John Tavss leads the remaining 27 players in Event 3: $560 Deep-Stack NLHE Reentry with 705,000 chips, and his closest competitors are James Gettinger (645,000) and Joe Stiers (622,000). All three players have well over the average stack of 270,370.
All of these players are guaranteed a minimum of $1,275 after the money bubble burst last night, each member of the final table is guaranteed $2,832, and the winner will walk away with $39,650.
The cards will be in the air shortly with 28 minutes remaining in Level 20 (5,000/10,000/1,000). Be sure to stay tuned for updates straight from the tournament floor.
James Gettinger raised in late position, Nick Gandhi called on the button, and Roger Lovett defended his big blind. The flop fell , Lovett bet the pot, and only Gandhi called.
The turn was the , Lovett moved all in before the card hit the felt, and Gandhi tanked for a considerable amount of time before calling.
Lovett:
Gandhi:
Lovett was ahead, and in great shape to double, but the spiked on the river to eliminate Lovett.
Over on the outer table, John Tavss was all in and at risk for 395,000 with , but was crushed by Tom Dobrilovic's . The aces held on a board of , and just like that the chip leader entering the day was gone.
On one of the first hands back from break, Henry Lopez open-shoved for his last quarter million in middle position. Tom Dobrilovic re-shoved two places to his left, and the rest of the players folded.
Lopez:
Dobrilovic:
The kings held on a board of , and Lopez was eliminated in a cooler.
James Gettinger raised to 50,000 in the hijack seat, Nick Gandhi three-bet to 120,000 in the cutoff, and Bennett Ellenbogen cold-called in the small blind. Gettinger quickly got out of the way, and the dealer fanned a flop of .
Ellenbogen checked, Gandhi fired out a continuation bet, Ellenbogen moved all in, and Ghandi immediately called.
Ghandi:
Ellenbogen:
Ellenbogen flopped a set of jacks, but Gandhi was still alive when the turn brought the . Any ace or king on the river would keep him alive and double him up, however the was a meaningless card.
He was eliminated in ninth place, while Ellenbogen is up to 1.7 million chips.
Alexander Loose, who started the day with the second smallest chip stack, opened for a raise in late position. Joe Stiers three-bet to 185,000 two spots to his left, Loose moved all in, and Stiers called.
Loose:
Stiers:
The flop was clean for Loose, but the spiked on the turn to give Stiers a leading pair of aces. Loose held the only heart, and could still win the hand with a ten or heart on the river, but the bricked off, ending his tournament.
Loose was initially upset at the bust out, but then he realized the improbability of his run today, and perked up.
James Gettinger raised to 65,000 in early position, Anthony Sivolella called on the button, and Maggie Morris moved all in for 147,000 out of the small blind. Gettinger re-shoved for effectively a million or so, and Sivolella folded.
Gettinger showed , and Morris revealed .
"Exactly what I wanted," she said with a smile, seeing she had live cards to basically triple up.
The flop was dry, as was the on the turn, but the completed the board to give Morris a winning pair of eights. She is up to 417,000 chips, while Gettinger dropped to 750,000.
Warren Wiggins and James Gettinger took a flop of from the small blind and big blind respectively. Wiggins check-called a bet of 45,000, and the turn was the .
Wiggins checked once again, Gettinger tossed out 130,000, and Wiggins called.
The completed the board, Wiggins checked a third and final time, and Gettinger slid out 210,000.
"Call," Wiggins said almost immediately.
"Two pair," Gettinger announced, taking off his headphones and tabling .
It was no good, however, as Wiggins turned over . Gettinger's face sunk as Wiggins got out of his chair excitedly to let out a fist pump.
Someone at the table then asked Wiggins why he "let him off so easily," inferring that he could've eliminated him with a more aggressive play.
James Gettinger raised on the button, Bennett Ellenbogen defended his big blind, and the dealer fanned . Ellenbogen checked, Gettinger continued for 70,000, and Ellenbogen announced that he was all in.
"Call," Gettinger said after a moment of thought, committing his last 374,000.
"Straight draw," Ellenbogen announced, showing .
Gettinger revealed , and held as the turn and river bricked off , respectively. He doubled to 911,000 chips, while Ellenbogen slipped to 650,000.
Joe Stiers raised to 85,000 in early position, Bennett Ellenbogen raised all in for 557,000 on his direct left, and the action folded back to Stiers.
The two began conversing quietly with one another, but the tournament director was quick to stop them. At Borgata, even if players are heads up, they are not allowed to discuss the contents of their hands.
Stiers opted to make the call after a few more minutes, showing . He was ahead of Ellenbogen's .
The flop came , giving Stiers a pair of queens, but the on the turn kept Ellenbogen alive with a flush draw. The on the river was red, but the suit was not the right one to save Ellenbogen.
He was eliminated in seventh place, while Stiers chipped up to around 1.5 million.