Early Fireworks; Steven Lauson Triples
Level 29
: 40,000/80,000, 10,000 ante
Chad Davis, Steven Lauson, and Alex Masek got all the chips in the middle preflop on the very first hand of the day. Masek had the biggest of the three stacks with 1,005,000, Davis had 460,000, and Lauson was the shortest with 380,000.
Masek held the only pocket pair of the bunch with 
, but had to fade a fistful of overcards since Davis tabled 
and Lauson showed 
.
The flop fell 
to give Lauson the nut flush and a near lock on the hand. The 
on the turn gave Davis a king-high flush for the side pot, and although the 
showed up on the river to give Masek a set of eights, it was too little too late. Lauson scooped the main pot to triple and Davis took the side pot but was left with only a single big blind.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
1,140,000 | 760,000 |
|
725,000 | -280,000 |
|
80,000 | -380,000 |