We walked by and noticed that our current chip leader, Simon Charette, was talking with one of the tourney directors. Apparently Charette was being advised to color his chips up, as there are now 25,000 green chips being distributed.
"They say it's unlucky," Charette said. "I'm going to listen to my buddies on this one."
Everyone, including Charette, will have to color up their blue 500 denomination chips at the end of the 18th level, however, for now, Charette will continue to flaunt the vast mountain of chips he has in front of him.
We're not entirely clear how the betting went but Paul Loh already had 16,000 invested preflop and Jarrod Lucero had shoved all in for a total of around 60,000. Action was back on Loh and he struggled with whether he wanted to call or not. "Will you show if I fold?" Loh asked to which Lucero calmly shook his head no.
Loh said that that made his decision even harder but eventually decided to give up his hand. After the chips were being pushed towards Lucero he said, "Hey, I'll show" and flashed the . Loh looked absolutely relieved and expressed how glad he was that he hadn't called.
Lucero is still rocking a short stack and will still need some help fairly quickly.
Yevgeniy Timoshenko and Edward Fitzgerald just played a pot that went well into the break and could very well change the whole dynamic of this tournament. We joined the table as the flop was dealt out . Timoshenko checked, and Fitzgerald put out a pot sized bet of 21,000. Timoshenko thought for about 30 seconds before calling. The turn brought the , and Timoshenko checked again. As he did on the flop, Fitzgerald wasted little time in putting out a big bet, this time betting 50,000. Timoshenko went deep deep into the tank. He thought for nearly two minutes before he even motioned towards his chips, then continued to think. By this point, we were already in our break, and everyone else at the table had left. Finally, Fitzgerald called the clock, and about 20 seconds into that clock, Timoshenko assembled the chips and made the call.
The river came the , and Timoshenko checked a third time. As he had done the whole hand, Fitzgerald bet quick, and bet big, announcing himself all in. Timoshenko peaked down at his cards, thought for about 15 seconds, and called. Fitzgerald said "great call" and showed just for queen high. Timoshenko showed for aces up, and he took down the monster pot to secure a huge double up. Timoshenko's table mates will be in for a scary surprise when they get back, as possibly the most dangerous player left in the tournament just got alot stronger.
We missed the hand but Devin Porter was kind enough to tell us about his bust out. Porter went all in preflop holding the and was called by a player with the . The board ran out blanks and Porter was eliminated from the tournament.
Sandwhiched between those two hands involving Chino Rheem, there was another big hand at that table involving Yevgeniy Timoshenko and Everett Carlton. Action folded all the way around to Carlton, who shoved all in from the small blind for 42,000, or 10.5 big blinds. Timoshenko was in the big blind, and once he got the count, he made the call.
Carlton:
Timoshenko:
The flop provided plenty of action, coming . Carlton had outs for a king, queen, or club, and the on the turn gave him an unbeatable flush. The river brought the , and even though he won the hand, Carlton began to get up and pack his things. When the players at the table pointed out that he won, Carlton said "Oh I thought that was the . Works for me," as he sat back down in his seat.
As we walked over to Chino Rheem's table, we saw nearly everyone at the table standing up, meaning that a big hand was going down. Indeed there was, as Rheem and Timothy Gallegos had gotten all the chips in the middle preflop. Rheem had Gallegos covered by 20,000, and he would need alot of help to catch up with Gallegos.
Rheem:
Gallegos:
The flop came out , keeping Gallegos in the lead. The turn brought the , and the river came the . Gallegos doubled up to over 90,000, while Rheem was knocked down to five big blinds.
Those remaining chips went in when he was under the gun two hands later. It folded around to Paul Obrien, who was short stacked himself, and he reraised all in having Rheem covered. The rest of the table folded, and the players showed their cards.
Rheem:
Obrien:
Rheem confessed that he only looked at the ace when he went all in, so he was happy to see that he was ahead. However, he was not ahead for long, as the flop came out , giving Obrien unbeatable quads. The meaningless turn and river came , and Rheem was sent to the rail.
and everyone checked to Stout, who promptly bet 28,000. Everyone quickly mucked and Stout dragged the pot.
. Loh looked absolutely relieved and expressed how glad he was that he hadn't called.
. Timoshenko checked, and Fitzgerald put out a pot sized bet of 21,000. Timoshenko thought for about 30 seconds before calling. The turn brought the 
, and Timoshenko checked again. As he did on the flop, Fitzgerald wasted little time in putting out a big bet, this time betting 50,000. Timoshenko went deep deep into the tank. He thought for nearly two minutes before he even motioned towards his chips, then continued to think. By this point, we were already in our break, and everyone else at the table had left. Finally, Fitzgerald called the clock, and about 20 seconds into that clock, Timoshenko assembled the chips and made the call.
, and Timoshenko checked a third time. As he had done the whole hand, Fitzgerald bet quick, and bet big, announcing himself all in. Timoshenko peaked down at his cards, thought for about 15 seconds, and called. Fitzgerald said "great call" and showed just 
for queen high. Timoshenko showed 
for aces up, and he took down the monster pot to secure a huge double up. Timoshenko's table mates will be in for a scary surprise when they get back, as possibly the most dangerous player left in the tournament just got alot stronger.
and Mizzi's opponent check-raised a 13,500 from Mizzi to 28,000. Mizzi called.
and Mizzi's opponent again checked. Not deterred, Mizzi under-bet the pot for a mere 20,000 and his opponent folded.
on the turn gave him an unbeatable flush. The river brought the 
. Works for me," as he sat back down in his seat.
, keeping Gallegos in the lead. The turn brought the 
. Gallegos doubled up to over 90,000, while Rheem was knocked down to five big blinds.
, giving Obrien unbeatable quads. The meaningless turn and river came 
, and Rheem was sent to the rail.