Joe Hachem Eliminated in 3rd Place (A$ 330,000)

[user66118]

Joe Hachem and Dan Smith were very close in chips when they got it all in preflop, both holding suited aces. Unfortunately for Hachem, his ace was dominated.

Showdown
Hachem: {A-Clubs} {9-Clubs}
Smith: {A-Spades} {10-Spades}

The {9-Hearts} {J-Spades} {7-Diamonds} flop drew a roar from the hometown crowd that's assembled on the balcony overhead. Hachem flopped lucky to pull himself into a big lead with two to come, but Smith did earn a straight draw as a consolation.

The turn {9-Spades} was a fantastic card if you like a good sweat. It gave Hachem trip nines, but it added another set of outs for Smith as he now had spades as knockout cards, too.

River: {3-Spades}

Bink! — as they say in the parlance of our times. Smith goes runner-runner to get back in front and earn the knockout. Five spades is too many to keep Hachem around, and the 2005 WSOP Main Event champ has been sent off from this $100,000 Challenge in third place. He'll add another A$ 330,000 to his career earnings as he notches his largest cash in the region by a big margin. It's a couple spots shy of his goal though, but Hachem was still all smiles and handshakes as he made his way from the table.