James "Andy MacLEOD" Obst shrugged on a flop before sticking all of his chips in the middle. It was the third raise on the flop. Jarred Solomon led out for 6,700 before Obst raised to 18,000. Solomon then made it 56,000 to go in this game of "chicken". And that's when Obst shrugged and shipped the rest of his chips, about 80,000 in all. Solomon called with ; Obst showed . He missed his three outs when the turn and river blanked out.
We imagine it's up to the hotel room to play internet poker for Obst. Solomon stays here with 198,000.
Daniel Kochan is hurting after a recent entanglement with Noah Schwartz. Schwartz was the first aggressor. He raised to 4,700 from middle position before Kochan three-bet from the button to 11,800. Schwartz made the call to a flop of all small cards, .
Schwartz led out with a bet that Kochan raised to 15,500. Schwartz, undeterred, reraised to 35,000. Kochan made the call to an on the turn that both players checked. When the river came down , Schwartz checked the action over to Kochan, who made it 44,000 to go. That was not enough to fold Schwartz. He called and tabled before Kochan opened his hand. As a result, we never found out what Kochan had. He mucked, preserving only 30,000 chips in his stack. Schwartz is up to 270,000.
Joe Hachem's stack is quickly heading south. He bet 10,000 on a flop of and decided to gamble after the other player moved all in for 42,700. Hachem made the call on a draw, , and was up against top pair, . The turn was no help for Hachem, and neither was the river . He doubled his opponent and finds himself with just 19,500 remaining chips.
Annica Ivert has set her sights on Patrik Antonius, who is on her right. Antonius opened for 5,200 and Ivert called. On a flop of , Antonius check-called a bet of 9,000. He check-called again when the dealer produced the as the turn card and Ivert bet 14,500. Both players checked the river. Ivert showed down for middle pair, which was a winner. She increased her count to 310,000 while Antonius, who has been floating along at roughly the same count for most of the day, dropped to 120,000.
There are several Swedish players left in the field, and each of them is running well. Stefan Mattsson is part of that contingent. He started the day with a shade over 20,000 chips, but now finds himself sitting behind 174,000 after eliminating local favorite Mel Judah. Judah's king-queen finished second best to Mattsson's ace-king.
Martin Comer is still having his way with Joe Hachem. Comer, Hachem and one other player checked a flop that came down . On the turn , Comer bet 8,000. Only Hachem called.
The river came . Comer led out again, this time for 15,000. Hachem tanked for several minutes, finally calling the clock on himself. He then mucked his hand and seemed frustrated. He's down to 53,000.
Gary Benson has been dispatched from the tournament at the hand of Ali Ghezelbash. Benson was short and pushed with an ace, . Ghezelbash called with sixes. Benson spiked an ace on the turn, , but Ghezelbash's four-flush filled with the river .
Tino Lechich kicked things off after the dinner break by doubling up. His chips were all in on a flop with . His opponent called with a nice draw, , but didn't get there. The board finished out with running deuces.
It's a beautiful evening in Melbourne. We spent our dinner break eating outside along the Yarra, where several players were congregated and planning their post-dinner attack.