Chuan Shi opened with a raise to 60,000 from middle position, and Allan B?kke called from the button. Shawn Busse took about a minute arranging his newly-big stack of chips in the small blind, then announced a reraise to 200,000.
Owen Crowe quickly folded his big blind, and Shi and B?kke both released their hands as well.
In early position, Pekka Ikonen opened the pot with a 60,000-chip raise. The action folded to Allan B?kke in the small blind, who popped it to an additional 70,000 chips.
In the big blind, Shawn Busse re-popped to 370,000 chips. Ikonen folded and B?kke moved all in. Busse snap called.
Showdown
B?kke:
Busse:
The board ran out and Busse doubled up, is now up to 2,400,000 chips. B?kke slipped to 990,000.
For the second straight hand, Owen Crowe opened with a raise to 60,000 from middle position. The first time all folded, but this time Chuan Shi announced an all-in reraise from the cutoff seat for his last 350,000 or so.
The button and blinds got out, and Crowe took just a short while before tossing his cards to the dealer as well.
Shi is back up to about 440,000, while Crowe still has 1.17 million.
Following the player introductions, WSOP Media Director Nolan Dalla came on to say a few words in tribute of the late Amir Vahedi. In addition to the gold bracelet and first prize money, the winner of this event will be receiving a special box of cigars as a way of recognizing Vahedi's life and career.
Wenlong Jin hails from Shanghai, China. He begins today's final table as the short stack. Previously an electrical engineer, Jin is now a full-time poker player. He has two cashes at this year's WSOP, plus another from 2008, but wherever he ends up today will be a career best for Jin.
Chuan Shi of Plano, Texas begins today sixth in chips. Shi is just 21 years old, and began playing poker just a couple of years ago. As is the case with some of our other final tablists, marks Shi's first significant cash.
Jason Mann of Hermitage, Arkansas starts out today's final table in seventh place among our final nine. Mann is self-employed as the owner of Mann's Tower Service. His nickname is "The Super Weez." This marks Mann's first WSOP final table, although he's come close a couple of times before, finishing 10th in a $3,000 no-limit hold'em event in 2006 and 22nd in the $5,000 Mixed Hold'em event in 2007.
Ilya Andreev of Rostov-on-Don, Russia starts today right in the middle in fifth place of our remaining nine. The 27-year-old is married and the father of a one-and-a-half year old girl. This is his first WSOP final table.