber checked again. This time Ortiz reached for his chips for just a moment, then called again.
Both then quickly checked the 
river. Farber flashed his hand briefly — two small cards — and Ortiz showed 
, saying "you're welcome" as he scooped the small pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
2,425,000
105,000
|
105,000 |
|
1,610,000
80,000
|
80,000 |
Eli Heath made it 60,000 to go from the hijack, and Jonathan Jaffe reraised to 105,000 from the button. Heath called, and the flop ran down 
. Heath checked to Jaffe, who fired out 125,000. Heath called, and the turn brought the . Heath checked again to Jaffe, who bet 260,000 this time. Heath tanked for a couple of minutes before calling, and the river was the . Heath checked a third time, and Jaffe quickly moved all in, a bet of 1.215 million effective. Heath spent about three minutes in the tank before he emerged with the call.
Jaffe: 
Heath: 
Jaffe hit his gin card on the river, giving him a straight and eliminating Heath, who called with top pair on the board. After claiming that bounty, Jaffe is back up to 4.58 million.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
4,580,000
1,600,000
|
1,600,000 |
|
Busted |
Fredrik Halling opened to 65,000 in the hijack and David Benefield three-bet to 135,000 from the button. Action folded back to Halling who four-bet all in for 470,000. After a few moments, Benefield called with 
, slightly trailing Halling's 
.
The board ran out 
, giving Benefield a flush on the river to score the elimination.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
3,740,000
920,000
|
920,000 |
|
Busted |
Goran Mandic made it 65,000 to go from under the gun, and JC Tran called next to act. Rep Porter tagged along from the big blind, and the flop ran down 
. Porter checked to Mandic, who tossed out 50,000. Tran got in there with a raise to 125,000, and Porter folded. Mandic called, and the turn came the . Mandic checked, and it didn't take long for Tran to move all in, a bet worth the 705,000 left in Mandic's stack. He thought it over for a couple of minutes before releasing his hand, a move that drew cheers from Tran's rail in the Mothership.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
2,660,000
295,000
|
295,000 |
|
||
|
705,000
255,000
|
255,000 |
Brandon Steven had been all in multiple times over the last hour or so with his stack of less than 1 million, surviving each instance. Alas for Steven, in one of the final hands of Level 24 his Main Event run has come to an end, with a combination of community cards producing a gut-wrenching send-off.
The hand started with Steven open-shipping his last 675,000 from early position. It folded to Keanu Tabali who asked for a count, then receiving it promptly dropped down the requisite chips to call. It folded back around, Steven showed 
, and Tabali turned over 
. The pair bumped fists, then turned to watch the board.
The 
flop seemed unremarkable, but when the fell on the turn many uttered the word "sweat" as Tabali had hit a set of nines, but Steven had flush outs to survive.
Then came the river… the 
! Steven initially pumped his fist at the sight of the third spade on board then an instant later it registered with him that the card had paired the board to give Tabali the winning full house, and Steven's head sunk with the realization.
Another great Main Event run for Brandon Steven thus concludes with a top 100 finish. Steven finished 10th in 2010, just missing that year's November Nine.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
3,150,000
750,000
|
750,000 |
|
Busted |
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
4,430,000 | |
|
|
2,900,000
240,000
|
240,000 |
|
|
||
|
2,385,000 | |
|
1,370,000 | |
|
|
||
|
1,310,000 | |
|
875,000 | |
|
||
|
|
645,000
60,000
|
60,000 |
|
625,000 | |
Four levels are complete, with one more still to be played on Day 5 on the Main Event. During this past level, the tournament crossed a major milestone, as the “Players Left” section on the official tournament clock finally dropped to double digits. There are now 89 players left, all of whom are guaranteed a minimum payout of $71,053.
Sami Rustom is now the chip leader. Rustom was briefly atop the leader board before the dinner break, and regained that position during the last level when he won an all-in flip against Jonathan Depa. He then extended his lead by winning a big pot with a straight, putting his stack at almost 7.5 million. At the time, it was almost two million more than his closest competitor. He's since dropped to 6.7 million, but still holds a substantial chip lead.
Former Main Event champion Carlos Mortensen continued his hot streak from before dinner. He busted two players in a row, including Marvin Rettenmaier, bringing his stack up to almost three million.
There are now three women left in the field: Jackie Glazier, Annette Obrestad, and Beverly Lange. A fourth, Kima Kimura, was eliminated in 100th place. Glazier, Obrestad, and Lange still have a long way to go to match the performance of Gaelle Baumann and Elisabeth Hille from a year ago, but each of them surely have their sights set on even bigger prizes, like the final table and the bracelet.
Play resumes in 20 minutes. We’ll be back with chip counts and live updates from the last level once players return to their tables.
Level: 25
Blinds: 20,000/40,000
Ante: 5,000
These players earned $59,708 for their Main Event finish. For exact-place finishes, please check the payouts page.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted | |
|
|
Busted | |
|
|
Busted | |
|
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
|
Busted | |
|
|
Busted | |
|
Busted |
