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On the flop of 
, the first player checked to Aaron Kanter. He also checked and "Captain" Tom Franklin was next. He moved all in for about 14,000 and the first player folded. Kanter quickly called, showing the 
for top two pair. "I guess I have a few outs," said Franklin, tabling the 
for a straight and flush draw.
The turn was the 
and the river the 
. Both missed Franklin and he was eliminated at the hands of Kanter, who moved his way up to 60,000 in chips.
Aaron Kanter opened to 3,000 from the cutoff seat, and the button called to come along to the flop. The dealer laid out 
, and Kanter continued out with 4,000 chips. The button quickly raised to 9,000, and Kanter flashed a sour look before flicking in the extra T5,000 chip to see another card.
He checked the 
turn, and his opponent checked it back, and the 
landed on the river. Kanter checked again, and the button took his cue to bet 12,000. Kanter hated it, but he eventually talked himself into the call.
It was a good one. The button showed a naked , and Kanter's 
earned him the pot and a chip stack of more than 100,000. He's got about 107,000 to our eyes. It's been a good hour for him, just about tripling up his stack over the course of the last couple orbits.
Howard 'Tahoe' Andrew has been eliminated from play. He was all in preflop for his last 9,000 or so and up against two other players that made the call.
The flop came down 
and the first player fired 13,000. The other players folded, leaving Tahoe left to battle with one opponent. Tahoe tabled the 
and was up against the overlords and flush draw combo that his opponent had with the 
.
The turn brought the 
and kept Tahoe alive, but the river 
gave his opponent a better two pair and sent Tahoe to the rail.
We've played 12 of the requisite 16 levels here on Day 1, and the players have been sent off for a 10-minute break. We'll play two more two-level sessions with one more break in between before calling it a night.
There are 88 players left.
Level: 13
Blinds: 700/1,400
Ante: 200
On the penultimate hand of the last level...
Action folded around to Ted Bort in the small blind and he completed. Grant Hillman checked in the big blind and the flop came down 
. Bort checked and Hillman fired 2,000. Bort meant to call, but accidentally min-raised to 4,000. Hillman jammed all in and Bort called it off with the 
for a flush draw plus a gutshot. Hillman held 
for two pair.
The turn brought the and the river the . Bort missed on both of those and was eliminated from the tournament. Hillman moved to about 85,000 in chips.
The gentleman in the cutoff seat opened with a raise, and big blind Tony Bracy moved all in for 25,300. The cutoff insta-called with 
, but his pair was second-best. Bracy tabled the 
, poised for a double up.
The at-risk Bracy stood up to sweat his fate, and the dealer was kind to him. The board ran 
, and that spells a double up. Mark him down for 53,100 now.
Details from this hand are scarce as we walked up just as the dealer was pulling in the board cards and washing the deck. It was a big pot, though, so we'll try.
Lee Patitz and an opponent were heads up to a ten-high flop, and both players got stacks into the pot. Each of them started with about 70,000 in front of them, and some heavy flop action resulted in Mr. Opponent shoving all in for about three times the pot. He held queen-ten (top pair, queen kicker), and Patitz called him down with ace-jack (ace-high).
The turn was a blank, but the proverbial ace on the river has whisked one player away and given Patitz a powerful stack of about 155,000.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
170,000
15,000
|
15,000 |
|
|
137,000
-17,000
|
-17,000 |
|
101,000
23,000
|
23,000 |
|
|
100,000 | |
|
|
90,000
18,000
|
18,000 |
|
|
85,000
-15,000
|
-15,000 |
|
|
84,200
-48,800
|
-48,800 |
|
79,500
-27,500
|
-27,500 |
|
70,000
22,900
|
22,900 |
|
56,000
6,000
|
6,000 |
|
53,000
26,000
|
26,000 |
|
18,700
7,900
|
7,900 |
Junior Merafuentes has been open-shoving his shortening stack about once or twice per orbit to try and stay afloat here. He had 35,100 the last time he shoved, and it would be... well, the last time he'd shove. The player in the small blind called, and Merafuentes exposed his hand. There was action pending, however, as big blind Tony Bracy was contemplating his play. Bracy stood from his chair and talked it out for a while. Merafuentes asked if he'd seen his cards flash, and Bracy insisted he didn't. "I'm such an idiot!" he called himself out. "But you're not the one I'm really worried about." Eventually, Bracy open-mucked his pocket jacks, and he'd soon see it was a good fold.
Showdown
Merafuentes: 
Small blind: 
The 
flop drew a chorus of "Oooooh"s from the table, but that's as close as Merafuentes would get. The turn 
and river filled out a useless board as far as he was concerned, and his day is done.
