Sean Knitter raised to 54,000 from the button, and Ramana Epparla three-bet shoved for his last 141,000. Knitter quickly called with the , and Epparla was flipping for his tournament life with . Epparla stood up and shrugged at the sight of the cards on the felt.
The flop was a big dry desert for Epparla, leaving him two cards from the exit once again. Just like the last preflop all in, though, he caught up on fourth street as the dropped off the deck. The river proved to be a blank, and Epparla is not going quietly. Down to just 19,000 a few hands ago, he's worked his short stack all the way back to 326,000 and out of the basement.
First into the pot, Ramana Epparla shoved for 42,000, and both Robert Hwang and Ed Cotter called from the small and big blinds, respectively.
The flop came , and Hwang led out with a bet that folded Cotter out of the way. He turned up , and Epparla's had him poised for a triple up. The turn and river didn't change anything, and Epparla is trying to claw back into this match. He's back up to 158,000 now, still the shortest stack at the table.
Ramana Epparla was all in for 19,000 from the big blind, and the table folded all the way around to Ari Engel's small blind. He called to put Epparla at risk, and the cards were on their backs.
Showdown
Engel:
Epparla:
Epparla fell into a deep hole as the flop paired Engel, putting the amateur two cards from the exit. Much to his delight, however, the turn brought him back into the lead with one to come, and the river secured his much-needed double up.
Mark Epparla down for 70,000 now, still very much in the danger zone.
With less than 80,000 chips, Ramana Epparla folded his big blind, then gave Kenny Nguyen a walk on the next hand. He's now under 40,000 as the players step away for a quick five-minute break.
Under the gun, Ramama Epparla opened to 50,000, and Robert Scott three-bet to 130,000 a couple seats over. Epparla made it 250,000 straight on a four-bet, and Scott shoved all in for 958,000 total. Epparla made the call, and suddenly, a pot of nearly 2 million chips was up for grabs.
Showdown
Epparla:
Scott:
There was no funny stuff from the dealer as the board ran out .
We have a new chip leader and a new short stack now. It's Scott with 1.97 million, dropping the start-of-day chip leader down to just about 80,000 lonely chips.
An hour into play, we have our first victim of this final table.
The pot opened with Huy Nguyen shoving his last 290,000 into the middle from early position. A couple seats over, Ed Cotter reshoved over the top, and that got him heads up with Nguyen and a chance for the knockout.
Showdown
Nguyen:
Cotter:
There was no salvation for Nguyen as the board ran , ending his day in 9th place. It's not the finish Nguyen hoped for, but you'll be seeing him again soon enough. With his victory at the WSOP-C Choctaw Main Event, he's qualified for the $1 million National Championship freeroll in Las Vegas later this month.
The pot began with him opening to 42,000 before Robert "Action Bob" Hwang shoved in for 277,000 total. Epparla made the call with , and Hwang's dominating had him poised for a double up.
The board ran clean, coming . That's just what Hwang was looking for, snagging an early double to move into contention with 611,000. For Epparla, this day is not going how he'd envisioned it. His heater yesterday has gone stone cold, and he's fallen back to 1.03 million, and his miles-long lead over the field has evaporated.
From the hijack seat, Ramana Epparla raised to 46,000. Robert Scott three-bet to 96,000 from the button, and Epparla made the call to see a flop.
It came , and Epparla check-called a bet of 50,000. That led them to the turn, and Epparla knocked the table again. Scott put out 80,000 this time, only to see Epparla check-raise to 220,000 total. Scott responded with a reraise all in, and Epparla got the message and forfeited his cards back to the dealer.
Scott is up to about 930,000 with that pot, dropping the chip leader down to 1.24 million. He's still the big stack, but his count is going in the wrong direction as he struggles to win a pot today.
![[user66118]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
, and Epparla was flipping for his tournament life with 
. Epparla stood up and shrugged at the sight of the cards on the felt.
flop was a big dry desert for Epparla, leaving him two cards from the exit once again. Just like the last preflop all in, though, he caught up on fourth street as the 
dropped off the deck. The river 
proved to be a blank, and Epparla is not going quietly. Down to just 19,000 a few hands ago, he's worked his short stack all the way back to 326,000 and out of the basement.
, and Epparla's 
had him poised for a triple up. The turn 
and river 
didn't change anything, and Epparla is trying to claw back into this match. He's back up to 158,000 now, still the shortest stack at the table.
flop paired Engel, putting the amateur two cards from the exit. Much to his delight, however, the 
turn brought him back into the lead with one to come, and the river 
secured his much-needed double up.
.
, ending his day in 9th place. It's not the finish Nguyen hoped for, but you'll be seeing him again soon enough. With 
, and Hwang's dominating 
. That's just what Hwang was looking for, snagging an early double to move into contention with 611,000. For Epparla, this day is not going how he'd envisioned it. His heater yesterday has gone stone cold, and he's fallen back to 1.03 million, and his miles-long lead over the field has evaporated.
, and Epparla check-called a bet of 50,000. That led them to the