Gus Hansen has been busy as of late, raising often and by far the most aggressive played on the secondary table. In a recent hand, Jason Mercier raised to 16,000 under the gun and was called by Paul Phua in the small blind and Gus Hansen in the big.
When the flop fell , Hansen checked, Mercier continuation bet 19,000, Phua folded, and Hansen woke up with a check-raise to 44,000. Mercier made the call, but then mucked to Hansen's 69,000 bet on the turn. Mercier did not look happy after the hand.
Action folded around to Gus Hansen in the small blind and he raised to 22,000, which Jason Mercier called from the big. Both players checked the flop, bringing about the river. Again Hansen checked, and this time Mercier fired out 19,000. The "Great Dane" laid down his hand and Mercier took a small one.
Since the elimination of Erik Seidel, all things have been quiet here in Studio 3. On the other hand, things are blasting outside as a marvelous fireworks display is being out on over the Yarra River in celebration of Chinese New Year.
From all of us here at PokerNews, a very Happy Chinese New Year!
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Well, we're going to have a new champion here in the $250,000 Challenge. Erik Seidel has been eliminated. He got the rest of his ~200,000-chip stack into the middle with , running his pocket pair straight into the overpair of Dan Smith.
The board ran out , and Seidel was unable to get over the hump. He's been run out of the room, and Smith has worked his stack up over the half-million chip mark with that knockout pot.
Prior to dinner, Sam Trickett lost most of his stack after losing a flip to Sorel Mizzi. Some of the players placed bets on Trickett coming back to win, including Jason Mercier, but that is not going to happen.
In a recent hand, Trickett moved all in from the button for 53,500 and was called by Mercier in the big blind.
Showdown
Trickett
Mercier
The flop was no help to Trickett, while the gave Mercier a straight. Trickett could still win with a nine on the river, but it was not in the cards as the appeared. Trickett, who finished as runner up in this very event last year, was eliminated in 12th place.
"How big of a fish am I?" Mercier asked after the hand. "I Bet on him, then bust him!"
We didn't catch the betting action, but we do know that John Juanda was all in preflop and at risk against Daniel Negreanu.
Showdown
Juanda
Negreanu
It was a classic flip for Juanda's tournament life, and he didn't mind seeing the safe flop. Negreanu needed an ace, queen, or running spades to eliminate his opponent, and he caught one as the spiked on the turn. The river was no help to Juanda and he was eliminated in 13th place, becoming the fourth elimination of the evening.
, Hansen checked, Mercier continuation bet 19,000, Phua folded, and Hansen woke up with a check-raise to 44,000. Mercier made the call, but then mucked to Hansen's 69,000 bet on the 
turn. Mercier did not look happy after the hand.
flop, bringing about the 
river. Again Hansen checked, and this time Mercier fired out 19,000. The "Great Dane" laid down his hand and Mercier took a small one.
![[user66118]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
of Dan Smith.
, and Seidel was unable to get over the hump. He's been run out of the room, and Smith has worked his stack up over the half-million chip mark with that knockout pot.
flop was no help to Trickett, while the 
river was no help to Juanda and he was eliminated in 13th place, becoming the fourth elimination of the evening.
