Koppel Runs Into the Flopped Nuts; Matakis Takes Huge Chip Lead

Jared Koppel was just seen getting up from his seat and exiting the tournament area, wishing Ian Matakis a nice hand as he left. Matakis was kind enough to recount the hand, saying that opened to 4,000 from the hijack and received a call from Koppel.

The two went heads up to a flop of (rainbow) and Koppel checked. Matakis made a continuation-bet of 4,000 and Koppel called. The turn came and Koppel continued with another bet of 21,000. Matakis called.

The river fell and Koppel shoved for his remaining chips. Matakis called.

Jared Koppel:
Ian Matakis:

Koppel's top pair of queens was no good versus Matakis' flopped straight and he hit the rail in tenth place, bringing the tournament down to nine players for a split second, resulting in the field being condensed down to one table.

However, Cody Espeseth has fired again upon seeing the tables breaking. As a result, the final table is now being played ten-handed with around 40 minutes left in the registration period. An updated redraw will be provided shortly for the final table.