Hand #21 - Lee Watkinson Eliminated in 8th Place ($585,699)
Lee Watkinson gets up from the table, and pulls his Full Tilt hood over his head. He stands back a few steps from the table while Tournament Director Jack Effel and the dealer count out his chips for an exact count. Yang is watching closely, apparently double-checking their count. It's taking several minutes to get a proper count on Watkinson's stack.
They eventually arrive at 9.715 million, which is exactly the number we had here at PokerNews.com. (We're tracking the chip counts after every single hand, thanks to Garry Gates.)
Now that he has the count, Yang takes another 20 seconds or so before he says, "Call," and the crowd leaps to their feet in applause.
Yang shows , and Watkinson shows . Lee Watkinson is dominated here, and he'll need to improve to survive. (There is also the possibility of a chopped pot if the board double-pairs or brings a lot of high cards.)
The flop comes , and Yang retains the lead with his nine kicker. Watkinson needs a seven or a runner-runner straight to win, or a double-paired board to chop.
The turn card is the , and Watkinson is down to three outs.
The river card is the -- . Jerry Yang cheers as he runs to his friends in the crowd for a hug, and he wins the pot with ace high and his nine kicker. Yang returns to the table to shake Watkinson's hand, and he looks like he's almost apologizing for the call.
Lee Watkinson is eliminated in eighth place, earning $585,699. The next player eliminated will receive $705,229 for seventh place.