Arriving on the 8♥8♦6♠3♦5♥ river in a pot of 30,000. Stanislav Barshak shoved his stack of 65,000 in against Cameron Kazemi. Kazemi pondered for a few moments before he called with the covering stack.
Stanislav Barshak: K♥5♠
Cameron Kazemi: A♠8♠
Barshak could only show two pair, while Kazemi had trip eights.
"Nice call," Barshak muttered half under his breath as he departed the tournament area.
"Big one," tablemate Matthew Brown said as Garett Maybery and Rudolph Bourg went to the river on a board of 8♠5♣5♠9♥K♥. According to Brown, Maybery had bet 1,400 from under the gun on the flop and Bourg raised to 3,500 in the cutoff. Maybery called, then called another bet of 3,500 from Bourg on the turn.
Bourg bet 16,000 on the river, and this time Maybery moved all in. "Kings full? I bet it so you would call," Bourg said as he went deep into the tank. He had around 27,000 more, and took a few minutes before calling.
Rudolph Bourg: 7♦6♦
Garett Maybery: K♣K♦
Maybery did, indeed, show kings for a rivered full house, and Bourg sent his hand into the muck before heading to the rail.
"You're going to win the tournament," a tablemate said to Maybery.
"Long way to go," Maybery replied.
Small blind Yuchen Chen and Terry Kim in the cutoff had created a massive pot of 70,000 when they arrived on the 7♥2♣5♥4♦ turn. Chen bet 20,000, and Kim jammed all in for 53,000 after some thought.
Chen snap-called, and the players revealed their cards.
Yuchen Chen: 8♥6♥
Terry Kim: 10♠10♣
Kim's tens were drawing dead against Chen's straight, and the meaningless Q♥ river upgraded Chen to a flush to eliminate his opponent in style.
Moments later, Eli Elezra sat down at this table as one of the new entries.
The rest of the field was already leaving for the dinner break while Adam Altnether and Duncan McCallum continued to tangle in a pot.
There was around 25,000 in the middle when McCallum bet 10,000 from the button on a flop of 10♦7♦6♣. Altnether called in middle position.
The turn was the 8♣ and Altnether moved all in. "Wow," McCallum said as he tanked for several minutes into the break. He eventually called and turned over K♦K♠, but Altnether had hit a straight with 10♣9♣.
The river was the 8♦ and Altnether secured the big pot. The stacks were counted down, and Altnether had McCallum's remaining 55,000 barely covered to send him to the rail.
As recounted by Jason Steinert and Doug Polk, a player in middle position opened to 1,000 and Steinert three-bet to 3,000 from the cutoff. Polk cold four-bet to 7,000 on the button, which got a fold from the original raiser and a call from Steinert.
Steinert check-called a 4,000 bet from Polk on the 7♠7♦J♠ flop and checked again on the 5♦ turn.
Polk then moved all in for his remaining stack and Steinert snap-called to put Polk at risk.
Doug Polk: K♠K♥
Jason Steinert: J♦J♥
Polk was drawing to two outs, but no miracle came on the 9♣ river — sending the large pot over to Steinert and eliminating Polk from the Main Event.
"Straddle!" Martin Kabrhel declared as he raised to 800 under the gun. Corey Tigner called as next to act, and so did Matt O'Donnell in the cutoff.
Kabrhel continued for 1,500 on the 3♦3♠7♥ flop. Tigner called before O'Donnell folded. Kabrhel then dropped in an overbet of 10,000 on the 8♥ turn. Tigner gave his hand up as well, shipping the pot to Kabrhel.
"What did you have? Nines?" Kabrhel asked Tigner.
"Just a pocket pair. What did you have?" Tigner replied.
"I had pocket aces," Kabrhel claimed.
Viktor Blom raised to 1,000 from early position, and Dorian Decauche three-bet to 6,500 from the big blind. Blom called.
Both players checked the 2♣8♥10♥ flop before Decauche checked again on the 10♦ turn. Blom fired 8,600, and Decauche stuck around with a call.
The 3♣ completed the board, prompting a final check from Decauche. Blom quickly bet 19,000, sending Decauche into the tank.
After around two minutes, Decauche made the call, only to be shown 10♠9♠ for trip tens by Blom.
Davidi Kitai was seen with just 1,400 chips after returning from the break with 68,900.
He later explained on social media that Michael Leib in the big blind ended up moving all in for roughly 50,000 on a board of A♥5♠5♥2♦J♦ with 35,200 already in the pot. Holding pocket aces, Kitai, who had bet 27,500 from the hijack, made the call.
Michael Leib: 5♦5♣
Davidi Kitai: A♠A♣
Kitai flopped a full house, but Leib made quads to secure a double-up. Despite the brutal beat, Kitai managed to rebuild his stack to 18,000.
"You're my good luck charm!" Taylor von Kriegenbergh said to new tablemate Ren Lin after spiking a two-outer in a huge pot. "Tony the Tiger gets here and I hit a two-outer."
Von Kriegenbergh opened preflop before his opponent three-bet to 4,000. Von Kriegenbergh responded with a four-bet to 13,000, which his opponent called. Von Kriegenbergh continued for 8,000 on the 4♦4♥7♦ flop and his opponent called once more.
The rest of the chips went into the middle on the 10♥ turn, creating a pot of around 100,000.
Opponent: A♦A♣
Taylor von Kriegenbergh: K♥K♠
Von Kriegenbergh looked disgusted after seeing the cards turned over, but the K♦ river turned his frown upside down, giving him a set to crack his opponent's aces, win the massive pot, and send his tablemate to the rail.
Serhii Popovych limped under the gun, Mike Dentale limped in the hijack, and Anthony Mullen limped in the cutoff before Rami Ilyasov bumped it up to 1,600 from the button. When it got back to Popovych, he limp-raised to 6,600, and only Ilyasov called.
On the 10♣3♣2♠ flop, Popovych continued his aggression with a bet of 8,800, and Ilyasov called again.
Popovych then slowed down with a check on the 6♦ turn, and Ilyasov was content to do the same.
The river brought the 9♠ as Popovych announced a bet of 18,000, and Ilyasov instantly flicked in a chip to call. Popovych tabled J♥9♣ for the rivered second pair, but it was second-best to the Q♦10♦ of Ilyasov, who flopped top pair and won a massive pot as the other members of the table traded confused looks at one another.
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