Mike Wattel shoved his last 24,000 into the middle after the deal, and Benjamin Parker made the call. He patted with , and Wattel needed one card.
He showed as well, and he would have to find a three or a five to stay alive. It was close but no cigar; a peeled off the deck, and Wattel has been eliminated in 23rd place.
Under the gun, Phil Hellmuth raised to 12,000, and Salman Behbehani three-bet to 30,500. Chino Rheem cold-called, Hellmuth folded, and Behbehani reraised all in over the top. Rheem spent a long while in the tank before folding, and Cantu made the call to put himself all in for his last 81,500.
Both men patted, and Cantu showed , and Behbehani could not beat it. He flashed , then spun his cards into the muck.
That's a big pot for Cantu, a double-up and then some. He's back to 213,000, while Behbehani falls back to about 86,000.
Benjamin Parker popped it up to 12,000 and was confronted with Chau Giang three-betting all in for 50,000. Parker made the call and drew one card while Giang stood pat.
Giang tabled while Parker had the on the table. Parker squeezed out his drawn card and then exposed it to the table, showing a for a nine-seven low. Chau Giang was sent home and Parker's stack has climbed to 160,000.
We're down to 21 players and three tables now, and our field has been picked up. Everyone's moved about five tables over to the area near the rail where the three tables have automatic shuffling machines, and we're off for the push to the final table.
From early position, Richard Ashby made it 12,000. David Williams decided to shove all from the hijack and it folded back around to Ashby who made the call.
Ashby:
Williams:
Ashby squeezed out his card first, tabling a and giving him a nine-eight low. Williams, however, was able to pull an for an eight-seven low. This hand knocked Ashby down to 140,000 while Williams doubled up to 54,000.
Bill Chen just entered the ropes where our final three tables reside, and he lit up like a lantern when he saw Greg Raymer still sitting with chips at the center table.
"Goooooo, Greg!" Chen yelled, giddy and grinning like a toddler. He came wafting around the table in the direction of Raymer with his palm up, ready to accept a Fossilman high-five. Raymer was looking at Chen as he approached, but as soon as Chen got behind his seat, Raymer said, "Hang on a second," and he turned around and left Chen totally hanging in mid-air.
Across the table, Jason Mercier burst into laughter, and we have to admit it quite a comical few seconds. The action was just about to be on Raymer, and he patiently waited his turn, squeezed his cards, and mucked... then returned an awkward high-five to Chen.
Gone but still here -- Bill Chen, ladies and gentlemen!
From the hijack, Vince Musso went all in for his remaining 14,000. Action folded to Richard Ashby in the small blind and he popped it to about 50,000. David Williams, short stacked as well, called all in from the big blind for about 25,000.
Ashby drew one, Williams stood pat, and Musso drew two.
Williams tabled and looked to fade a lot of cards as Ashby tabled and Musso tabled . It was all over for Williams when Ashby drew an . Musso paired his and also was done, helping to up Ashby's stack to about 200,000.