Russell Thomas raised to 450,000 from early position, Robert Salaburu called from the hijack seat, and Steven Gee also called from the cutoff.
The dealer spread the flop . Thomas tossed out 550,000 and Salaburu folded quickly. Gee paused a few beats, then called. The turn brought the , and both players checked.
The river brought the . Both checked again, and Thomas showed for nines and aces. Gee looked back at his hand, showed the saying he thought it was a spade, then mucked.
The countdown is well and truly on as we creep closer to that elusive final table. Lynn Gilmartin chats with some of the spectators on Day 7 of the 2012 WSOP Main Event.
The tournament staff has just introduced a new almond chip, worth T250,000. Interestingly, just one of those chips represents eight people (30,000 starting stack X 8 = 240,000).
Scott Abrams opened with a raise to 425,000 from under the gun and he'd get two callers — Steven Gee (small blind) and Jesse Sylvia (big blind). The flop came , and it checked to Abrams who bet 750,000. Gee sat with his hand over his mouth for a moment then called the bet, and Sylvia stepped aside.
The fell on the turn. Gee checked, and Abrams didn't wait too long before betting 1.25 million. Gee thought over a minute, then called.
The river brought the . Gee checked relatively quickly, and Abrams sat with his arms folded for a few seconds, then slid out a stack of lavender chips — a bet of 1.8 million. Gee counted out chips to call and riffled them a bit, watching Abrams as he did. Then he grabbed some more and made a raise to 4.3 million total. Abrams called right away.
Gee turned over for sevens full of tens, and Abrams looked at the cards for a moment before tossing his away face down.
Andras Koroknai raised to 405,000 from early positon and Marc Ladouceur defended from the big blind. The flop saw Ladoucer check-call a bet of 430,000, but then turned right around and check-folded to a bet of 925,000 on the turn.
Greg Merson opened to 400,000 from middle position, Michael Esposito called from the cutoff, and Wilfried Harig moved all in for 2.45 million on the button. The action folded back to Merson, who re-raised, and Esposito quickly folded. The hands were opened.
Merson:
Harig:
Merson's rail exploded when the flop fell , giving him a pair of kings and a backdoor diamond draw.
"Diamond!" Tony Gregg yelled from the stands. "Diamond!"
The turn was not a diamond, but it was the , giving Merson two pair. His rail erupted, then began screaming "Hold!!!"
Merson did hold as the completed the board. Unbelievably, Merson cracked Harig's aces, eliminating him in 15th place.
Robert Salaburu limped in from the button, Steven Gee completed, and Jesse Sylvia checked. The flop came and all checked. The turn was the . Gee led for 300,000, Sylvia folded, then Salaburu raised the minimum to 600,000. Gee called.
The river brought the and quick checks from both. Salaburu rolled over , and after studying for a moment Gee mucked his hand.
It folded to Jeremy Ausmus in the small blind who raised to 500,000, Russell Thomas then reraised to 1.3 million from the big blind, and Ausmus called.
The flop came and Ausmus checked. Thomas set out a bet of 1.2 million, good enough to take it down.
Elisabeth Hille raised to 400,000 from middle position and Marc Ladouceur defended from the big blind, leading to a flop of . Ladouceur took the initiative and led out for 475,000, Hille called, and the appeared on the turn.
Ladouceur proceeded to check-call a bet of 675,000, and the peeled off on the river. After Ladouceur checked, Hille quickly reached for chips and put out a bet of 1.275 million. Her Canadian opponent thought for about a minute before sending his hand to the muck, which inspired a few in the crowd to shout, "Girl power."
Both tables are underway, with seven players on the secondary feature table and eight at the main feature table.
On the first hand back at the secondary table, Robert Salaburu raised to 425,000 from the button, then Steven Gee reraised to 1.2 million from the small blind, getting folds from Jesse Sylvia in the big blind and Salaburu.
On the next hand, Jeremy Ausmus opened things with a raise to 425,000 from middle position, and Scott Abrams called from the big blind. The flop came and both checked. The turn was the , and Abrams led for 525,000, getting a fold from Ausmus.
An open by Ausmus on the third hand was good enough to claim the blinds and antes.
![[user38338]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
. Thomas tossed out 550,000 and Salaburu folded quickly. Gee paused a few beats, then called. The turn brought the 
, and both players checked.
. Both checked again, and Thomas showed 
for nines and aces. Gee looked back at his hand, showed the 
saying he thought it was a spade, then mucked.
, and it checked to Abrams who bet 750,000. Gee sat with his hand over his mouth for a moment then called the bet, and Sylvia stepped aside.
fell on the turn. Gee checked, and Abrams didn't wait too long before betting 1.25 million. Gee thought over a minute, then called.
. Gee checked relatively quickly, and Abrams sat with his arms folded for a few seconds, then slid out a stack of lavender chips — a bet of 1.8 million. Gee counted out chips to call and riffled them a bit, watching Abrams as he did. Then he grabbed some more and made a raise to 4.3 million total. Abrams called right away.
for sevens full of tens, and Abrams looked at the cards for a moment before tossing his away face down.
turn.
, giving him a pair of kings and a backdoor diamond draw.
, giving Merson two pair. His rail erupted, then began screaming "Hold!!!"
. Gee led for 300,000, Sylvia folded, then Salaburu raised the minimum to 600,000. Gee called.
and quick checks from both. Salaburu rolled over 
appeared on the turn.
