James Taylor Eliminated in 3rd Place ($213,046)

With Jonas Klausen folding the button, James Taylor came in with a raise from the small blind, making it 180,000 straight. After a long stare and a bit of chatter, Eric Baldwin made the call out of the big.

The flop came down {3-Spades}

, and Taylor continued out with a bet of 175,000. Baldwin took his time eyeing up his opponent before turning his gaze toward his own chip stack. After a minute or more, he announced, "All in." Taylor sunk back into his chair, frustration over Baldwin's aggression maybe just now starting to become visible on his face. After a few minutes of deep thought, he made the call to put his tournament life on the line.

Showdown
Taylor: {K-Hearts}

Baldwin:

Baldwin was ahead with top pair, and Taylor was looking for one of his six overcard outs to stay alive. The turn was a blank {10-Hearts}

though, and the {3-Hearts}

that filled out the board would be the last river card of the night for Taylor.

After running over the field on Day 1, Taylor took the overnight chip lead into the second day. His stack was middling for most of yesterday's action, but Taylor won some big key pots to run deep into the final table. In the end though, his king-queen couldn't find any help, and he has exited in 3rd place.

Tags: Eric Baldwin James Taylor

2009 World Series of Poker

2009 World Series of Poker

James Taylor Eliminated in 3rd Place ($213,046)