Dave Baker was down around 100,000 chips, and he and Chiu tangled up in a preflop raising war, ending with Baker betting all in dark on the upcoming flop. Chiu matched the bet dark, so the cards were on their backs preflop:
Baker:
Chiu:
The board ran out just fine for Baker's pair, coming . That earns him the double up, back over 200,000 now.
On a flop of , Daniel Idema bet and Darren Woods called. The turn came the and Idema led again. Woods called, leaving himself only one pink 5,000-denomination chip behind. The river fell the .
"I missed," Woods said with a chuckle. Idema set him all-in.
"At least show me," said Woods as he mucked his cards. Idema showed .
Left quite literally with a chip and a chair, Woods was all-in from the big blind on the next hand against Idema.
Idema
Woods
No miracle comeback for Woods as the board ran out , sending him to the rail in 12th place.
Michael Mizrachi opened with a raise, and David Chiu put in a third bet with position.
That led them heads up to the flop, and Mizrachi check-called a bet. On the turn, Mizrachi led out into the pot with a big bet, and Chiu thought it over for a just a couple seconds before flicking in the call. The filled out the board, and Mizrachi checked again before snap-calling a bet from his opponent.
Chiu instantly slid his cards into the muck, and Mizrachi took down the pot with no showdown. That's two in a row for him, and he's gone from very short back up to 460,000 with a quickness. Chiu is right at 400,000 now.
We caught up with the action on the turn as the dealer was putting the fourth card down on a board. There was a big pot brewing, and Brock Parker led out with a full bet after that turn card. Michael Mizrachi quickly called, leaving himself just 43,000 chips.
The filled out the board, and Mizrachi got it all in after Parker made his river bet. Parker called the extra few chips and flipped up for the overpair, but it was second best. Mizrachi tabled his , having run down the spade flush to stay alive and double up. He's back to 315,000 now, while Parker drops to 215,000.
Michael Mizrachi raised from under-the-gun, David Chiu three-bet from middle position and Mizrachi called.
Mizrachi checked the flop over to Chiu, who bet. Mizrachi called. The turn fell the and Mizrachi led again. Chiu raised and after tanking for several minutes, Mizrachi folded. Chiu showed as he collected the pot.
Chiu is up to 380,000 while the Grinder needs to catch some cards fast-- he's down to 140,000.
Matt Keikoan raised from the small blind and Kyle Ray made the call from the big blind. Keikoan led out on The flop and Ray called. The turn came the and Keikoan fired again. When the hit the river, Keikoan put out a third bet and Ray called.
Keikoan tabled for aces up. Ray had rivered two pair as well with , and folded with a grimace as Keikoan raked in the pot. Keikoan is up to 640,000 while Ray slipped to 540,000.
Darren Woods put 75,000 of his chips into the pot before the flop in capped action with Zvi Groysman, and that left him just 11,000 for the flop of . Neither man liked the flop, but Groysman matched the extra bit to put Woods all in and at risk.
Showdown
Woods:
Groysman:
Woods was in fine shape to double, and the friendly on the turn ended any potential drama right there. The river filled him up, and Woods is back up to 180,000 after a poor start to his day.
Our final two tables are located in No-Man's Land here in the middle of the Blue section, tucked away in the far, quiet reaches of the Amazon Room. Still, a small crowd of railbirds is starting to assemble itself, a group of about a dozen including Chino Rheem and Jeremiah Smith.
Just a moment ago, JC Tran came wandering over to chat with Anh Van Nguyen. They were standing around chatting while a hand was in progress, and then nobody was looking, JC sat down behind Nguyen's stack and acted like he was about to play the next hand.
"I object! I object!" David Chiu yelled from the adjacent table.
"You would!" Tran snapped back, he and Chiu grinning at each other.
Chiu added, "Come on. We'll all be playing for second," and now JC stood up and wandered over to Chiu's table. "Here, you can play for me," Chiu said, standing up from the table. JC took the open seat and said, "One round of no-limit?"
The table chuckled, and Tran finally gave up his seat in exchange for one on the rail, keeping the mood light here with so much on the line.