It was deja vu all over again for Liv Boeree. She was all in with ace-queen against an opponent's pocket nines. This time the opponent was Sean Keeton, and this time Boeree did not improve. She pounded the table with increasingly frantic motions after she missed the flop , then missed the turn and finally missed the river . Keeton had Boeree well covered. She departs to collect her AU$18,900 in cash at the cage after shaking hands with each of the remaining players.
That has become the preferred refrain of the railbirds in support of Saidal Wardak at this final table. They say it whenever Wardak takes down a big pot, as he did in a three-way flop against Ben Delaney and Edison Nguyen. Wardak was the preflop aggressor with a raise to 17,000 from the button. On a flop of , Delaney checked from the small blind. Nguyen led into Wardak for 25,000; Wardak responded by raising to 75,000. That took care of Nguyen. He folded.
On the heels of Jai Kemp's elimination, another player was all in. That player was Liv Boeree, who moved in for 41,500 after Edison Nguyen opened for 21,000. Nguyen made the call with pocket nines and found himself racing Boeree's ace-queen. It was almost a repeat of the Channing-Kemp hand. This time ace-queen came out ahead, hitting a queen on the flop and an ace on the turn. Boeree stuck her tongue out and shook her head a bit, as if getting a bad taste out of her mouth, when the river fell -- a card that looked very much like a nine at first blush.
It took more than two and a half hours, but we finally have an eighth place finisher. Jai Kemp opened for 24,000, then called all in after action passed to Neil Channing in the big blind and he moved in. Kemp showed against Channing's , then was left drawing at running cards for a chop after the flop came . He was drawing dead by the turn, with Channing making a totally unnecessary full house on the river.
Kemp earned AU$12,600 for his performance in this tournament. The question now is whether the players will loosen up with the first elimination officially in the books.
There were three players to the river of a board: Saidal Wardak, Ben Delaney and Edison Nguyen. Each paid 22,000 preflop, checked the flop, and paid 35,000 on the turn. At the river, action checked to Delaney on the button. He made it a cool 100,000 to go, inducing folds from both of his opponents to collect the 171,000 chips already in the pot.
What will it take to lose a player? Jai Kemp moved all in for 47,000 after Liv Boeree opened for 21,000. Boeree made the call with and found herself racing Kemp's . Kemp promptly flopped a set, . He needed it; the turn paired Boeree's ace, . After the river fell , Kemp collected the pot to move back over 100,000 in chips.
Cort Kibler-Melby could only shake his head at the end of a recent hand against Ben Delaney. He raised to 20,000 and Delaney called from the big blind. Both players checked the flop. On the turn , Delaney checked a second time, then used all of his time bank before calling a bet of 26,500. On the river , Delaney used one of his "time breaker" buttons to increase his time bank before betting 50,000. Kibler-Melby made a quick call, but mucked when Delaney showed for a rivered set.
Delaney was stone-faced as he collected the pot, then broke into a huge, cat-who-ate-the-canary grin after Edison Nguyen made a comment that we didn't hear.
Neil Channing ran into Saidal Wardak's set a few hands ago. Thus it was only fair that he should flop his own. He was in the big blind and called a raise to 24,000 from Jai Kemp. The flop came down and brought a bet of 20,000 from Channing. Kemp called. Both players checked the turn. On the river, Channing bet 45,000. Kemp made the call, then shook his head in disappointment when Channing showed pocket threes for a set of threes. He tabled his own hand -- pocket tens -- then counted out the chips necessary to pay off his call.
That left Kemp with just 30,000. He's now in danger of being the first player eliminated from the final table.
Players refusing to bust has become the predominant theme of this tournament. Sean Keeton was the preflop aggressor with a raise to 20,000 that Neil Channing called in position. Saidal Wardak called as well from the big blind.
Things got crazy on a flop of . Wardak checked to Keeton, who led for 40,000. Channing then raised to 200,000 before Wardak moved all in for a total of 215,500. Keeton quickly folded before Channing asked for a count. Upon being informed it was only 15,500 more, he made the call and tabled . Wardak showed for a set of sevens and was out of his chair, clapping his hands. A few of his mates came over the rail to hug him when the turn fell and the river was the . He doubled up to 530,000 in chips.