Dermot Blain raised to 160,000 from the button before Daoxing Chan raised another 350,000 from the big blind. Blain then announced he was all in and suddenly the local was forced with a decision for his tournament life.
We weren't expecting a quick decision, but it only took Chen about thirty seconds to decide that he was beat and he released his hand. Blain now has a nice chip lead as the players appear to have finally kicked things up a gear.
Darkhan Botabayev opened with a raise from the button to 135,000 before Mike Kim popped it another 155,000 to go from the big blind. Botabayev made the call and they saw a heads-up flop of .
As Kim reached for chips to bet, Botabayev quickly released and Kim raked in the pot, flashing .
The last hand showed signs of life at the final table. Daoxing Chen opened the button to 160,000. He was called by small blind Darkhan Botabayev before the big blind, Dermot Blain, re-raised to 625,000. That raise put Chen in his favorite place, the think tank. He cut calling chips off of his stack and placed them beside his cards. A few minutes later he folded. Botabayev then snap-folded, allowing Blain to drag the pot.
In another battle of the blinds Daoxing Chen raised it up from the small blind and Darkhan Botabayev made the call in the big blind.
They took a flop of and Chen checked to Botabayev who fired 160,000. Chen instantly splashed out a raise which was determined to be an additional 315,000.
Botabayev got away from his hand and Chen revealed for a flopped set!
Even the showdowns now are lacking much in the way of pizzazz. Darkhan Botabayev attempted to raise his button to 110,000, not realizing the blinds recently went up. He was forced to put in an additional 10,000 chips for a minimum-raise to 120,000. Big blind Mike Kim made the call.
Both players checked the flop. When the turn fell a third heart, , Kim fired out the minimum, 60,000. Botabayev called to the river , where he called another 100,000 from Kim. Kim showed a flush with , but Botabayev had the bigger flush with . He won the pot.
Daoxing Chen completed from the small blind before Darkhan Botabayev made it 150,000 to play in the big blind. Chen obviously had a plan for this hand, as he immediately announced a re-raise, making it 475,000 to go. The audience awoke from their slumber with many on their feet in anticipation of a big pot.
Unfortunately there was no clash as Botabayev deliberated before folding his hand. Chen flashed the and raked in the pot.
This final table is starting to have the making of the epic affair we saw at APPT Manila last year. The players seem to have lost interest in really taking the battle to each other and are instead resting on their stacks. Darkhan Botabayev tried a raise to 150,000 from the small blind and was called by big blind Dermot Blain. Botabayev check-folded to a 225,000-chip bet on a flop of .
That previous hand may be lingering in Daoxing Chen's mind. He limped into the pot from the small blind against Darkhan' Botabayev's big blind. Botabayev checked to a flop of .
Chen had first action and led out for 110,000. Botabayev silently called that bet, taking us to the turn. Chen checked the action to Botabayev, then folded without much fanfare after Botabayev bet 225,000.