Just before the end of Level 27, Amit Makhija opened to 140,000 from middle position. Danny Wong defended his big blind, and the flop fell . Wong checked, Makhija continued for 180,000, and Wong called.
The turn was the , both players checked, and the completed the board. Both players checked, and Wong tabled . Makhija mucked his hand, and Wong won the pot.
Taylor Paur opened with a raise from middle position, then Steven Gee reraised to 300,000 from the button. It folded back to Paur who made it 630,000 to go, and Gee called.
The flop came . Paur led out for 565,000, and Gee called again. The turn was the . Paur took his time, carving out chips and arranging them in front of himself. He then announced he was all in, tossing in a single lavender chip as he did.
Gee winced a little and didn't act right away, but soon enough was calling. Now Paur was the one wincing. "Kings?" Paur asked as he tabled his . Not kings, but still bad for Paur — Gee had .
The river was the , and Gee claims a large percentage of Paur's stack.
After action folded to him on the button, Greg Merson limped and Elisabeth Hille checked her option from the big blind. The latter checked the flop, Merson bet 85,000, and Hille check-raised to 300,000.
Not to be outdone, Merson made it 515,000 to go, but Hille was not deterred and four-bet 850,000. Merson quickly folded and it was off to the next hand.
Erik Hellman opened to 125,000 from early position and Robert Salaburu three-bet to 280,000. Daniel Strelitz opted to four-bet to 540,000 from the button and it was around to Gaelle Baumann in the big blind. Baumann made it 1,000,000 to go, causing both Hellman and Salaburu to muck their hands.
Strelitz moved all in and Baumann called for her tournament life.
Baumann:
Strelitz:
These two players had the same hand, but Streltiz picked up outs on the flop. The came on the turn and the rail let out a collective gasp. Baumann would need to dodge a heart in order to stay alive in this tournament. Fortunately for Baumann, the river was the and the pot was chopped up.
We have another member of the 10 million-chip club — Jeremy Ausmus, who after a recent hand pulls into a virtual tie with Daniel Strelitz atop the leaderboard with 50 players left.
The hand began with Scott Anderson raising from under the gun and Ausmus calling from middle position. The flop came , and when Anderson made a big leading bet of 325,000, Ausmus responded by shoving all in and Anderson called.
Anderson had for an overpair, but Ausmus had flopped a set with . The turn was the and river the , and Anderson is out.
Scott Abrams opened to 170,000 from middle position, Jordan Batt moved all in for 1.5 million from the hijack seat, and the action folded back to Abrams who immediately called, turning over .
Batt tabled , and the flop came . Abrams flop a set of sevens, but any spade or nine would double Batt. The on the turn was a big red brick, but the slammed on the river, giving Batt a jack-high straight.
He didn't realize it immediately, and later admitted that he was "so focused on spades" that he momentarily forgot that a nine would give him a straight.
Batt doubled to 3.2 million, while Abrams slipped to 5.05 million.
Andras Koroknai opened for a raise to 160,000 from under the gun and got two callers — Fabrizio Gonzalez (middle position) and Webber Kang (small blind).
The flop came . Kang checked, Koroknai bet 280,000, Gonzalez called, then Kang raised to 650,000. Koroknai folded, and after some thought Gonzalez let his hand go, too.
You may not be overly familiar with Steven Gee, but if you think real hard you may recall him conquering a field of 3,042 players in Event #13 $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em at the 2010 World Series of Poker to capture his first gold bracelet along with a $472,479 first-place prize. Interestingly, David “ODB” Baker, who was recently eliminated from this tournament, placed third in that event for $206,813.
Gee had two other small cashes in no-limit hold’em low buy-in events, bringing his total WSOP earnings to $477,901. Obviously Gee will add to that total in this year’s Main Event, and even though he may lack in big buy-in experience, he knows how to emerge victorious over a massive field.
Leo Wolpert's 50th-place finish represented the best showing among all of the many players participating in the Onnit Labs Last Sticker Standing Contest. Wolpert won the contest, which means he pockets an additional $5,000 to top off the $156,293 he took for his finish.
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. Wong checked, Makhija continued for 180,000, and Wong called.
, both players checked, and the 
completed the board. Both players checked, and Wong tabled 
. Makhija mucked his hand, and Wong won the pot.
. Not kings, but still bad for Paur — Gee had 
.
, and Gee claims a large percentage of Paur's stack.
flop, Merson bet 85,000, and Hille check-raised to 300,000.
came on the turn and the rail let out a collective gasp. Baumann would need to dodge a heart in order to stay alive in this tournament. Fortunately for Baumann, the river was the 
and the pot was chopped up.
, and when Anderson made a big leading bet of 325,000, Ausmus responded by shoving all in and Anderson called.
for an overpair, but Ausmus had flopped a set with 
. The turn was the 
, and Anderson is out.
. Abrams flop a set of sevens, but any spade or nine would double Batt. The 
on the turn was a big red brick, but the 
slammed on the river, giving Batt a jack-high straight.
