Shunjiro Kita moved all in for 450,000 in the hijack, and Phil Hellmuth called in the cutoff.
Shunjiro Kita: A♠J♠ 
Phil Hellmuth: J♦J♣
The board offered Kita no relief, as the dealer laid out 9♦5♣3♣4♥10♣.
Ole Askeland raised to 100,000 from the cutoff, and Michael Zulker three-bet to 300,000 on the button. Jeffrey Hong called off for his last 260,000 from the small blind, and Askeland got out of the way.
Jeffrey Hong: J♠10♥
Michael Zulker: A♣Q♣
Hong and Zulker fist-bumped and wished each other good luck before the dealer spread the 6♣2♠3♥ flop, which kept Zulker's ace-queen in front.
The 8♥ turn gave Hong some additional outs with a gutshot straight draw, but nothing materialized on the 9♣ river, and he was sent to the payout desk.
Picking up the action on a 3♠10♦5♠9♠7♦ river, Josh Norvock, in middle position, pushed all his chips into a pot of 1,000,000. Max Kingstone had been put at risk for 830,000 in the cutoff, and he went deep into the tank.
Eventually, the clock was called on him. Kingstone neared the end of his countdown when he voluntarily folded his hand, showing the table 10♠10♣ for top set. Norvock opted not to show, raking in the big pot in silence
Nick Guagenti raised to around 125,000 from middle position, and Michael Rocco spent around two minutes in the tank before three-betting to 600,000 from the small blind. Guagenti jammed, and Rocco called off his remaining 30,000.
Michael Rocco: A♣9♣
Nick Guagenti: A♠A♦
Rocco was up against the preflop nuts, and his elimination was guaranteed after the turn on the 6♥4♦3♣Q♠5♥ runout.
Rocco headed to the rail, while Guagenti's stack grew to over two million.
In the 990th episode of the PokerNews Podcast, which is sponsored by FanDuel Poker, Chad Holloway, Mike Holtz, and Ben Ludlow are at Level 9 Studios in Las Vegas, where special guest cohost Remko Rinkema joins them.
The crew discusses the impromptu introduction of poker shot clocks on Day 7 of the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. It was an unexpected development implemented after a 15-minute tank by Loren Klein on Day 6, and while it was technically allowed by Rule 80, a lot of players took issue with it, such as Chris Brewer and Patrick "Pads" Leonard. However, some players came out in support of it, such as Shaun Deeb, who was still in the tournament.
Speaking of Pads, some thought he wasn't getting the airtime he deserved during his deep run in the Main Event. Was he blacklisted, or was it just bad luck? Chad then talks about live reporting on Jamie Dwan winning the $50K High Roller event over a stacked final table that included Daniel Negreanu, Bryn Kenney, and Kristen Foxen. Finally, Remko talks about PokerGO's "He Brought $1,000,000 to the Biggest Poker Game of His Life" video featuring Andrew "Ace" Pacheco, his new podcast, and other upcoming PokerGO plans.
Oh, and did we mention that Chad is headed to California's Thunder Valley Casino this weekend for the $400 buy-in, $250K GTD PokerNews Cup as part of the RGPS Passport Season Finale?
Be sure to check out the audio version of the PokerNews Podcast that is available on all major podcasting platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and SoundCloud.
Level: 24
Blinds: 25,000/50,000
Ante: 50,000
David Peters raised to 80,000 in early position, and Peter Mugar three-bet to 300,000, leaving a single 5,000 chip behind. When the action returned to Peters, he put Mugar all in, and Mugar called.
Peter Mugar: Q♣J♣
David Peters: 7♠7♣
The A♠3♠2♠K♥8♠ board improved Peters to a flush, and Mugar was eliminated.
Victor Li had open-raised in middle position, after which the action folded to Ole Askeland in the small blind. Not having seen Li's raise, Askeland then announced an all-in bet, intending to pressure the big blind.
The big blind did fold, but Li snap-called, covering Aseland's big stack of 1,575,000.
Ole Askeland: Q♣6♥
Victor Li: A♠A♣
It looked like Askeland's mistake would cost him his tournament life, but he flopped two pair on Q♥K♣6♣ to take a big lead over Li's aces. The Q♠ turn improved him to a full house, and the 10♦ river did not bring an ace on the board.
Askeland dragged the humongous pot, netting him a top stack in the tournament.
Brian Rast bet 140,000 from the small blind on a board of 9♣2♠4♥7♥, and Ole Askeland called from the big blind.
Rast elected to check the Q♠ river, and Askeland took a few moments before announcing a bet of 460,000.
Rast mulled it over, looked back at his cards, and then decided to return them to the dealer, surrendering the pot to Askeland.
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