Minh Nguyen opened to 13,000 from the button and Michael Accardo gave it some thought before moving all in for 44,000 out of the big blind. Nguyen asked for a count and then put in a stack of T-5,000 chips.
Accardo:
Nguyen:
The flop put Accardo in more danger, as his small pocket pair could be counterfitted. Once the appeared on the turn, he was down to two outs only and the river sent him to the rail in 6th place for a payday of A$6,470.
Down to the last five players, Minh Nguyen and Linh Tran hold a commanding lead over the rest of the table with more than two third of the chips in play. The two mountains on the left and right side of the table appear to be crushing the three hopefuls in between at any second.
In a battle of the blinds, Linh Tran bet 10,000 on the turn and Geoffrey Mooney called with the words "one more time." Tran then checked the river and Mooney checked behind to muck once he was shown the by his opponent.
Mooney's stack has dwindled all the way to 10 big blinds and Tatjana Zizic pulled away slightly from him by grabbing the blinds and antes with an all in.
From the button Geoffrey Mooney moved all in for his last 11 big blinds and Minh Nguyen glanced up from his massage and then slid forward a stack of T-5,000 chips for the call out of the big blind.
Mooney:
Nguyen:
The board ran out and the kicker played a crucial role to send Mooney on the way out in 4th place for A$9,240.
While Tatjana Zizic moved all in once, the short-handed play costs her more due to being in the blinds almost consistently. Especially on such a short stack, this can quickly become cruel and the Serbian, who has been living in New Zealand for 20 years, is under immediate pressure.
"Queens for the poker queen," Jan Suchanek shouted from the rail and indeed, Tatjana Zizic had just picked up said hand. She shoved from the button for 45,000 and Minh Nguyen called from the small blind.
Zizic:
Nguyen:
The board ran out and that sent Zizic back up to more than 10 big blinds.