Shin Han opened for 260,000, and Steven Edwards in the small blind was the only caller.
Both players checked the flop, and a turned. Edwards bet 375,000, and Han called. Edwards then checked the river. Han checked it back, and Edwards showed down the fourth king and took the pot.
With five players left in contention to become New Jersey's Next Poker Millionaire, the stacks are shrinking before our very eyes.
The average stack sits at 1.6 million and the blinds are set at 30,000-60,000 with a 5,000 ante. This means the average stack holds just over 27 big blinds, but that number will be reduced to 20 bigs in just a few minutes.
Dan Harrington - a longtime proponent of the famous M concept which dictates play based on one's big blind ratio - would likely advise these players to begin shoving their stacks at every opportunity to escape the dreaded "red" zone. But with a cool $1 million waiting for one lucky winner, we don't expect the play to open up that much despite the mounting pressure applied by escalating blinds.
Steven Edwards continues to lose chips, though this time he did so with a solid hand.
Action folded to his small blind, and he put Myroslaw Woroch all in for 640,000. Woroch made the call.
Woroch:
Edwards:
A most interesting flop appeared: , giving Woroch a set and Edwards top pair and a flush draw. The turn brought a , and Woroch needed to fade a diamond. The river was the , and Woroch doubled through Edwards.
Steven Edwards just took down another pot after opening to 123,000 from the button. Only Myroslaw Woroch called and the flop fell .
After making the standard button raise, and seeing the action checked to him by Woroch, Edwards c-bet for 164,000 and forced the fold.
Edwards won the next pot after that to continue climbing, and the chip leader is now beginning to use his ammunition accordingly.
Unfortunately for Edwards, he fired away one too many times though, responding to Eric Natishvili's small blind limp by shoving all-in from the big, effectively betting 408,000 to put Natishvili at risk. A quick call later and Edwards was forced to table the lowly for a baby-card bluff, and despite flopping a gutshot draw to the wheel straight on the , the turn and river blanked off and he shipped a chunk of change to the next seat over.
Tony Marchitelli opened to 110,000, and three players called him. After a flop of , everyone checked to Steven Edwards on the button. Edwards bet 270,000, and only Marchitelli called. The turn brought a , and Marchitelli shoved all in. Edwards called instantly.
Marchitelli:
Edwards:
One of the all-time money cards had hit the turn, as Marchitelli had turned aces full that were no good against his opponent's quads. Edwards needed only to dodge the , and he did so when the ended the hand.