After his momentary sabbatical from the tournament, Young Ji returned with a vengeance, raising a few pots preflop hoping to make a comeback that was not to be.
When Ji opened to 28,000 from under the gun, Eddie Blumenthal called out of the big blind to see a flop of . Ji quickly bet the pot, going all-in for his last 94,000. Blumenthal looked him up with , having flopped straight draws and middle pair.
Ji rolled over the for top pair and a flush draw, but the on the turn spelled disaster for the flamboyant man in black, giving Blumenthal a straight. The on the river gave Ji trip queens, but his hand was second best, and with that he hit the rail in 16th place.
Matthew Prior managed to get his stack of 78,000 all in preflop from the small blind and was up against Josh Pollock, who was on the button.
Pollock:
Prior:
Prior got it in good with a pair of tens, and Pollock only held one over. Unfortunately for Prior, Pollock hit that over on the flop. The turn improved Pollock to two pair, which meant Prior needed a ten on the river to stay alive. The dealer burned and put out the .
Prior collected his things and made his way to the payout desk in 15th place.
The preflop details escaped us, but we do know Uzair Mulla from Leawood, Kansas got his stack of 103,000 all in from the cutoff and was up against Josh Pollock in late position.
Mulla:
Pollock:
Mulla needed some help to overcome the aces of Pollock, but he didn't find much on the flop. The turn actually gave Pollock two pair and left Mulla drawing dead headed to the river, which came the .
Josh Pollock raised to 16,000 from under the gun, KT Park flatted from the button, and Andrei Kaigorodtcev moved all-in over the top from the big blind, putting his last 83,000 at risk.
Pollock isolated the all-in player with a reraise of the pot, forcing Park to get out of the way, and the two players exposed their holdings.
Showdown:
Pollock:
Kaigorodtcev:
Kaigorodtcev had run his kings up against aces, and when the flop fell , his chances of survival will virtually nil. The on the turn made things official, and after meaningless on the river, Kaigorodtcev headed for the payout desk in 13th place.
Action folded to Scott Davies on the button and he made it 28,000 to go. Eddie Blumenthal called from the big blind and then bet the pot when the flop came down . Davies, who only had 8,000 behind, called off.
Davies:
Blumenthal:
Davies was way out in front with top set, and when the turned, all he needed to do was dodge a six on the river to double. That proved easier said than done though as the spiked. Blumenthal hit his gutshot to send Davies to the rail in 12th place.
Eric Shanks and David Colin were in the cutoff and button respectively when they engaged in a raising war that resulted in the latter being all in for 135,000.
Colin:
Shanks:
The flop made things interesting by giving Colin a pair of eights and a straight draw, but it also gave Shanks draws to both a straight and flush to go with his pair of tens. The turn didn't change much, and neither did the river. That meant Shanks' lowly pair of tens held and Colin was eliminated in 11th place.
With that, the final ten players will redraw to a single table.
On the very first hand of the "unofficial" final table of ten, Eric Shank opened for 20,000 from early position only to have Shawn Silber call from late position. Michael Genovese then raised the pot from the big blind and made it 85,000. Shanks got out of the way, Silber repot and Genovese called off for 117,000 total.
Genovese:
Silber:
The flop was fairly dry, but the turn wasn't as it gave Genovese a set and Silber a flush draw. Wouldn't you know it, that flush came in when the peeled off on the river. Just like that, we're down to the final table of nine.
. Ji quickly bet the pot, going all-in for his last 94,000. Blumenthal looked him up with 
, having flopped straight draws and middle pair.
for top pair and a flush draw, but the 
on the turn spelled disaster for the flamboyant man in black, giving Blumenthal a straight. The 
on the river gave Ji trip queens, but his hand was second best, and with that he hit the rail in 16th place.
flop. The 
turn improved Pollock to two pair, which meant Prior needed a ten on the river to stay alive. The dealer burned and put out the 
.
flop. The 
turn actually gave Pollock two pair and left Mulla drawing dead headed to the river, which came the 
.
on the turn made things official, and after meaningless 
. Davies, who only had 8,000 behind, called off.
spiked. Blumenthal hit his gutshot to send Davies to the rail in 12th place.
