One of those soul-deep sighs of relief as Yasuhiro Waki doubles up to stay in the running as they near the money here. A slightly unorthodox path was taken to the on-their-backs moment, as Jeff Lisandro raised under the gun to 6,500 and Waki moved his whole stack in. The dealer pointed out he couldn't fit his whole 31,300 as a pot limit bet and would have 8,800 behind - Lisandro opted to just flat call. As expected though, Lisandro put in the extra few thousand on the flop, which got a very enthusiastic response from Waki who'd flopped top set with his . Lisandro picked up a little something on the turn but no draw came in for him with the river.
was the cry from Felipe Ramos after he more than doubled-up through chip leader Chris Bjorin. A multi-way limped pot brought a flop. Justin Smith led for 3,500 from the SB, Chris Bjorin raised to 16,500 from the next seat and Filpe Ramos moved all-in for 43,200 from mid-position. Smith tank folded but Bjorin snap-called.
Ramos: for top set.
Bjorin: for nut-flush draw.
The turn and river faded the spades and the Brazilain shouted his celebration. He's up to 103,000. Bojorin still going strong (although not chip leader anymore) on 180,000.
We only caught the tail end of this, but it must have been pretty bad as Stuart Rutter was in the process of violently throwing his cards face-down into the muck when we arrived. All of John Racener's chips had gone in at some point before the river.
Board:
Racener: - his aces had turned into a straight by the end.
Rutter, who enjoyed a great WSOP this summer, cashing four times including two final tables, was reduced to just 5,000 and looked for all the world as though he might cry. He immediately began texting someone to tell them the bad news.
Racener meanwhile - who of course also had a great WSOP and will be returning for the Main Event final table in November - doubled to a little over 100,000.
Another big pair combo hand took a big chunk of Scott Fischman (who probably deserves the Grinder of the Day award for his survival with short chips) as he called Sean Dempsey's preflop all-in with to find Dempsey with . Board: and Fischman returns to near the felt.
OK so they were all in his hand, but still, under 30k to his name at this crucial stage, he was prepared to move in with his when small blind Jeff Madsen threebet him preflop (officially setting him in, actually). Button Erik Friberg had called Kimber's initial 5k raise too, but passed when it all started spiralling, and Madsen showed down and expressed disappointment that Kimber also had hearts.
Willie Tann might just be in line for a second consecutive final table after doubling through Yasuhiro Waki. Waki raised to 7,000 from the cut-off and was only called by Tann the next seat along. The flop came before all the chips went flying into the middle. Tann was the player at risk in this monster sized showdown:
Waki:
Tann:
Both players had flopped the nut straight but Tann has some full-house outs too. Knowing this Tann said "A ten would be nice" just as the turn fell . The river came and the 197,000 pot went the popular Brits way. Waki down to 35,000.
Yes, the next level is afoot, after a short break during which Phil Laak was presented with his 6-max bracelet won right before he launched into the PLO tournament he just recently exited... A little private dance to Eminem later and he's one bracelet better adorned, while friends Jennifer Tilly and Antonio Esfandiari cheered on the sidelines. Congrats, Phil.
The last three tables join the throng inevitably descending on the centre of London this time on a Friday night to sample the local delights, and will be back in sixty minutes.
![[user46298]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
flop, which got a very enthusiastic response from Waki who'd flopped top set with his 
. Lisandro picked up a little something on the 
turn but no draw came in for him with the 
river.
flop. Justin Smith led for 3,500 from the SB, Chris Bjorin raised to 16,500 from the next seat and Filpe Ramos moved all-in for 43,200 from mid-position. Smith tank folded but Bjorin snap-called.
for top set.
for nut-flush draw.
river faded the spades and the Brazilain shouted his celebration. He's up to 103,000. Bojorin still going strong (although not chip leader anymore) on 180,000.
when small blind Jeff Madsen threebet him preflop (officially setting him in, actually). Button Erik Friberg had called Kimber's initial 5k raise too, but passed when it all started spiralling, and Madsen showed down 
and Kimber gets a stack of 64k.
