Jason Mercier raised to 5,500 on the button and Matt Glantz re-raised to 16,200 from the small blind. Faraz Jaka folded his big blind Mercier made it 35,000 to play. Glantz shoved for about 120,000 total and Mercier called immediately with , crushing Glantz's .
The board ran out and Glantz was eliminated in 4th place for $70,000, having collected two bounties along the way.
Sam Stein raised to 5,600 on the button and Jason Mercier re-raised to 16,300 in the small blind. Matt Glantz four-bet to 37,000 and both quickly folded.
Jason Mercier called on the button and Matt Glantz called from the small blind. Faraz Jaka popped it to 10,400 from the big blind and Mercier was the lone caller.
The flop came down and Jaka bet 15,700. Mercier gave it up and Jaka took down it the pot.
From under the gun, Faraz Jaka raised to 5,500. Sam Stein reraised from the button to 13,900. Action moved through the blinds and back over to Jaka, who made the call.
The flop came down and Jaka checked. Stein fired 18,200 and Jaka mucked.
Sam Stein raises to 5,600 in the cutoff and Jason Mercier called on the button. Faraz Jaka defended his big blind and the flop came down .
It was checked to Mercier and he bet 9,100. Jaka folded and Stein called, leading to the turn card. Sam checked and Jason bet 17,100, again called by Sam.
The river was the and both checked. Stein tabled and Mercier showed for a chop.
The button was with Sam Stein for this hand and he raised to 5,600. Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier was in the small blind and reraised to 16,400. Matt Glantz folded his big blind and then Stein went into the tank. He took a bit of time and then four-bet to 39,800. After a couple minutes in the tank, Mercier let is go and Stein picked up the pot.
Matt Glantz raised to 5,300 in the cutoff. Faraz Jaka called on the button and Sam Stein called from the small blind.
The flop came and Stein checked. Glantz bet 9,200 and Faraz Jaka called. Stein got out of the way and the fell on the turn. Glantz checked and Jaka fired 26,000, getting a quick call from Glantz.
The river brought the and Glantz checked. Jaka brought the heat, betting 60,000 and forcing a quick fold from Glantz to win the pot.
The players at the final table have been questioning the structure at this final table and particularly the antes each level. It wasn't so much an issue at the beginning of the final table when there was a 100 ante with 600-1,200 blinds, but the players are now playing with a 500 ante at 1,500-3,000 blinds. Here's a look at how the levels have progressed and how much of a percentage the ante is of the big blind.
600-1,200 with a 100 ante, 8.33% of big blind
800-1,600 with a 200 ante, 12.5% of big blind
1,000-2,000 with a 300 ante, 15% of big blind
1,200-2,400 with a 400 ante, 16.67% of big blind
1,500-3,000 with a 500 ante, 16.67% of big blind
Notice how as the levels increase, the ante becomes a bigger portion of the big blind each time. Here's a look at the NAPT Mohegan Main Event structure around the same levels and how those antes compared to the blinds.
600-1,200 with a 100 ante, 8.33% of big blind
800-1,600 with a 200 ante, 12.5% of big blind
1,000-2,000 with a 200 ante, 10% of big blind
1,200-2,400 with a 200 ante, 8.33% of big blind
1,500-3,000 with a 300 ante, 10% of big blind
You can see that in the Main Event, the antes didn't constantly become a bigger portion of the big blind and that they fluctuated around an average of roughly 9.8% of the big blind. The average of the first five levels of this final table is about 13.8% and it continues to grow.
It will be interesting to see how this affects play as the final table moves on.
Jason Mercier raised to 5,500 on the button and Shawn Buchanan called from the big blind.
The flop came and Buchanan checked. Mercier bet 7,600 and Buchanan raised it to 20,000. Mercier moved all in and Buchanan called for his tournament life.
Mercier:
Buchanan:
Buchanan was ahead with top-two pair against Mercier's flush draw and maintained it when the hit the turn, but Mercier added a straight draw. The hit the river and Mercier made the flush to eliminate Buchanan in 5th place.
Shawn gets $60,000 for winning his starting table and another $20,000 in bounties.
Matt Glantz raised to 6,200 in the cutoff and Shawn Buchanan made it 13,200 to go from the button. Glantz called and the flop came . Glantz checked and Buchanan put out a bet, forcing a fold from Glantz.