Chris Biondino limped in, Greg Pappas raised to 44,000 from late position, Jason Mercier called from the big blind and Biondino called as well.
The flop came down . Mercier bet pot, Biondino insta-folded, and Pappas moved all in for 225,000. Mercier made the call.
Pappas
Mercier
Pappas was in the lead with his aces, but the fell on the turn to give Mercier two pair. The on the river made him an even better two pair, and with his aces cracked, Pappas hit the rail in 13th place.
In a battle of the blinds, Jason Mercier and Dario Alioto saw a flop of and checked it around. The turn brought the and Mercier led for 40,000. Alioto then moved all in for 170,000. Mercier called, showing for an open-ended straight. Alioto flipped over for a pair of kings, a diamond draw and an inside straight draw.
The river was the allowing Alioto's kings to hold up. Doubling up, he is now at 350,000. Mercier drops to 400,000.
Action folded around to Jae Chang on the button who raised to 25,000. Kevin Iacofano reraised pot and Chang moved all in for just a few thousand more. Iacofano called.
Chang:
Iacofano:
The board came giving Iacofano trip aces and the pot.
Jae Chang is eliminated in 12th place while Iacofano takes the chip lead with 675,000.
Jesse Rios limped in from UTG, An Tran made it 36,000 to go from the button and Rios called.
The flop came down and Rios immediatley moved all in for his remaining 57,000. Tran made the call.
Rios
Tran
It was an overpair for Tran and a wrap draw for Rios as they went to the turn, which fell the , making Tran top set. The on the river missed Rios and he exited in 11th place, earning $15,593 for his efforts.
Our ten remaining players just re-drew for seats on a single table. We'll keep playing until we have one more bustout and arrive at our final table of nine. Here's the new lineup:
Seat 1 - An Tran
Seat 2 - Alex Michael
Seat 3 - Jason Mercier
Seat 4 - Chris Biondino
Seat 5 - Matt Giannetti
Seat 6 - Kevin Iacofano
Seat 7 - Jonathan Tare
Seat 8 - Dario Alioto
Seat 9 - Vic Park
Seat 10 - Steven Burkholder
Chris Biondino raised from early position to 35,000. Action folds around to Alex Michaels in the big blind who reraises pot, enough to but Biondino all in. He makes the call and shows . Michaels turns over .
The board comes giving Biondino a set of jacks.
Biondino doubles up to 116,000 and Michaels falls onto a short stack of 66,000.
After 18 levels of play, a final table has been reached in Event #5 of the World Series of Poker. Day One chip leader, Jason Mercier, managed to ride his stack all the way down to the final nine, finishing the day in fourth chip position. Joining him are a few familiar that should make for a great final table including Dario Alioto, An "The Boss" Tran, Matt Giannetti, Steven "PiKappRaider" Burkholder and Kevin "kice32" Iacofano.
Final table action will be under way at 2pm PDT where all will have their eyes on the $237,415 first prize and the shinny gold bracelet that comes along with it.
Below are the official final table seating assignments and chip counts for our nine remaining players, who will return tomorrow at 2 p.m. to play down to a winner.
Seat 1 - An Tran (445,000)**
Seat 2 - Jason Mercier (384,400)
Seat 3 - Chris Biondino (182,000)
Seat 4 - Matt Giannetti (311,000)
Seat 5 - Kevin Iacofano (770,000)
Seat 6 - Jonathan Tare (639,000)
Seat 7 - Dario Alioto (315,000)
Seat 8 - Vic Park (341,000)
Seat 9 - Steven Burkholder (263,000)