The Ukrainian, Alexander Dovzhenko has just doubled through the Russian, Kirill Rabtsov.
Dovzhenko went with for his last 57,000, and Rabtsov's was the hand he needed to beat. The board ran out , and the ace-king played. Dovzhenko doubles back to 120,000 with that pot, and it's Rabtsov crippled down to 62,000 as the two men trade stacks.
Phil Laak was the only player missing when the clock started for this level, and he sprinted a few steps back to his chair as the dealer was pitching the third card around the table. Laak will be glad he made it back in time.
We missed the first betting action from the Unabomber, walking up to see Doc Sands raise to 54,000 in position. Laak announced a pot-sized reraise from early position, and it was 180,000 total. Sands made the call, and they went off to the flop.
The dealer spread out , and Laak took just a momentary pause to study. After a few seconds, he shrugged and slid his last 243,000 chips across the line. Sands held his cards up to double-check, then made the call with his covering stack and a draw-heavy hand.
Showdown
Laak:
Sands:
"Lots of back doors," someone at the table commented. Sands would miss everything, though, as the turn and river secured Laak's double. It's the biggest pot we've seen today, and it pushes Laak very near to the top of the pack. He's sitting pretty in second place with 864,000 now.
As the dealer was counting out the double, Laak stood up and began snapping a few pictures of the cards and the pot. As they were pushed away from his opponent, we can see that Sands is left with 137,000 now.
Action folded to Nick Binger in the small blind and he raised to 36,000. Kirill Rabtsov was in the big blind and reraised all in for 80,000, which Binger called.
Rabtsov:
Binger:
The board ran out an uneventful and Rabtsov doubled to 160,000; meanwhile, Binger was left with just 112,000.
One thing we're keeping a good eye on this summer is the race to qualify for the new Epic Poker League, run by Federated Sports + Gaming. There were about a dozen players in the hunt coming into the Series, and one of them has just punched his Epic ticket.
Phil Laak was short by $20,298 for his 2-year B card. Making it to the final 15 players of this event will earn him at least $20,299, and he's officially gotten over the hump. By $1. But Laak has his sights set on bigger things today, it appears. Some recent chip movement puts him near the top of the counts, and even the dealers have been commenting about how unusually quiet and focused the Unabomber seems today.
The ticket is punched, but Laak likely only has one thing on his mind right now: bracelet number two.
Alexander Dovzhenko raised to 42,000 under the gun only to have Bryce Yockey three-bet pot to 144,000. Nick Binger then called off for 86,000 while Dovzhenko called off for around 80,000 total.
Dovzhenko:
Yockey:
Binger:
The put out a lot of possibilities, but it was the turn that gave Binger trips and a good lead. The river was also great for Binger, as it gave him the best low and allowed him to scoop the entire pot. As a result, Dovzhenko was eliminated from the tournament in 15th place.
We didn't catch the action, but we witnessed Brent Wheeler holding on a board. We do know that he doubled his stack of 108,000 through David "Doc" Sands, although we did not manage to get the latter's cards. Sands was left with just 10,000.
In the very next hand, Peter Charalambous raised from the cutoff and Sands called all in from the small blind.
Charalambous:
Sands:
The board ran out and Sands hit the rail in 14th place.
We didn't catch all the preflop action, but we do know that Peter Levine was all in for his last 100,000 or so and up against Allen Kessler.
Levine:
Kessler:
Levine was at risk and watched as the flop came down , improving him to two pair. The turn gave Kessler a pair of queens and a flush draw to go along with his low draw, and much to Levine's dismay, the river completed both draws. Kessler scooped the pot with nut-nut as Levine made his way to the payout desk in 13th place.
Austin Marks opened his penultimate pot to 28,000, and Allen Kessler three-bet to 125,000. Marks took hardly any time to consider before surrendering.
On the next hand, Marks made the same open, this time from under the gun. Bryce Yockey three-bet him this time, making it 102,000 total. Marks had 142,000 to start the hand, and he moved all in to try for the double-up.
Showdown
Marks:
Yockey:
Neither player had a particularly premium hand, and Yockey in particular was surprised to see that he was in decent shape, even slightly ahead. And his hand would come out best in the end, too. The board ran through , and two pair gets the job done. Marks couldn't catch a piece of that board, and he's been eliminated in 12th place. That's good for a pay bump up to $25,874 for the young man in the Yankess hat.
for his last 57,000, and Rabtsov's 
was the hand he needed to beat. The board ran out 
, and the ace-king played. Dovzhenko doubles back to 120,000 with that pot, and it's Rabtsov crippled down to 62,000 as the two men trade stacks.
, and Laak took just a momentary pause to study. After a few seconds, he shrugged and slid his last 243,000 chips across the line. Sands held his cards up to double-check, then made the call with his covering stack and a draw-heavy hand.
and river 
put out a lot of possibilities, but it was the 
turn that gave Binger trips and a good lead. The 
river was also great for Binger, as it gave him the best low and allowed him to scoop the entire pot. As a result, Dovzhenko was eliminated from the tournament in 15th place.
and Sands hit the rail in 14th place.
