Following the conclusion of Level 19, play was momentarily suspended for tournament staff to address the players. According to the staff, they had crunched the numbers and because of the size of this tournament, it will likely play well into the early hours of the morning on Day 3. According to the math done by the tournament staff, the event should finish around 6 a.m. The tournament staff then informed the players that they would need to end around 2 a.m.
In order to combat this, the staff announced that they needed to take action.
Tournament staff gave the players the options of either extending Day 2 play by one level or two, or decreasing the length of the levels on Day 3. Each player had their own opinion on the matter, so this obviously turned into a somewhat lengthy process.
In the end, it was decided that one extra level would be played tonight and the levels on Day 3 would decrease from the standard 60 minutes to 55 minutes.
The eliminations have been coming fast and furious, and here's a batch of a few more.
Included in this bunch was Andrea Dato, who was eliminated at the hands of Martin Finger. Dat had moved all in with the and was up against the for Finger. The board gave Finger the win and sent Dato out the door in 45th place.
Play folded to Mustapha Kanit in the small blind. He raised to put Byron Kaverman all in from the big blind. Kaverman called and put himself at risk for 155,000 with the . Kanit had a dominated .
Ankush Mandavia had been eliminated in 43rd place. Play folded to him in the small blind, and he raised all in. Matias Jansson called from the big blind with the . Mandavia had the .
The board came , and Jansson busted Mandavia in 43rd place.
The completed board read with Christopher Lockhart and Mustapha Kanit engaged in heads up action. With well over 300,000 in chips already in the middle, Lockhart checked to Kanit who shipped all in. This was a bet for Lockhart's tournament life and he went into the tank for several minutes while he pondered this important decision.
In the end, Lockhart dropped out a call and a frustrated Kanit showed for ace-high. Lockhart tabled for a pair of jacks and scored the double.
From under the gun, Byron Kaverman raised to 32,000. Matias Jansson reraised to 75,000 from the next seat, and then play folded back around to Kaverman. He reraised all in for around 350,000, and Jansson called.
Kaverman had the , and Jansson had the . The board ran out , and Kaverman was gone in 38th place.
"I didn't believe him," Kaverman said before he made his way off to collect his winnings.