The trend over the past few hands has seen the player who is first to act on a street check, the next player to act bet and the first player either call or fold. We have rarely seen the first player lead out lately.
Nick Schulman raised from the cutoff and Domenico Denotaristefani three-bet from the small blind. Steve Landfish came along for the ride in the big blind, while Schulman made the call from behind. Denotaristefani wasted little time in firing out on the 
flop, only to have Landfish raise. Schulman got out of the way, Denotaristefani called, and the 
hit the turn.
Both players checked to see the 
river, which Denotaristefani bet. Landfish immediately raised and Denotaristefani tanked for a solid minute before releasing his hand. Landfish is now our chip leader with around 1.2 million.
Steve Landfish raised under the gun and Isaac Haxton three-bet him from the hijack. Landfish made the call and check-called Haxton’s bet on the 
flop. The action was the same on the 
turn until Landfish check-raised Haxton’s bet. Haxton made the call and called Landfish’s bet on the 
river. Landfish turned over 
which was good for another pot.
Justin "Boosted J" Smith raised and received a call from Isaac Haxton in the big blind. Both players then checked the 
flop, leading to the on the turn. Haxton decided to take control of the pot and led out, which Smith called. The same action occurred on the 
river and Haxton revealed 
. It was good enough to win the pot as Boosted J mucked his hand.
Steve Landfish raised in the hijack and Richard Brodie defended from the big blind. On the 
flop, Brodie checked and Landfish bet. Brodie came back with a check-raise but Landfish three-bet him. Brodie shutdown the raising with a call and check-call Landfish’s bet on the 
turn. Both players checked the 
on the river and Landfish showed 
to take down the pot. Brodie’s short-stack just got a little slimmer.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
780,000
131,000
|
131,000 |
|
250,000
-134,000
|
-134,000 |
Nick Schulman has raised the past three hands and managed to take down the blind each and every time. They're certainly not big pots, but those blinds add up quick, especially to the player on the short stack.
When it comes to poker players, it is hard to find a player who specializes in limit hold’em; however, that is exactly what we have in our chip leader, Dan Idema, who finished runner-up in this very event last year for $263,243. Idema has three other WSOP cashes including one just a couple of weeks ago in Event #6 $1,500 Limit Hold’em (23rd- $6,096), a 16th-place finish in the 2010 Event #53 $1,500 Limit Hold’em Shotout ($4,135), and a 7th-place finish in the 2010 Event #44 $2,500 Mixed Hold’em event ($35,601).
As you can see, Idema is well versed in limit hold’em and no doubt looking to capture the coveted title that slipped his grasp just one year ago.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
977,000
127,000
|
127,000 |
|
||
|
|
649,000
214,000
|
214,000 |
|
514,000
99,000
|
99,000 |
|
484,000
14,000
|
14,000 |
|
|
461,000
121,000
|
121,000 |
|
428,000
-192,000
|
-192,000 |
|
||
|
409,000
9,000
|
9,000 |
|
||
|
|
384,000
-16,000
|
-16,000 |
|
252,000
-168,000
|
-168,000 |
|
||
Steve Landfish raised from early position only to have a short-stacked Hoyt Corkins reraise all in from the small blind for about 45,000 total. Landfish made the call and the cards were turned up.
Corkins:
Landfish: 
It was a race for Corkins' tournament life, but he was the one who needed to catch to stay alive. The 
flop kept Landfish in the lead, as did the 
turn. In order to survive, Corkins needed either a queen or nine on the river. Unfortunately for him, the 
blanked and he was eliminated in tenth place.
With that, the remaining players are on a brief break while the WSOP staff calculates the chip counts for the official final table.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted | |
|
||
Over the first orbit, every single hand was won before showdown until the last one. Daniel Idema raised from middle position and Steve Landfish three-bet in the cutoff. On the 
flop, Idema checked and Landfish bet. Idema raised and Landfish made it three bets. Idema made it four and Landfish just called. On both the turn and river, Landfish called Idema’s bets only to be shown the 
of Idema at the end. Landfish mucked his hand and Idema took down the first showdown of the unofficial final table to increase his chip lead.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
850,000
110,000
|
110,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
435,000
-215,000
|
-215,000 |
