Matt Grapenthien was short on chips but had the betting lead against two opponents on sixth street.
Grapenthien: /
First opponent: /
Second opponent: / (folded on seventh street)
Grapenthien got two calls on sixth and then bet the end. Only the first player called, but Grapenthien turned up for a straight and a six-low, and his opponent mucked for an eight-low.
Sebastian Pauli had the bring-in with the , and the action folded to a player two seats to Pauli's right, who completed with the . Pauli called. Fourth street was checked through, but fifth and sixth streets cost Pauli one bet apiece, and so did seventh.
Sebastian Pauli: /
Opponent: /
Pauli wanted to see his opponent's cards, but he received bad news as his rival showed , accompanying it with the favorite stud/8 word: "Wheel." Pauli was scooped and left with just 2,500.
James Obst entered a few moments ago, but there was no laziness behind his late arrival. The Australian mixed-game wizard was busy playing in the Brazilia Room. It wasn't in anything but pure no-limit hold'em, albeit six-handed. Widely consired as one of the toughest tournaments on the WSOP schedule, the $5,000 Six-Handed event is now down to the official final table.
Obst bubbled the star-studded finale, walking away in seventh place for a $57,550 payday and important points in the WSOP Player of the Year race.
He immediately jumped to the $1,500 Stud Hi-Lo, but so far, it doesn't seem that Obst will be on his way to another top-10 finish. His stack took a hit right away.
Three ways to fifth street, Obst and another player called a bet. Obst then spiked a second king to improve his board to a pair, and he led out on the sixth, forcing one fold and one call, from a player who just paired his fives.
James Obst: /
Opponent 1: /
Opponent 2: / (folded on the sixth street)
Obst check-called on seventh street but heard a very unpleasant word in his situation: "Flush." His opponent rolled over for a ten-high flush, and Obst turned over his board, sending the cards face-down to the muck.
Three players made it to the seventh street with three clubs laying on Chris Vitch's board. Vitch led into the pot, despite seeing trip nines on one of his opponent's board. More than that, the third player had three low cards on his board, and he raised, evoking a three-bet from the player with trips. Vitch called the three-bet, and the player with a possible low hand called off his remaining chips.
The side pot didn't increase, as Vitch and his opponent both checked on seventh street.
Player One: /
Player Two: /
Chris Vitch: /
Vitch had for a flush to scoop the high half of the pot as his rival couldn't improve his open trips, mucking . The all-in player showed for an eight-low to take the other half.
With late registration open for another level, the $1,500 Stud Hi-Lo has already beaten numbers from the previous four years. The tournament clock is now showing 570 entrants. Below is the breakdown of the numbers for the last five editions.
Mike Matusow called with the , and a player to his left completed with the . Matusow's opponent continued with a bet on fourth street, and Matusow called.
Matusow paired his deuces on fifth street. He first didn't notice he was first to act, so he apologized and then led out. He received a call, but there were more bets to be called for Matusow's opponent, as "The Mouth" also bet on the sixth and seventh. Matusow shut down his opponent's resistance with his last bet, winning the pot without a showdown.
Opponent: / (folded on the seventh street)
Mike Matusow: /
One of the juiciest bits of action a game of stud can offer just emerged on Table 116 with Jonathan Duhamel and Mikhail Semin playing the main roles.
It was initially a five-way pot, but one player gave up on the fourth street, while another mucked on fifth. Three players tangled till the end, including Duhamel and Semin.
The player who mucked on the fifth street raised Semin's bet on fourth street with his board showing . Four players remained in for two bets apiece, and the player with the last aggression fired another bet on fifth street before he mucked to Duhamel's raise. Semin and another player paid two bets again.
Sixth street brought a bet from Duhamel, which was raised by Semin. All three players decided that two bets were worth looking at their card on seventh street.
The fireworks escalated in the last betting round. Duhamel bet, Semin raised, and the unknown player called, returning the action back to Duhamel. But it wasn't over yet. Duhamel opted to three-bet, and Semin then capped it. The third player was contemplating, asking if there are any further bets allowed. Informed that there wasn't any higher price allowed to be set, he eventually mucked.
Player One: / (folded on the fourth street)
Player Two: / (folded on the fifth street)
Player Three: / (folded on the seventh street)
Jonathan Duhamel: /
Mikhail Semin: /
Duhamel called and declared full house, proving it with for his hole cards. Semin took the other half of the pot with a seven-low as he held . While the outcame was a chopped pot, both Duhamel and Semin still added a nice chunk to their respective stacks after the crazy betting action that emerged.