Two hands on two adjacent tables have seen players put under pressure. All in pressure!
The first hand saw an unknown player raise to 10,000 from the small blind before the big blind Bodo Sbrzesny slid out a stack amounting roughly 100,000 to effectively put the small blind all in.
Going into the tank for over two minutes, the small blind eventually folded and showed the as Sbrzesny flashed the .
On the table across from Sbzesny's we caught the action on a board with roughly 100,000 in the middle. Steven Watts had moved all in for roughly 340,000 and the action was on Dean Baranowski who only had 200,000 in his stack.
The clock was eventually called and as the Tournament Director counted down, Baranowski eventually was timed out of the hand to see Watts awarded the pot.
Anthony Forsyth Forrest raised to 10,000 from the cutoff, and a very short-stacked Mike Watson called all in for less from the button. Then Blake Yu raised to 22,500 from the small blind. The big blind folded, and Forsyth Forrest four-bet to 45,000. Yu then re-raised all in, and Forsyth Forrest quickly folded. Yu took the side pot between him and Forsyth Forrest, and then Yu and Watson turned up their cards.
Yu:
Watson:
The flop fell , immediately giving Watson the lead over Yu's kings. The turn was the , and the river the . Watson tripled up on the hand, but was still extremely short-stacked.
Doyle Brunson raised to 12,000 from early position and William O'Neal three-bet to 40,000 from the cutoff. Action folded back to Brunson who called to see a flop of . Both checked, landing the turn. Brunson bet 55,000. O'Neal called, resulting in the hitting the river. Brunson checked to O'Neal who bet 100,000. Brunson quickly folded, prompting O'Neal to show for quads.
We continue to circle the tables watching the big stacks pressuring others on the bubble while the short stacks sit nervously looking either to fold their way to the cash or find a good spot to double up.
Amid the excitement is one empty chair with a stack in front of it. The seat belongs to Alan Jehamy, who began today with 62,000 and after about 35 minutes of play has been blinded and anted down to 40,500.
No word on Jehamy's whereabouts, but at this rate his stack may only survive to the end of Level 16, or perhaps become depleted just before.
Christopher Anderson raised to 11,000 from early position, leaving himself with about 115,000 behind. The only caller was Camilo Posada Fernandez in the big blind, and the dealer spread a flop of . Both players checked, then Fernandez bet out 8,000 on the turn. Anderson min-raised to 16,000, and Fernandez quickly folded. Anderson said to the table with a huge smile, "I'm a great liar, guys!" Then he turned up for the nut flush with a royal flush redraw.
We heard "Seat open on Table 366", and saw Sigurd Eskeland, who started the day with 451,000, walking away from the table with his bag on his shoulder. We went over, and saw Herbert Farber adding multiple stacks of 20 to his already massive chip stack. We saw that the board read , and that Farber had quad aces, with in his hand! When we asked Farber what Eskeland had, he told us that he flopped bottom set with , making for a massive set under set cooler.
It was a tough beat for Eskeland, but his loss is Farber's gain, as he is now up to 1.05 million.
Brian Kellogg had just 17,500 in his stack, and unfortunately for him, he had to commit 5,000 in the big blind.
"Gotta help him out!" stated one of the players in late position as he folded his hand.
The action folded to Eddy Sabat in the small blind and he stuck in a stack of chips amounting to 65,000. Kellogg went into the tank, asked if it was hand-for-hand and then eventually folded his hand to leave him with just over 2 big blinds as hand-for-hand play looms.
When we arrived at Table 423, there was about 200,000 in the middle and the board read . Jorn Walthaus was already all in for effectively 110,000, having his opponent Sidney Schipper (who started the day with 374,000 chips) covered by roughly 100,000.
Schipper tanked for nearly five minutes before the clock was called. A tournament director arrived at the table, and as he gave Schipper the standard speech, all Schipper did was nod and say, "I understand."
No more than five seconds after the clock started, Schipper blurted, "call," ripping over for trip deuces.
Walthaus tabled for a flopped full house.
"No," Schipper said, stunned. "No."
He wasted no time leaving the table, as Walthaus scooped in a monster pot.
Rafael Caiaffa pushed his short stack of 65,500 all in before the flop. Action folded to Marcel Luske, who made the call from the button. Both blinds folded.
Play has ground to halt as announcements have been made to dealers to stop dealing hands in preparation for hand-for-hand play. All dealers are now standing by their tables as they await their next instructions.
The big board is currently showing 650 players left — two off the cash — but an official estimation is no doubt being made to see exactly where the tourney stands at the moment. The top 648 finishers make the money.
![[user80015]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
as Sbrzesny flashed the 
.
, and the river the 
. Watson tripled up on the hand, but was still extremely short-stacked.
. Both checked, landing the 
hitting the river. Brunson checked to O'Neal who bet 100,000. Brunson quickly folded, prompting O'Neal to show 
. Both players checked, then Fernandez bet out 8,000 on the 
turn. Anderson min-raised to 16,000, and Fernandez quickly folded. Anderson said to the table with a huge smile, "I'm a great liar, guys!" Then he turned up 
for trip deuces.
for a flopped full house.
