There were four all-ins and calls in the first hand on the money bubble four away from the money and three double ups came out of it. One of them included [Removed:426], who bet the turn for 75,000 out of the big blind. He then faced the jam by Takahito Koshiba in the cutoff for 461,000 and tanked for nearly three minutes before he called.
Koshiba tabled the for the nut straight while Liyanage was at risk for 292,000 with the . Once the river paired the board, Liyanage burst out in frantic celebration and screamed his joy right into the TV cameras before stacking up the chips.
All other action at every other table was completed and the eyes of the room turned to Ludovic Periaux who had been in the tank for quite some time. He had raised to 17,000 from the cutoff and Kyle Cartwright had jammed from the small blind.
Periaux had about 165,000 behind, which was about 27 big blinds. People rushed over to see the potential all in and call situation, but he tossed his raise chips over to Cartwright and mucked the face up to elicit some reaction from the watching crowd.
"Would you have called with aces?" queried a tablemate as Periaux sat content with his stack.
Matthew Ezrol opened to 13,000 and Paul Taylor shoved his last 23,000 chips next to him. The rest of the table folded and Ezrol called to create the following showdown:
Paul Taylor:
Matthew Ezrol:
The board brought no bad beat to Taylor with to give him the precious double only three places before the money.
Seyed Nabavi was one of the severe short stacks and his fate eventually awaited when he was forced all-in for a single chip in the big blind. Phuoc Nguyen had raised to force out all other players and once the other hands were completed, the showdown unfolded.
Seyed Nabavi:
Phuoc Nguyen:
The Doyle Brunson memorial hand had two live cards but found no help on the . Even if he had survived the hand three away from the money, Nabavi would have been forced all-in from the small blind in the next hand again. As it stands, he narrowly missed out on the money and there are now 1,302 players remaining.
Martin Zamani shoved blind from the under the gun position and it folded to Joseph Lamkin who called all in for 324,000 to create the following showdown:
Joseph Lamkin:
Martin Zamani:
Zamani had the surprise of finding pocket sevens in his hands but the board gave to improve Lamkin's hand into a full house and give him the needed double up.
Action for this hand, played shortly before the hand-for-hand portion of the evening, was joined with 23,000 in the pot and a flop of on the table. Robert Lipkin, in the hijack, moved nearly all in, keeping himself a single 1,000 chip behind. His opponent, in the cutoff, put in a raise to force Lipkin all in. After some time in the tank, he made the laydown, likely a wise one, as his opponent flashed .
Lipkin was still holding onto that chip by the time the tournament reached the hand-for-hand portion. Shortly after, Lipkin found himself in the big blind, forced to move all in before a card had been dealt. A middle position player put in a raise to 18,000 but received no callers, giving a heads-up showdown with Lipkin's tournament life at stake. Once the tournament director had given the go-ahead, the two tabled their hands.
Robert Lipkin:
Opponent:
Lipkin's elimination seemed inevitable until the appeared in the window on the flop, improving him to a pair. The turn and river helped nobody, and Lipkin secured the pot, increasing his stack from 1,000 to 3,000. Unfortunately for Lipkin, he was the small blind on the next hand and was once again forced to go all in before any cards hit the felt.
After a limp from middle position, the hijack raised 38,000 and received no callers, meaning Lipkin was once again in a heads-up showdown for his tournament life.
Robert Lipkin:
Hijack:
Lipkin was in poor shape and failed to improve on the runout, eliminating him from the tournament. Elsewhere in the field, there were two other eliminations and two double ups as the bubble officially burst.
*****
The second player eliminated was Ognjen Sekularac.
Action started on the flop with a board of . Ian Armstrong checked to Ognjen Sekularac, who bet 50,000 into the pot. Armstrong check-raised all in for about 420,000 effective. Sekularac made the call.
Ognjen Sekularac:
Ian Armstrong:
With the whole tournament rooting for a flush draw to come in, the turn brought the to leave Sekularac drawing to a full house to stay alive. The river was the to seal the deal and give Sekularac a split of the bubble.
*****
The last player to depart was Tom McCormick, who was forced all-in from the big blind for 8,000 and 3,000 as big blind ante, while Vladimir Geshkenbein had limped in from the small blind.
Tom McCormick:
Vladimir Geshkenbein:
The board ran out and Geshkenbein earned the chips and a signed book copy of McCormick, who has been handing them out for each elimination in the last few years at the WSOP.
Lipkin, Sekularac and McCormick will split the $15,000 min-cash and play a blind flip for the 2023 WSOP $10,000 Main Event seat shortly.
turn for 75,000 out of the big blind. He then faced the jam by Takahito Koshiba in the cutoff for 461,000 and tanked for nearly three minutes before he called.
for the nut straight while Liyanage was at risk for 292,000 with the 
. Once the 
river paired the board, Liyanage burst out in frantic celebration and screamed his joy right into the TV cameras before stacking up the chips.
![[Removed:426]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
to give him the precious double only three places before the money.
. Even if he had survived the hand three away from the money, Nabavi would have been forced all-in from the small blind in the next hand again. As it stands, he narrowly missed out on the money and there are now 1,302 players remaining.
appeared in the window on the 
to leave Sekularac drawing to a full house to stay alive. The river was the 
