Vincent Dalet opened to 3,9000 again, this time from under the gun. Phil Laak quickly called from the button, and it was just the two of them the rest of the way.
The flop came , and Dalet continued out with a bet of 6,100. Laak sloppily raised to something like 28,200, committing about 75% all of his remaining chips to the pot. Dalet announced an all in, and Laak quickly stuck the rest in there, now at risk for his tournament life.
Laak's were in the lead, but he'd need to sweat the spades against Dalet's . "Okay, we got a race," Laak said in jest. "John (Tabatabai, at the adjacent table)! John Tabs! I'm outta here. Here's my stuff." Laak stood and began to gather his belongings as the dealer put a safe down on fourth street. "Good game guys, it's been a real pleasure," Laak continued, but the river was safe too, the .
"Oh. An accident!" Laak said, surprised to still be afloat. He's doing better than just "afloat" now after finally getting his chips back from Dalet. "The Unabomber" is up to 94,000 courtesy of that double dip.
We've been watching Praz Bansi and Andrew Pantling battle back and forth for a couple hours, but Table 4 has its own big perpetual war waging strong. Vincent Dalet and Phil Laak have tangled in several big pots, with Dalet coming out on top nearly every time. We pick up the action as the two of them become involved in another little pot.
Dalet had opened to 3,900 from the button, his standard open at this level. Laak came along from the big blind, and the two men checked through the turn on a board of . The river drew a bet of 8,000 from Laak, and Dalet looked him up with the call.
Laak said, "I play the board," with a flush. Dalet showed his for the better flush, good enough to take down yet another pot at Laak's expense.
With Praz Bansi turning water into wine, I felt now would be an acceptable opportunity to inquire as to the details of his near demise:
"I raised it up with ," he revealed, "and he [Andrew Pantling] just flat called with of diamonds. The flop was , I check-raised to 20,000 and he just called. It went in on the off-suit jack turn. Think I lost about 80,000 on that pot."
But poker's a roller coaster of a game, and Bansi has been looping-the-loop more than most of late. From 8,000, he has now made a full recovery in the space of just 10 minutes, and is right back in contention with 65,000.
Phil Laak opened to 3,700 from the cutoff seat, and he found calls from Eli Heath (button) and Vincent Dalet (big blind). Three-handed, then, the flop came out . When Dalet checked, Laak continued out with a bet of 8,000, and that was enough to get Heath out of the way. Undeterred, though, Dalet snuck in a check-raise to 26,400 total, and that was enough to win the pot. Laak was forced to fold again, and Dalet did him the courtesy of flashing the as the dealer pushed him the pot.
Another big clash between Praz Bansi and Andrew Pantling has resulted in Bansi notching a much-needed double.
First in from the button, the Brit shoved his last 31,400 chips at the pot. Pantling asked for a count from the small blind and called rather quickly, getting himself heads up with a chance at the knockout. Pantling's was well behind the of Bansi, however, and a board of kept it that way.
Bansi is up to 65,400 now (after having been down to 8,000 just a couple orbits ago), knocking Pantling back down a peg. The two certainly haven't been shying away from each other since Pantling joined the table an hour or so ago.
Serial short stacker Willie Tann has doubled through for a second time today, this time with assistance from the Poker Gods who improved his to a straight to topple .
Tann's stack started off as a small acorn, and with 35,000 it remains an acorn, albeit a large one. A couple more double-ups though and we'll be heading towards that giant oak tree.
Michel Abecassis pushed from middle position and Manig Loeser made the call next to him. Then Chris Bjorin moved all-in behind him and Loeser let out a deep sigh folding what he later claimed was
Abecassis:
Bjorin:
The board came and the Frenchman was done, we're now just two shy of the money.
It was only a few minutes previous that I was talking to Praz Bansi about the potential for becoming the UK's first ever three-time bracelet winner, and you could tell that it was a goal he is determined to achieve.
Sadly for last year's Main Event finalist, it looks as though he'll have to wait another few days before getting that shot, as he felt the full wrath of overnight chip leader Andrew Pantling.
I didn't catch the hand (and I sensed that asking Praz would result in a black eye), but rumour has it that it was a nasty flopped flush over flush encounter that caused the damage, a visibly gutted Bansi left with just 8,000 when the smoke had cleared.
Andrew Pantling, meanwhile, will be performing cartwheels inside, as he's now regained the chip lead in emphatic style with a whopping 180,000.
We just caught the tail end of the action, but it's noteworthy enough to tell you about it. The board showed , and Vincent Dalet had the action. He made a big overbet by shoving all in for about three times the size of the pot, enough to cover Laak's 67,000 remaining chips. The decision wasn't an easy one for Laak; we'd eventually find out he was in the tank with for several minutes.
Finally, Laak talked himself into a fold, and Dalet couldnt' resist showing the airball to needle him a little.
Laak is left with those 67,000 chips now, unable to talk himself into a double up.
, and Dalet continued out with a bet of 6,100. Laak sloppily raised to something like 28,200, committing about 75% all of his remaining chips to the pot. Dalet announced an all in, and Laak quickly stuck the rest in there, now at risk for his tournament life.
were in the lead, but he'd need to sweat the spades against Dalet's 
. "Okay, we got a race," Laak said in jest. "John (Tabatabai, at the adjacent table)! John Tabs! I'm outta here. Here's my stuff." Laak stood and began to gather his belongings as the dealer put a safe 
down on fourth street. "Good game guys, it's been a real pleasure," Laak continued, but the river was safe too, the 
.
for the better flush, good enough to take down yet another pot at Laak's expense.
flop against a 10,000 bet.
," he revealed, "and he [Andrew Pantling] just flat called with 
of diamonds. The flop was 
, I check-raised to 20,000 and he just called. It went in on the off-suit jack turn. Think I lost about 80,000 on that pot."
of Bansi, however, and a board of 
kept it that way.
to a straight to topple 
