Jose Lesta with A♠10♠ in middle position raised to 2,600 and got called by Phil Hellmuth in hijack with 4♥3♥.
The flop came 10♦5♣K♦. After a check, Hellmuth bet 4,000 and got called by Lesta. The turn 8♦ fell and another check came from Lesta.
Hellmuth cranked up the heat with a 20,000 bet sending Lesta to the tank. He ultimately folded his hand and conceded the pot to Hellmuth.
In a preflop all-in, Zhan Chen was all-in for around 25,000 after late registering on Day 2abc and he was in rough shape, as Kai Yang left him with only a handful of outs.
Zhan Chen: A♠K♥ 
Kai Yang: K♦K♣
The Q♣10♥2♠ flop opened the door for more hope with the gutshot straight draw, but the 6♥ turn and 4♥ river were both blanks.
Michel Bouskila opened from under the gun to 2,400 and Janelle Jacobson called from the cutoff. Guillermo Sanchez Otero moved all in on the button for 13,000 and Bouskila re-jammed, covering both players. Jacobson pondered, before deciding to fold, leaving the players to go heads-up with Otero at risk.
Guillermo Sanchez Otero: A♠K♥
Michel Bouskila: 8♦8♠
The J♥Q♥3♥ flop didn't change anything, although Otero had picked up a straight draw.
There was very little sweat on the 3♣ turn and 3♠ river, and Otero was eliminiated.
Ruben Ramirez raised and table big stack Marte Sandberg three-bet to 8,000 on the button. It folded back to Ramirez and he instantly four-bet to 30,000, Sandberg folded. That brought the stack of former big stack Ramirez back up to the initial starting stack but he busted soon after.
Ketan Shah raised to 2,500 and got called by Bob Shao on the button before Jason Mercier announced a three-bet to 11,400 in the big blind. Shah let it go but Shao called.
The flop revealed 9♠4♥2♣ and Mercier continued for 8,200, which Shao called. On the K♦ turn, Mercier bet again, this time for 19,600 and Shao tanked a minute before calling.
The Q♦ completed the board and Mercier looked at Shao's remaining stack before firing 75,000 in the middle, putting Shao at risk. Shao quickly called for his remaining stack of 56,300.
Mercier tabled A♥K♠ for top pair but Shao held 9♣9♥ for a flopped set of nines to claim the large pot and the double up.
Boris Angelov, who finished fifth in the 2024 WSOP Main Event, jammed in his last 20,000 from the cutoff, and he was looked up by Derek Kwan on the button.
Boris Angelov: A♦K♣
Derek Kwan: A♥K♥
Both players had the same hand, but Kwan obtained a flush draw on the J♦6♥Q♣2♥ turn. The 5♥ river completed his flush, crushing Angelov's dream of back-to-back final tables.
Donovan Dean, playing from the cutoff, and big blind John Barr had already constructed a pot of roughly 50,000 by the time the turn was dealt.
The flop 10♠6♥2♥ was already out, and the dealer added the A♥ turn card to the board.
Barr led out with a bet of 25,000, but Dean seemingly wanted to play a bigger pot, putting in a raise to 69,000.
Action back to Barr, who took some time to consider all of his options. After a minute or so, he moved all in, covering his opponent. There were no theatrics from Dean, who immediately folded.
Barr then windmilled the Q♠ across the table, to show he didn't have a flush. Dean joined in the fun by exposing the K♠ from his hand, implying he was bluffing, too.
"Same hand [as me]?" Barr asked.
"I had king-jack, but I had the jack of hearts" was the response from Dean.
Barr ended the conversation by saying, "I had king-queen", which, in a way, meant he was value betting.
David Childs raised to 2,600 in the cutoff and Peter Gurney called on the button and in the small blind Masato Ohara three-bet to 10,300. Childs raised to 45,000 when action got back to him, folding out Gurny and Ohara jammed for 45,700 effective to see Childs call.
David Childs: Q♣Q♦
Masato Ohara: A♥A♠
The board ran out A♦Q♠4♦4♣8♥ and the aces full of fours was good for the pot.
Jacob Lin limped in from under the gun and Tonia Miller called in the cutoff. Brandon Wittmeyer completed from the small blind, and Chase Bricker checked his option in the big blind.
Four players saw the K♦8♦10♠ flop and after Wittmeyer checked, Bricker bet 1,200. Lin raised to 5,000, which got Miller and Wittmeyer to fold, but Bricker called.
A K♣ hit the turn and Bricker check-called a bet of 6,000 from Lin to see the 4♠ land on the river. Bricker checked and then folded to a bet of 12,000 from Lin.
As he was raking in the pot, Lin flipped over K♠10♥ for the nuts.
Kevin Gundersen is seated on the same table and is up to around 360,000 as the dinner break edges a bit closer.
Brian Whiteman opened up the action with a raise to 2,500 from middle position. Heng Zhang came over the top from the cutoff by making it 7,500 before Richard Ham opted to jam from the big blind, for 26,500.
Action was back on Whiteman, who went into the tank and was clearly in a tough spot. On the other side of the table, Zhang was standing up and recording the table with his tablet-sized phone, despite preflop action not having completed. Whiteman looked at Ham, then at Zhang, and ended up deciding on a fold. Zhang kept recording and snap-called.
Richard Ham: A♣Q♥
Heng Zhang: A♠A♥
It seemed that Ham already knew he was up against the goods, as he too was up and out of his chair before the cards were tabled. He couldn't find a miracle, only a needle on the 9♣3♥3♦J♣Q♠ runout.
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