Christopher Gordon continued to put his two opponents under pressure and eventually grabbed 325,000 from Jesus Gracia after the Spaniard had limped and called Gordon's raise. On a flop of ?? Gracia then check-folded to a continuation bet.
Soon after, Laurence Essa would move all in from the button for 1.5 million and Gordon made the call in the big blind.
Gordon: ?
Essa: ?
"Deuce, deuce, deuce," Essa begged towards the dealer and he then changed his mind after the ?? flop, now asking for a queen. The wish was denied as the turn and river completed the board. Essa was eliminated in third place for £10,100 and we are now in heads up.
Christopher Gordon has been playing hyperactive since play resumed and first gave up a three-bet pot against Jesus Gracia. He then four-bet shoved for 2.8 million after raising 160,000 and facing the three-bet of Laurence Essa to 450,000. Essa tank-folded.
One hand later, Gordon called a 200,000-raise of Essa to see the flop of ??. A continuation bet of Essa for 250,000 was check-called by Gordon and the turn would see the very fast check-raise all in of Gordon. Essa had fired a second barrel worth 500,000 and eventually called off.
"For #### sake," Essa said when spotting the ? of his opponent before slowly turning over his own ?. The river ended the hand and suddenly pushed Essa towards the bottom of the counts.
The players are taking a quick break to have a smoke. Below are the updated chip counts of the last three contenders for the WPT National London title.
Exactly one orbit after the previous raise to 175,000, Darren Mapley did the exact same and again Christopher Gordon moved all in from one seat over. Laurence Essa and Jesus Gracia folded their cards and Mapley called for almost even in chips:
Mapley:
Gordon: ?
The board ran out ???? and Gordon doubled up for 1,610,000 chips, leaving Mapley with 75,000 chips behind and in the big blind the very next hand. Gracia called from the small blind and Mapley had the nut low hand ?. Gracia's ? stayed ahead despite some sweat for a miracle on a board of ???? and the field was reduced to the last three players.
Christopher Gordon open shoved for 1,325,000 chips from the small blind and stole the big blind of Laurence Essa. One hand later, Darren Mapley raised to 175,000 and again a shove of Gordon shut down all further action.
Not much post flop action yet in the new level, the only hand of relevance saw a three-bet of Jesus Gracia and the Spaniard then showed ? before raking in the pot.
Laurence Essa raised to 150,000 from the button and was called by Jesus Gracia from one seat over. On the ?? flop, the Spaniard check-called a bet of 325,900 and then check-raised all in after the turn.
Essa had invested 350,000 and snap-called with ?, but it was already a guaranteed split pot against the ? of Essa. The meaningless river was just a formality and they chopped the pot.
The action folded to Christopher Gordon in the small blind and he open-shoved into the big blind of short stack Kenny King. The latter called for his last seven big blinds and they tabled their cards:
Gordon: ?
King: ?
It was all good for king until the river of a ???? board, as the final community card gave Gordon the better hand and sent King to the rail in 5th place.