Action folded around to Cole Jackson and he moved all in from the hijack. The rest of the players folded and Jackson took down the pot. It wasn't much of a hand, but then again we haven't seen many exciting hands of late.
Michael Shelton raised to 20,000 from the button and drove out Jess Dioquino in the small blind. Matt Waxman was in the big and decided it was a good time to move all in for 230,000. Shelton had less than that, 117,000 behind to be exact, and thought for about a minute before calling off.
Shelton:
Waxman:
Shelton got it in as a big favorite, but he wouldn't be rewarded as the flop delivered Waxman a pair of fives. Shelton shook his head a little bit and got out of his chair as the dealer burned and turned the . Shelton needed an eight on the river to keep his tournament hopes alive, but he was left wanting as the useless peeled off.
Shelton exited in 19th place, which means it's time for the remaining 18 players to redraw down to two tables.
In a hand that played itself, Brent Hanks raised from middle position to 20,000 and found Kelvin Gates calling from the cutoff. It folded to Jason Koon who reraised to 50,000 from the big blind. Hanks went all in, the cutoff folded and Koon called. Koon held and Hanks showed . The board of ensured Koon the double up.
Nick Abou Risk raised to 20,000 and Amit Makhija reraised to 46,000. Abou Risk went all in and Makhija immediately called. Abou Risk tabled and was up against Makhija's . The board came giving Makhija the double up and crippling Abou Risk.
Abou Risk was eliminated on the very next hand when he went all in under the gun for his final 50,000. He found a caller in Eric Baldwin from the big blind. Abou Risk held and Baldwin showed . Baldwin hit a pair on a board of to eliminate Abou Risk in 17th place.
An interesting and somewhat controversial hand just went down at Table 447, one that cost Angel Pagan and saved both Matt Waxman and Jason Koon a lot of chips.
It happened Koon opened for 21,000 from the cutoff and Pagan moved all in for right around 174,000 from the button. As Pagan was grabbing his chips to slide them forward, the dealer mistakingly grabbed his cards and pulled them into the muck. "Whoa, whoa, whoa," several of the players said in an attempt to stop the dealer, though it was too late.
The floor was called and ruled that the hand was dead and Pagan would be require to call the bet before him but would keep the remainder of his chips. A few of the players disagreed, but the floor's ruling was consistent with the Estelle Denis ruling in the 2009 WSOP Main Event.
"It's alright," Pagan said even though he still seemed a bit miffed. Matt Waxman was in the small blind and asked the floor if Pagan could take all his chips back if the table agreed, but the floor told him it wasn't an option. Eventually the hand progressed with Waxman calling from the small blind and it was heads-up action to the flop.
Waxman ended up check-calling a bet of 30,000 before he and Koon checked the turn and river.
"Pair of fours," Koon said and tabled the . It was good as Waxman sent his cards to the muck.
"Would you have won?" someone asked Pagan.
"Yeah, I had queens," was the reply.
"I got lucky," Waxman admitted, "I was going to ship behind and I'd have lost."
It was a costly dealer error, but apparently it saved Waxman a ton of chips.
Scott Yelton limped into the pot from mid position, Amit Makhija, the small blind, called and Ronald Crabtree, the big blind, checked his option.
Makhija led for 25,000 on a flop of . Crabtree went all in for his final 70,000 and Yelton folded. When the hands were tabled, Makhija had and Crabtree . The turn and the river did not improve Crabetree's hand and he was eliminated in 16th place.
Matt Waxman was under the gun and opened the action with a min-raise. Action folded around to Angel Pagan in the big blind and he defended. The flop saw Pagan check, Waxman bet 18,000 and Pagan wake up with a big all-in check-raise to roughly 280.000. Waxman thought for well over a minute before making the call.
Waxman:
Pagan:
Both players had flopped a pair, but Waxman's aces had him well out in front. The turn wasn't particularly interesting, and it meant Pagan needed to catch either a seven or a jack on the river to stay alive. The dealer burned one last time and put out the . It was a blank for Pagan and he was bounced in 15th place.
"Merry Christmas," Koon said after Pagan left the table and Waxman was stacking his chips.
"I work for my Christmas," Waxman replied with a big smile on his face.