Yunus Jamal raised to 185,000 from the button before David Paredes moved all in from the small blind and Jamal folded his hand after a minute or two of Hollywooding.
David Paredes raised, and Sam Stein three-bet to 430,000. It folded around, and Stein scooped the pot. The next hand, Tom Marchese opened to 175,000, and Stein tried the same trick with a reraise to 455,000. When the action came back to him, Marchese announced he was all in. Stein asked for a count but declined to call the extra 2,445,000, shipping the pot to Tom.
Chances are pretty good that if Sam Stein is in the pot, Sam Stein is going to win the pot. Sitting in the big blind, he called a raise to 175,000 from button player Tom Marchese.
Each man checked a highly coordinated flop of . Stein took that as an invitation to bet 235,000 on the turn. Marchese called that bet, but folded for another 380,000 on the river .
Thomas Fuller opened for 200,000, and Yunus Jamal made it 560,000 to go. Jamal is perhaps the tightest player at the table and has yet to show down anything but huge hands. The players behind him folded instantly, and Fuller couldn't get his cards into the muck fast enough. Jamal picked up the 390k pot.
With four players to the flop, you'd think that it would take more than one bet to end all the action. But that's not what happened at our final table.
David Paredes opened another pot, this time to 165,000. Thomas Fuller called from the button, as did the blinds John Cernuto and Yunus Jamal. With four players to a flop of , everyone checked. When a seeming blank, the , hit the turn, Jamal's bet of 380,000 ended the hand.
David Paredes has definitely been the most active player at this final table. He was sitting int he big blind and called a raise to 180,000 from chip leader Sam Stein.
Each player checked the flop and the turn. At the river, with the board showing , Paredes fired out 225,000. Stein surrendered.
Tom Marchese raised to 175,000 under the gun, and next to act, Eric Blair moved all in for 1.4 million. It folded to Sam Stein, who asked for a chip count before shoving over the top of Blair. Marchese quickly got out of the way, and it was time to flip them.
Showdown
Blair:
Stein:
Much to the delight of Stein's rail, the door card gave Sam the lead on the flop. With not even a runner-runner draw, Blair needed a seven and only a seven to avoid elimination. Blair already had his jacket on by the time the came on the turn. He was half-way to the payout desk before the river. The bust out put Sam Stein just under 9 million.
Blair is the first to exit the final table. As he was collecting his money, Paul Wasicka (who is here to rail Thomas Fuller) came over to shake Eric's hand and commend him on his play over the last two days.
David Paredes is still trying to get in pots. On the first hand after the break, he opened pre-flop with a raise to 160,000. Sam Stein and Thomas Fuller were in the blinds and both made the call.
The flop was all small cards, . Stein and Fuller checked, then folded to a bet of 300,000 from Paredes.