Paul Pierce had seen his stack dribble down to just 28,000 over the last couple of hours (pun intended), but he's just earned a more-than-double to preserve his tournament life at least a little longer.
Alex Kravchenko raised to 7,000 from middle position and got a couple of callers, including Nadar Kakhmazov sitting one seat over. When the action reached Pierce, he reraised all in from the small blind. Kravchenko folded, Kakhmazov reraised the pot, and the other player got out.
Pierce had while Kakhmazov showed . The flop was bad for Pierce, giving Kakhmazov the better pair. But the turn was the , and like a last-second winning trey from the corner, the river brought the , giving the 2010 NBA Three-Point Shootout champion backdoor trips and winning him the hand.
Nadar Kakhmazov opened for 6,000 from the button, then Ismael Bojang reraised to 14,500 from the big blind. Kakhmazov responded by raising the pot back, and Bojang called all in for his last 34,000.
Bojang had and was hoping to improve versus Kakhmazov's . The board came , which meant Bojang did improve to a flush, but Kakhmazov had made a full house to knock out Bojang.
Jonathan Duhamel raised to 7,000 in the cutoff, a player in the big blind defended, and the flop fell . The player in the big blind checked, Duhamel continued for 10,000, and the player check-raised to 45,500. Duhamel moved all in, and the player called all in for 101,500.
Duhamel:
Opponent:
Duhamel held an underpair and an open-ended straight draw, but his flush outs were no good as his opponent held higher spades. The player held as the turn and river bricked off , respectively, and the 2010 Main Event champion fell to 165,000 chips.
Erik Seidel has been knocked out after losing his last hand to Daniel Fuhs.
It began with Fuhs raising to 7,500 from middle position, then Seidel shoved for 15,500 from the button and once the blinds stepped aside, Fuhs called.
Seidel was taking his chances with while Fuhs held . The board came , meaning Fuhs's hand had held to knock out Seidel shy of the money.
Numit Agrawal raised to 8,000 in early position, Alexander Kuzmin called in middle position, and the rest of the players folded. The flop fell , both players checked, and the turn brought the . Agrawal led out for 10,500, Kuzmin called, and the completed the board.
Agrawal fired out another 22,500, Kuzmin called, and Agrawal tabled for aces and deuces. Kuzmin shook his head, then mucked his hand.
Andy Seth just got the last of his short stack in the middle following a flop versus Mihails Morozovs. Seth held and Morozovs , and after the turn and river, Seth was eliminated.
There was a raise to 5,000 in early position, and three people called including Tom Marchese, and Leif Force. The dealer fanned , a player in the small blind led out for 11,500, and the action folded to Marchese who raised the pot. The player re-potted, and Marchese called all in for 56,800.
Marchese:
Opponent:
The on the turn was a brick, but the on the river gave Marchese Broadway, and he doubled to 135,000 chips.
Fredrik Andersson raised to 5,000 in early position, Bryan Buonocore called in middle position, Khiem Nguyen called on his direct left, and Juha Helppi defended his big blind. The dealer fanned , both Helppi and Andersson checked, and Buonocore bet the pot (21,200). Nguyen and Helppi called.
The turn was the , Buonocore immediately went all in for 3,800, even before Helppi checked, and the bet stood when the Fin finally knuckled. Nguyen moved all in over the top for roughly 80,000, and Helppi folded.
Buonocore:
Nguyen:
Buonocore was drawing dead, and started to leave the table before the completed the board. Nguyen now sits with 180,000 chips.