Begleiter
Darvin Moon has the button. Joe Cada is under the gun and opens to 1.5 million. Action folds all the way around to Steve Begleiter in the small blind. It's 1.2 million for him to call, and he's clearly thinking about calling or raising. He opts for the former. Once Buchman folds it's heads up to a flop of .
Begleiter has first action. He's been deliberate all day and doesn't change here, taking thirty seconds before he leads into Cada for 2.5 million. Cada calls, drawing some half-hearted and inexplicable applause from the audience.
The turn is the . Begleiter's brow is furrowed between his red cap and his dark sunglasses. Both players check to the river and then check again. Begleiter has the and... something. We couldn't see what. But it's aces and fives with a jack kicker. That is the winner once Cada mucks.
Steve Begleiter has the button. Darvin Moon starts the action with a raise to 2 million from the cutoff seat. And that's how the action ends too; Moon rakes in a few more chips.
Antoine Saout has the button. Steve Begleiter is the first to act. He once again opens to 1.6 million. Action passes to Darvin Moon in the big blind. He waves a hand over his chips and says, "All in." Begleiter calls in a shot and jumps out of his chair!
Moon:
Begleiter:
Begleiter is the player at risk of elimination with 23.25 million chips in the middle. Moon has ace-queen again. It worked for him against Phil Ivey. Can he find another three-outer against Begleiter?
"Let's see the flop," says TD Jack Effel.
It's a safe flop for Begleiter, . Begleiter has the only spade, so Moon is going to need to catch an ace or running straight cards for a chop. The turn is no help to anybody, . Moon is down to one last river card. He needs an ace or Begleiter will double.
Oh dear. That on the river is NOT a good card for Begleiter.
It is pandemonium -- again! -- in the Penn & Teller Theater. The ace on the river gives Moon the best hand, sending a stunned Begleiter crashing to the rail. Darvin Moon isn't moving, showing absolutely no reaction to the dramatic elimination of Begleiter.
Donnie Peters
Sasquatch!
Darvin Moon - 63,925,000
Eric Buchman - 53,250,000
Antoine Saout - 51,725,000
Jeff Shulman - 15,525,000
Joseph Cada - 10,350,000
Donnie Peters
The average age has now dropped to 31.2 years for the final five players. Joe Cada is still hanging in there looking to be the youngest Main Event winner ever.
Donnie Peters
We're taking another quick pause, and this time it's serious. Five burly men carrying suitcases just made their way across the floor to an empty table in the corner of the stage. When they opened their containers, they dumped millions and millions of dollars onto the table and placed the shiny gold bracelet neatly on top of the mountain of Benjamin Franklin portraits. The players are sort of meandering around the table area, and their small talk began to trail off when they caught sight of the bounty before them.
With five players remaining, 5th place is guaranteed $1,953,452. That number is a lot smaller than the 5th-place payday from last year's Main Event. In fact, it's only about $200,000 more than what 7th place received last year. Last year, $3,096,768 was awarded to 5th place.
The jump to the next pay spot is just under $550,000 and the jump from 4th to 3rd is nearly $1,000,000. Let's see if things get even tighter now than they have been.
With their goal now clearly in sight -- literally -- the players still have a few minutes to shoot the breeze before we get back in action.