Two Tables Remain…
by Crystal on 07.14.08, 6:43 pm
There are now only 18 players remaining in the tournament, and there has been a lot of action going on. There have been a number of all-ins as of late as players with less chips try to gain more ground in their quest to make the final table.
Toni Cristian was planning on making a raise from under the gun, but the manner in which he put in his chips was determined to be a string bet so he only was able to call. Nicholas Sliwinski also limped into the pot before Albert Kim raised to 800k. Judet took the opportunity to put in the raise he originally wanted to and moved all in for 2 million total. Sliwinski folded but Kim made the call. Cristian held the A
A
against Kim’s 9
9
. The board ran out T84J3 and Cristian managed a double up. Unfortunately for Cristian, his pocket jacks couldn’t best another players pocket kings and he was eliminated in 22nd place.
Right before Cristian’s elimination, Scott “r_a_y” Montgomery (pictured left) raised to 300K and Tim Loecke moved all in for his last 525K. Ylon Schwartz called from the button and Scott also made the call. The flop came AT2 and Scott and Ylon both checked, but when the 3 fell on the turn Montgomery checked and Schwartz bet 600K. Scott folded his hand, and Schwartz turned over his 33 for a turned set. Loecke’s pocket sixes had been outdrawn and when the 4 came on the river Tim Loecke was eliminated in 23rd place.
On the ESPN Featured table, Kelly Kim raised to 275K and Brandon Cantu reraised to 950K and Dean Hamrick moved all in. Kim let his hand go and Cantu went into the tank. Cantu contemplated what to do for over five minutes before finally saying “I call.” Hamrick flipped over the AA and the crowd was shocked to see Cantu flip over his T5. The flop gave Cantu’s hand a bit more strength as it came down with the 875 but the aces were still in the lead. The turn brought the 8 taking away any tens as possible outs for Cantu’s hand so it seemed ironic that the T fell on the river giving Cantu two pair, but the aces and eights were still best and Hamrick took down the hand and doubled his stack. Cantu was down to 2.4 million after the hand while Hamrick was up to 5.5 million. Cantu became the tournament’s shortest stack.
Cantu was eliminated soon afterward when he got all the chips in with the 99 against Peter Eastgate’s AQ. The board ran out 86384 and Eastgate’s ace-high flush was the best hand to send Cantu out in 20th place.
Just when we thought there might be a lull in the eliminations, but then Chris “SLOPPYKLOD” Klodnicki (pictured right) and another player tangled in a big pot. Albert Kim raised in the cutoff to 275K and Klodnicki re-raised to 750K on the button. The blinds folded and Kim moved all in. Both Kim and Klodnicki had similar sized stacks so Klodnicki tanked for a bit before eventually making the call. Klodnicki held the 99 against Kim’s AK. The board ran out 9863T and Klodnicki’s set of nines was enough to send Kim to the rail in 19th place.
Players are currently redrawing for seats at the final two tables and will resume play soon. The chip leader Dennis Phillips currently has 14.2 million in chips while the short stack is Anthony Scherer with 2.7 million.
Chris “SLOPPYKLOD” Klodnicki has 7.4 million, Scott “r_a_y” Montgomery has 5.5 million, and Owen “ocrowe” Crowe has 4 million.
