Simeon Tsonev opened from under the gun and Michael Zulker responded with a pot-sized raise from the hijack. Tsonev called for less, putting himself all in.
Simeon Tsonev: J♦J♣4♣3♠
Michael Zulker: A♣A♠9♥8♠
Zulker's aces held up on the K♠6♠Q♥2♦2♣ runout to win the pot while Tsonev's deep run ended in eighth place.
Erik Seidel opened to 560,000 from early position and Quan Zhou defended from the big blind.
The flop came 7♣9♣3♦ and Zhou shoved. Seidel had around 400,000 behind and called, putting himself at risk.
Erik Seidel: A♠A♥10♥2♦
Quan Zhou: Q♠Q♥9♠4♥
Seidel was ahead with the better overpair and the K♦ turn changed nothing for either player. The Q♣ river gave Zhou a set of queens to send the Poker Hall of Famer to the rail and win the hand.
Jorryt van Hoof raised it up to 560,000 on the button and fellow countryman Javier Francort three-bet to 1,760,000. It folded back to van Hoof, who glanced back at the tournament info screen and eventually jammed for around 2,000,000 to get called instantly.
Jorryt van Hoof: K♣K♥5♠3♣
Javier Francort: A♣A♥9♣7♥
The A♠8♣4♦ flop left van Hoof in rough shape and he needed a deuce or running cards to survive. Nothing changed on the 5♣ turn and the 4♠ river only improved Francort to aces full. Both Dutch players exchanged words in their native language before parting ways.
Without stacking up the chips from the elimination, Francort instantly ran towards the bathroom while "TheCleaner11" van Hoof left the tournament area. The nine remaining players will now redraw to the unofficial nine-handed final table.
Michael Wang opened to 400,000 from under the gun and Isaac Kempton potted to 1,440,000 from the cutoff. Wang moved all in and Kempton called with his remaining stack of roughly 500,000, putting himself at risk.
Isaac Kempton: K♥K♦J♣9♦
Michael Wang: A♦A♥K♠10♣
Kempton rivered the case king on the Q♦A♠5♠4♣K♣ runout but it was no good as Wang had flopped top set to eliminate Kempton and extend his lead over the rest of the field.
Erik Nordstrand opened to 560,000 from the middle position and Michael Wang called from the cutoff.
The flop came K♥9♠8♠. Nordstrand moved all in and Wang called to put him at risk.
Erik Nordstrand: A♥Q♠8♣6♠
Michael Wang: Q♣Q♦9♣2♦
Wang had the best made hand with a pair of queens while Nordstrand was live to any spade, ace, eight or six. Nordstrand completely missed on the 10♥ turn and 5♥ river, resulting in his elimination while Wang took down another sizable pot.
David Paredes raised the pot out of the small blind and was called by Quan Zhou in the big blind. With around 900,000 behind to the J♥6♣4♠ flop, Paredes got it in and Zhou looked him up without too much hesitation.
David Paredes: K♦Q♦Q♠2♦
Quan Zhou: K♠J♦10♥9♠
The 8♣ turn gave Zhou further outs and he hit one of them with the K♥ river, sending Paredes out in 12th place.
Michael Rocco opened to 420,000 in the hijack and Javier Francort reraised the pot from the small blind. Rocco put the last of his chips in the middle for around 1,500,000 and the cards were tabled.
Michael Rocco: A♣10♥8♣3♦
Javier Francort: A♥10♦9♥9♦
The flop came J♦7♥5♥ and Rocco stood from his seat with his tournament life hanging in the balance. The 7♦ on the turn and the 9♠ on the river improved Francort to a full house and Rocco was eliminated.
Sean Rafael raised to 350,000 from middle position and Stefan Lehner three-bet all in for approximately 1,000,000 from the cutoff. It was folded back to Rafael, who called to put Lehner at risk.
Stefan Lehner: A♥A♦9♦8♠
Sean Rafael: A♣J♠7♣6♠
Lehner had the best of it with his aces, but the J♥J♣7♠ flop vaulted Rafael into the lead with trip jacks.
The 5♥ turn changed nothing and the J♦ river put an exclaimation mark on Lehner's elimination after upgrading Rafael to quads.
Lehner snapped a quick picture of the hands and board before wishing his tablemates good luck.
The action started with a pot-sized raise to 350,000 by Ben Lamb from under the gun and Quan Zhou called in the next seat. Javier Francort then repotted in the next seat to 1,550,000 and it folded all the way back to Lamb.
Around two minutes passed while Lamb mulled it over and Michael Rocco then called the clock on him.
"I would have made a bet on that," Lamb smirked back in response and he was given a total of 50 seconds to act. As the timer hit the last five seconds, Lamb called all in for 1,410,000 and Zhou folded.
Ben Lamb: K♣K♠10♣2♠
Javier Francort: A♦A♣4♠2♥
The board ran out 10♦8♠2♠6♥J♣ and Lamb failed to improve despite plenty of equity, Zhou banged his hand on the rail as he would have won the hand.
"Who is your next victim?" Rocco was asked.
He replied, "definitely not him," while pointing to table neighbour and short stack Erik Seidel. By then, Lamb was already gone from the stage as his tournament ended in 16th place for $54,777.
The action started with a small blind limp by Javier Francort and Marcello Del Grosso raised it up to 300,000. Francort then limp-raised the pot and Del Grosso got his shorter stack into the middle for the following showdown.
Marcello Del Grosso: A♣A♦J♦6♥
Javier Francort: Q♦Q♠8♣3♥
The J♠9♥4♣K♠Q♥ runout was a gross(o) one as Francort spiked the set of queens on the river to eliminate the Canadian.
While he raked up the chips, the Dutchman joked "it was always coming," and added, "better than the Badugi tournament."
His hand was certainly a Badugi choice, though only a three-card Dugi with the pair of queens. Del Grosso's tournament ends in 17th place for $54,777 and the remaining sixteen now redraw to the last two tables.
