It took Martin Rowe more than half an hour to win his first pot after dinner, but it was a big one. Jason Gray got things started by opening for 110,000. Antonio Fazzolari called that bet from the small blind before Rowe made a just-barely-bigger-than-minimum raise to 200,000. Both Gray and Fazzolari called.
The flop was small, coming . Fazzolari donked for 150,000. Rowe called that bet, but Gray folded. The turn put a possible flush on board as it fell . Fazzolari was undeterred, betting 200,000 this time. Rowe called again.
On the river , Fazzolari fired the third bullet by making it 200,000 to go. Rowe called and was shown , a pair of tens. He turned over to drag a huge pot.
Antonio Fazzolari has been warned by the tournament staff to be certain that he cuts out his chips behind the white betting line on the table. Any chips that are pushed in front of the line will be deemed to be bet into the pot.
Well that was odd. Martin Rowe opened under the gun for 110,000. He was called only by the big blind, Antonio Fazzolari. Fazzolari check-called a bet of 150,000 after the flop came down . On the turn , Fazzolari led out for 200,000. Rowe raised to 600,000, a raise that Fazzolari quickly reraised all in for a total of 365,000.
Fazzolari stood from the table, reeking of strength as he waited for Rowe to act. Despite the fact that Rowe was getting better than five-to-one on his money, he tanked for a solid four minutes before finally calling with , an open-ended straight draw. Fazzolari tabled for two pair. He could have been eliminated if the river came an eight or a king, but it was the . He doubled up to 2.3 million. Rowe is down to 3.9 million.
Martin Rowe may want to go back on dinner break to regroup. He's lost another pot, this one to Antonio Fazzolari. Rowe raised from under the gun and was called by Jason Gray and Fazzolari. Fazzolari then led into Rowe on a flop of . Rowe called; Gray folded.
Both players checked the turn. On the river , Fazzolari fired 200,000. Rowe quickly folded.
It was a limped pot between the blinds, Tony Basile in the small blind and Antonio Fazzolari in the big blind. On a flop of , Basile bet 60,000. Fazzolari mucked, flashing as he did. Basile responded in kind, flashing the .
Jason Gray has drawn first blood after dinner. He raised to 150,000 from the big blind after Martin Rowe completed the small blind. Rowe called to a that both players checked. Rowe bet 150,000 on the turn, a bet that Gray called. Both players checked through the river. Rowe showed for a pair of eights; Gray tabled the winner with for a pair of aces.
With the elimination of Timothy English, the remaining four players have been sent on a one-hour dinner break. Play will resume at 6:55pm local time. Players will return to the following stacks:
Martin Rowe - 5,580,000
Jason Gray - 1,630,000
Tony Basile - 1,095,000
Antonio Fazzolari - 1,095,000
Timothy English played his hand fast and strong, but in the end he couldn't shake the chip leader, Martin Rowe. It cost him his spot in this tournament.
Rowe opened for 110,000 from under the gun, folding Jason Gray and Tony Basile. English then reraised to 350,000 from the small blind. Once Fazzolari got out of the way, Rowe made the call.
The flop was . English was first to act and confidently shoved all in for about one million. Rowe asked for a count, then tanked about 30 seconds before calling with two overcards and an up-and-down straight draw, . English was on unimproved ace-king, . He was ahead, but Rowe had a ton of outs to improve. He hit one on the turn, making a pair of jacks. English missed the river .
English was eliminated in fifth place. AU$140,000 should soften the blow.
The shortest stack at the table, Timothy English, had only 14 big blinds left in his stack. He moved all in for 540,000 over the top of two limpers, Antonio Fazzolari and Jason Gray. Fazzolari opted to call and try to eliminate English; Gray folded.
English:
Fazzolari:
English was dominated preflop, but that didn't matter when he paired his eight on the flop. Fazzolari missed the turn and the river. As a result, English has doubled up.
We now have four player with nearly identical chip counts of about 1.2 million to 1.4 million, and one overwhelming chip leader in Martin Rowe, who has 4.4 million.