Amos Ben Haim could only raise his hands in disgust after a hand against Joao Bauer. Bauer opened for a minimum-raise pre-flop to 40,000. Ben Haim called out of the big blind.
Both players checked a ragged flop of . When the turn came the , Ben Haim checked again and then called Bauer's bet of 50,000. There was no further betting action on the river. At showdown Ben Haim produced for a pair of 4s; Bauer showed for a rivered pair of 7s.
The remaining two tables are a little less colorful -- and a little less PokerStars-branded. Team PokerStars Pro (Costa Rica) Humberto Brenes, wearing his unique PokerStars basketball sneakers, moved all in pre-flop for about 130,000 with and was called by Marcelo Fonseca with . There wasn't much for Fonseca to sweat, . Brenes picked up his PokerStars toy shark, showed it diving to the floor never to re-surface, and left the tournament area in 15th place.
Amos Ben Haim had a rough start to his day and it continued for a couple of hours, but he's starting to climb back now. He's back up to 465,000 and it's all thanks to the worst pocket pair one can hold, deuces.
First, Ben Haim was all in from middle position with the . Joao Bauer called in the big blind with the . The deuces held as the board ran out .
A couple hands later, Eduardo Costa raised to 55,000 from the small blind against Ben Haim's big blind. Ben Haim moved all in from the big blind and Costa folded. Ben Haim showed the same .
Cristian Velasquez cracked aces earlier, but he couldn't pull off the same trick a second time. Up on the feature table, he and Marcelo Fonseca got all the chips into the middle on a flop of . Velasquez might have been confident with his until Fonseca opened . With no clubs on board, only another queen could save Velasquez from elimination. The turn and river came and , and that was that.
With that massive pot, Fonseca has climbed to about 1.5 million.
On the first hand back from break, action passed to Caio Brites in the small blind. He shoved for 269,000. Alex Manzano squeezed one card and grimaced. Then he squeezed the second card, said, "OK" and called. His pocket treys were racing the of Brites. Brites paired jacks on the flop, , but was crestfallen to see Manzano catch yet another set with the turn. Brites was eliminated in 13th place after the failed to save his tournament.
Things continue to go Alex Manzano's way. There were two short stacks at Manzano's table coming out of the break: Caio Brites and Walter Oaquim. Manzano eliminated Brites on the first hand. A short time later he took out Oaquim when Oaquim open-shoved for about 270,000 with . Manzano squeezed out and caught an ace on board to seal the deal.
Oaquim walks away with R$26,300 for his 12th-place finish. Manzano, meanwhile, is up to 2.1 million in chips.
After Alex Manzano raised to 49,000 from under the gun, PokerStars qualifier Eduardo Costa moved all in from the button for 111,000. The blinds folded and Manzano quickly made the call.
Manzano held the and Costa held the . Although Costa held the best of it going to the flop, Manzano did have two live cards. The only thing not live was his suit of hearts.
The flop came down and gave Manzano a pair of sevens to take the lead. The turn brought the to leave Costa needing an ace or a queen on the river.
The river delivered the and missed Costa. He was up and out of his chair soon after the river hit the felt to shake the hands of his opponents before exiting to the rail in 11th place. Manzano is now up to 2.38 million in chips.
![[user75032]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
. When the turn came the 
, Ben Haim checked again and then called Bauer's bet of 50,000. There was no further betting action on the 
river. At showdown Ben Haim produced 
for a pair of 4s; Bauer showed 
for a rivered pair of 7s.
and was called by Marcelo Fonseca with 
. There wasn't much for Fonseca to sweat, 
. Brenes picked up his PokerStars toy shark, showed it diving to the floor never to re-surface, and left the tournament area in 15th place.
. Joao Bauer called in the big blind with the 
. The deuces held as the board ran out 
.
were racing the 
, but was crestfallen to see Manzano catch yet another set with the 
turn. Brites was eliminated in 13th place after the 
. Manzano squeezed out 
and caught an ace on board to seal the deal.
to leave Costa needing an ace or a queen on the river.
and missed Costa. He was up and out of his chair soon after the river hit the felt to shake the hands of his opponents before exiting to the rail in 11th place. Manzano is now up to 2.38 million in chips.