With 24,000 or so in the pot and a board reading , David Vamplew checked from the big blind and Martin Finger bet 14,700 from middle position. Vamplew responded by check-raising to 40,000, which was about half his stack.
Finger paused for a few beats before moving all in for 58,700, and Vamplew wasn't quick to act. In fact, he hit the tank for approximately five minutes before releasing his hand.
The Champ decided to lay it on the line in a pot that just went down. There was an open to 1,800 and Ryan Riess popped it up to 4,300. Another player cold four-bet to 8,850 and the original raiser folded.
Riess asked to see his opponents stack and it was of a similar size to his own. He mulled it over for a short while and opted for the five-bet to 19,800. His opponent quickly went all in and Riess afforded himself a small smile at the situation he was in and rested his chin on the palm of one hand.
He decided and called; his opponent turned over . It was with relief as much as anything that Riess turned over his own . If there was to be a winner, then a flush would have to sort them out.
The board ran out . “That was scary,” Riess said, collecting his half of the chips in the middle.
The player under the gun raised to 1,600, the next player to act called, James "Big Show" Calderaro called from middle position and the player in the big blind called.
They each checked to the turn of a where the under-the-gun player bet 3,100. The next player to act min-raised to 6,200 and Calderaro reraised to about 17,000. The rest of the table got out of the way and Calderaro collected the pot, upping his stack to about 150,000.
Bryan Campanello had 11,300 in front of him on a final board of , and Erik Seidel was considering his options on the button. After about a minute, he dropped in a call. Campanello shook his head and turned over for a pair of jacks and a missed flush draw, while Seidel showed for a low end of the straight.
Vegard Nygaard opened the action with a raise to 2,000 and Mikiyo Aoki called. Daniele Vadaccino raised it to 5,500 from the small blind and the player in the big blind moved all in. Nygaard and Aoki quickly folded and Vadaccino was just as quick to call. Vadaccino had , which crushed his opponent's . The board would run out and Vadacinno - who hasn't had much go his way today - would double up to 60,000.
In the meantime, Nygaard is sitting on one of the biggest stacks in the tournament with 205,000 in chips. Aoki has worked her way up from a short stack to 83,000.
We saw Amanda Musumeci exiting the Amazon Purple Section, and a quick check with her former table confirmed that she had just been eliminated.
It happened when Musumeci, who had been nursing a short-stack all of Day 2a, shoved all in for her last 8,700 or so holding the . Unfortunately for her, John Owens of Raleigh, North Carolina woke up with . The board ran out clean and that was all she wrote for Musumeci.
Meanwhile, both Yevgeniy Timoshenko and Nam Le were eliminated in unknown action.
We found Maria Ho and an opponent looking down at a completed board of . With about 12,000 already in the pot, Ho's opponent fired out a bet of 8,200. This bet sent Ho deep into the tank.
After about 90 seconds, Ho reached for chips and flung out a call. Her opponent rolled over for a club flush, prompting Ho to muck her hand. She's now sitting right around 62,000 in chips.
Samuel Moore bet 11,000 after two players checked to him on an board. Robert Russ shoved all in from the big blind, and another player shoved behind that. Moore laid his hand down.
Russ:
Opponent:
"He's got the ace-five, and he's got the thirty-five," the dealer growled. "Alright."
He burned and turned and brought out the , filling Russ up.
"Oh my God!" the player with said. "Oh my God..."
"Sorry, man," Russ said.
"That'll rip your heart out," a player at the table said, shaking his head.
, David Vamplew checked from the big blind and Martin Finger bet 14,700 from middle position. Vamplew responded by check-raising to 40,000, which was about half his stack.
. It was with relief as much as anything that Riess turned over his own 
. If there was to be a winner, then a flush would have to sort them out.
. “That was scary,” Riess said, collecting his half of the chips in the middle.
for a pair of jacks and a missed flush draw, while Seidel showed 
for a low end of the straight.
. The board would run out 
and Vadacinno - who hasn't had much go his way today - would double up to 60,000.
