We had some television screens on set to help follow the action all day but for some reason they're now just displaying the WTP logo. So we can' tell you exactly what happened in a PLO hand between Australia (Tony G) and China (David Chiu).
We know Chiu raised pre-flop and Tony G called from the blinds. Tony G check-called a continuation bet on a rainbow flop. When the turn fell , the G led out at the pot, prompting Chiu to dive deep into the think-tank. Chiu finally raised enough to put Australia all in. Tony G made a snap call.
Apparently both teams had the same hand, with no re-draws to a better hand. We guess that hand was for the nut straight but it was a little unclear. In any event, after the river was dealt the pot was chopped and the gallery went back to sleep.
Right, so the game is limit hold'em again, and blinds of 1,000 and 2,000 mean the limits are 2,000 and 4,000. When you consider that there are 400,000 chips in play, that makes the average stack 25 big bets -- which is very, very deep for limit hold'em. Australia has made another charge to help smooth out the counts, which means we're not expecting much to change during this round. Once again it will be up to the big-bet rounds -- especially PLO -- to move stacks closer to (and perhaps over) the edge of elimination.
Not much to say right now. The gallery is deathly silent as the four relatively deep-stacked players do most of their jockeying pre-flop during this NLHE round. We did learn, a bit ago from our good colleague Jess Welman, that the small instrument the Brazilian side keeps strumming is most likely a cavaquinho.
There have been a few pots that have gone to a flop or beyond, but for the last few minutes nobody was calling the action in the gallery so it was tough to determine what's going on. It appeared the Brazilians and the Greeks were playing a relatively big pot, about 15,000 in before the river. On a board of Team Brazil led out for 8,300. Team Greece requested a coach's conference to discuss their strategy, then ultimately decided to call. We don't know what each side had, but Greee was pumped up and was pushed the pot.
Don't look now and don't call it a comeback... yet. But the Australians are ever so slowly making progress in the uphill battle to acquire chips at this final table. Gary Benson, playing Team Australia's stack in the PLO round, was involved in a raised pot with Team China's Chau Giang. Both players checked the flop. Benson bet 4,500 on the turn and 5,000 on the river. Giang called the first bet, but not the second, allowing the Aussies to drag another pot.
The talent-deep Chinese and Aussie teams seem to have the edge over their Brazilian and Greek counterparts right now. But we have a long way to go yet.
Since the elimination of Team Vietnam, play seems to have tightened. We're not quite on the bubble yet -- there's still one more elimination prior to the bubble -- but three of the four remaining teams have fairly deep stacks. The exception, of course, is Team Australia, which is trying to claw its way back into the match.
Tim Phan substituted in for what proved to be Team Vietnam's final hand. It was once again Team Brazil in the pot. This time Team Brazil flopped middle set, a hand that held up against some thin draws for Team Vietnam.
Team Vietnam brought a third-place stack to the final table but becomes the first team eliminated. We are down to four remaining teams.
"We've got a big pot brewing," said host Robert Williamson III, using one of his trademark phrases. He was right. Still in the PLO round, Team Vietnam, in the person of Kido Pham, opened pre-flop with a raise. Team Brazil's Leandro Pimentel three-bet; Pham quickly four-bet. That put Brazil to a tough decision. Pimental called for assistance from team captain Juliano Maesano. The two conferred for about thirty seconds before Brazil moved all in. Pham snap-called, creating a huge pot.
Brazil:
Vietnam: (rainbow)
Kings against aces, but kings against aces doesn't play out the same way in PLO that it does in hold'em. With four cards to choose from, anything could happen. Brazil made a pair on the flop, . The turn was a blank for both side, but when the river came Brazil made an unlikely two pair of tens and deuces to win the pot.
When the stacks were counted down, Vietnam had Brazil covered. Vietnam still has chips; Brazil now has renewed life.
![[user75032]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
rainbow flop. When the turn fell 
, the G led out at the pot, prompting Chiu to dive deep into the think-tank. Chiu finally raised enough to put Australia all in. Tony G made a snap call.
for the nut straight but it was a little unclear. In any event, after the river was dealt the pot was chopped and the gallery went back to sleep.
Team Brazil led out for 8,300. Team Greece requested a coach's conference to discuss their strategy, then ultimately decided to call. We don't know what each side had, but Greee was pumped up and was pushed the pot.
flop. Benson bet 4,500 on the 
turn and 5,000 on the 
river. Giang called the first bet, but not the second, allowing the Aussies to drag another pot.
(rainbow)
was a blank for both side, but when the river came 
Brazil made an unlikely two pair of tens and deuces to win the pot.