In a large pot of just under 25,000 on a board showing 10♠7♦5♠4♠, a player in the small blind checked over to Masatoshi Kato in middle position who bet 13,000. The small blind went deep in the tank, contemplating for several minutes.
After almost three minutes, the small blind folded and Kato was awarded the pot to increase his stack over 100,000.
Brandon Shack-Harris raised to 1,300 from early position and Dan Smith bumped it to 4,200 from middle position.
Shack-Harris checked the A♦8♠3♥ flop and Smith put in a bet of 2,500. Both players checked a 7♦ turn, then Shack-Harris took the lead, betting 9,000 on the 8♥ river.
Smith couldn't find a call, and ceded the pot to Shack-Harris.
Action was picked up on the river in a massive pot between Heather Alcorn in first position and another player in the small blind.
With a board reading Q♣A♥Q♥K♦6♦, action was on the player in the small blind who moved all in for 41,000 effective and Alcorn went into the tank.
"My nemesis," she remarked as she pondered a call for her tournament life. After some more thought she put in the chips and the hands were turned over.
Heather Alcorn: Q♦10♦
Opponent: 7♠6♣
Alcorn was good with her three queens and she added a healthy chunk to her growing stack.
The PokerNews team caught the action when all the chips were in the middle preflop between Robert Wood in early position, a player in the hijack and Ruggiero Ambrosino in the big blind.
Wood had the covering stack to both his opponents and Ambrosino was all in for close to 45,000.
Hijack: K♣Q♣
Ruggiero Ambrosino: A♠Q♥
Robert Wood: J♠J♦
The flop was a great one for Ambrosino when the dealer fanned out A♦A♣3♣, but he would still need to dodge the flush draw and jack for his opponents. The board ran out clean on a 4♦3♠ to improve Ambrosino to a full house and score the triple up.
"What did you eat tonight?", asked a player to Jonathan Pastore, who seems to be in a rush since the dinner break.
And he won another pot thanks to a three-bet on the button after an open by a player in middle position who called.
On 5♥Q♦2♣, Pastore continued to 3,000, and his opponent check-called a first time. Then he did it a second time after Pastore bet 10,000 on the turn 3♥.
The river was the 4♥, and the player in the middle position checked once more. Pastore bet very small, only 3,000, and his opponent snap-called.
"You're lucky," he said to Pastore, who hit a straight on the river with A♣Q♥. The player in middle position showed 5♣5♦ for a set.
A few minutes after Pastore won this pot, Harish Ananthapadmanabha sat at the table with one of the biggest stack of the tournament so far, 330,000 chips.
On a completed board reading Q♥10♥4♥10♦3♣, Nikolai Tulin tossed out a bet of 26,500 when checked to by his opponent.
The bet represented almost a full pot-sized bet and sent his opponent deep into the tank, at one point saying, "If I fold will you show me?" which was quickly shut down by the dealer before Tulin could even decide to offer an answer.
Eventually, his opponent called and Tulin lifted the K♥J♥ off the table to show his opponent that he had flopped the second nut flush with outs to the straight flush and royal flush as well.
His opponent sent his cards into the muck, saying he was unable to get away from AxQx as the dealer pushed the pot in Tulin's direction.
button in Safari
