Adam Friedman bet fourth street and got the call from Talal Shakerchi. Shakerchi then took the betting lead on each of the final three streets, getting called by Friedman all the way down.
The final call put Friedman down to his last 12,000 chips, but he dragged the pot with for a nine-low. Shakerchi's was good for a ten-low, but not good enough to win this pot.
On sixth street, Kuznetsov bet and Ivey called. The same action repeated on seventh street, and Kuznetsov tabled for a wheel. Ivey double-checked his cards, then mucked.
Action was five ways to the flop with at least 300,000 in the pot. Timofey Kuznetsov checked from the small blind, as did David Oppenheimer from the big blind and Andrew Brown, who was under the gun. Phil Ivey bet from the hijack and Lyle Berman folded on the button. Kuznetsov and Oppenheimer also folded while Brown called.
With action heads up, the turn came and Brown checked. Ivey bet again and Brown quickly folded as Ivey took down what was a five-way pot on the flop with no showdown.
Chris Klodnicki bet fourth street, and Josh Arieh called. Arieh took the lead on fifth street and bet, and Klodnicki called. Arieh bet again on sixth street, and a frustrated Klodnicki took a minute to count up his stack, looking at the boards, before finally mucking his hand.
Talal Shakerchi opened from the cutoff and received calls from Dario Sammartino on the button and Adam Friedman in the small blind. The three saw a flop of and Friedman checked to Shakerchi, who made a continuation-bet. Sammartino called and Friedman check-raised. Both Shakerchi and Sammartino called.
The turn came and Friedman bet. Shakerchi and Sammartino called again. The river was and Friedman bet. Shakerchi put in a raise and Sammartino folded.
Friedman was seemingly in agony as he looked at his hand and dropped a few expletives in the middle of his verbalized thought process. He talked about the strength of his hand and what possibilities could show up in Shakerchi's.
Eventually, he decided to make the hero fold, doing so face up and tabling for the missed nut low draw and trip jacks with an ace kicker. He asked Shakerchi to show one time. Shakerchi thought about it and decided to show one card, the case .
"That should show you all you needed to know," he said as he raked in the pot.
After dragging a massive pot at the expense of Lyle Berman, Phil Ivey has an excellent chance of being the first player to hit the 4-million chip mark in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship.
The hand against Berman went all seven streets, with Ivey rolling over a club flush to take it down.
John Esposito raised from the cutoff, and was called by Dan Cates on the button, Chris Klodnicki in the small blind, and Josh Arieh in the big blind.
Action checked to Esposito on a flop, and he bet. Cates and Klodnicki called, while Arieh folded.
Klodnicki checked the turn, and Esposito bet again. Cates called, and Klodnicki folded.
Esposito bet one final time on the river, and Cates called again.
"That hurt my hand," Esposito said before showing for nines and eights and a low. Cates tabled for a flush and a worse low, and the two chopped the pot.