From the button, Ron Segni raised to 64,000, and Hank Czarnecki defended his big blind to go heads-up to the flop.
The dealer gave them , and Czarnecki check-called another 85,000. Both men checked through the turn, and the filled out the board on fifth street. Czarnecki took his cue to make a bet of his own -- 115,000. Segni considered for just a moment, then made the call to see what was what.
"Ace-high," Czarnecki admitted. "Nice call."
Segni showed up his , and his pocket pair was good enough to earn him the pot.
In a battle of the blinds, Joe Fernandez opened to 67,000 from the small, and action came to David Clark. He studied for a moment, then reraised to something like 184,000, though the amount was never counted. That's because Fernandez responded by sliding out a tall stack of T25,000 chips, and Clark's cards hit the muck instantly.
The chip leader coming into the final table is now the shortest stack, and he's got a bit less than 20bb to try and work his way back into this match.
Since returning from break we haven't had a hand played to river, or turn for that matter. We've seen two flops and most of the hands are won by a three-bet preflop.
We've burned through our first two levels today, and four players have fallen by the wayside. Our seven survivors are being rewarded with a 15-minute break and a couple slices of pizza from the Harveys Lake Tahoe staff. We'll be back with some new chip counts for you after the break.
Bryan Schultz raised to what looked like 48,000 from middle position, but he'd not get to see the flop. In the cutoff seat, Chris Clark shoved for 280,000 total, and Joe Fernandez came in from the cold out of the small blind to put Clark at risk. "I was just messing around," Schultz admitted as he slipped his cards back into the muck and let the other two tangle.
Showdown
Clark:
Fernandez:
Clark caught a little piece of the flop, but he was still trailing Fernandez's overpair. The turn and river failed to save his tournament life, and we're minus another player here at the final table. It's Chris Clark falling in eighth place, and he'll move up the ladder with a paycheck of close to $13,000.
Daniel Lowery is all the way up into second place after dragging two pots in short order.
The first one began with him opening to 60,000, and Chris Clark called to see a heads-up flop. It came , and Lowery checked and called a bet of 100,000 from his opponent. The on the turn drew a check-check from the two men, and the river came the . Lowery merely had to reach for chips, and Clark quickly surrendered.
A couple hands later, it was David Clark opening to 45,000, and Lowery defended his big blind. The flop came , and Lowery check-called another 67,000 from Clark. When the turned, though, he led right out with 85,000, and Clark quickly called. The river brought the and another bet from Lowery, 150,000 this time. Clark gave it a look, but he eventually uncapped his cards and used the chip to flick his cards into the muck.