A limped pot saw half the table take a flop of . Michael Traylor was the first one to take a stab at the pot post-flop, sliding out a bet of 125,000. Two seats over, Grant Hillman announced an all in reraise, committing nearly 600,000 chips to the pot. When it came back around to Traylor, he considered for a minute before sighing and saying, "I have to call." With Hillman's tournament life hanging in the balance, the cards were turned up:
Traylor: (top two pair)
Hillman: (combo draw)
Hillman was looking for any nine or any diamond to stay alive, but the turn was about as blank as it gets. The river was the right color but the wrong suit, and Hillman can not get over the hump. He looked pretty disappointed about that miss as he stood from his chair and wished the table luck. Ninth place is good for nearly $10,000, but that's only a small consolation for now.
From middle position, Stan Quinn opened with a raise to 55,000. Action folded around to Drew Caseri in the small blind and he reraised all in for 174,000. Quinn made the call after the big blind folded. Caseri was at risk with the against the for Quinn.
The coin landed right side up for Caseri in this flip after the board ran out in his favor, . Caseri doubled to 395,000.
From the small blind, John McNeilly raised all in for 178,000. Michael Traylor made the call from the big blind.
McNeilly:
Traylor:
The board ran out and McNeilly doubled up to 383,000. Traylor has been going the wrong way since the start of the final table and is down to about 1.5 million now.
Michael Traylor raised to 75,000 from middle position. He got a call from Ned Mantua in the cutoff seat and the two saw the flop come down . Traylor checked and Mantua fired 70,000. Traylor check-raised to 200,000 and won the pot.
Dan Black must be happy to have chips again. So happy that he open-raised to 150,000 from under the gun, or to 7.5 times the big blind. Action folded all the way around to Stan Quinn in the big blind and he tanked. Eventually, Quinn folded and showed the . "Good fold," said Black, but didn't show his hand.
Ned Mantua opened to 80,000 from middle position, and Joe Mongkol-ua-aree called all in for 69,000 from the small blind. Big blind Michael Traylor called as well, and he and Mantua had live action as they headed off to the board cards.
The dealer ran out with Mantua and Traylor check-checking it down all the way. In the end, Mantua showed and Mongkol-ua-aree as both men shared the same hand. Neither was going to get part of this pot, however. Traylor said, "Straight," turning up his to win himself the chips in the middle and eliminate Mongkol-ua-aree from the final table in 9th place.
From under the gun, Joe "13" Mongkol-ua-aree moved all in. Dan Black called all in for his last 197,000 from the button and everyone else got out of the way. For the second hand in a row, Black picked up two black kings. This time he was up against the for Mongkol-ua-aree.
The flop, turn and river ran out and Black doubled up to 451,000. Mongkol-ua-aree was left with 72,000.
Michael Traylor opened to 60,000 from middle position and Stan Quinn moved all in from the button for 285,000. Dan Black was in the small blind and reraised all in for 488,000. Traylor got out of the way and watched the other two players battle it out from the sidelines.
Quinn turned over the while Black waitied to see what he had. Black then tabled the better . "I had both their outs," claimed Traylor, hinting towards king-queen.
The flop came down and if Traylor did indeed fold king-queen, Quinn had hit the case queen to take the lead. The turn brought the and the river the . Black's two black kings went down and Quinn doubled up to 677,000. Black was left with 200,000.
Just about eight minutes into play at the final table, Donna Jetter moved all in for 99,000 from under the gun. Michael Traylor was in middle position and made the call. Action folded over to Dan Black in the big blind and after he looked at his cards, Black said, "Oh wow!" He folded a minute later.
Jetter:
Traylor:
The flop came down all diamonds with the . It missed Jetter and pushed her closer out the door. The turn brought the and put her in the lead with a pair of jacks. After the river completed the board with the , Jetter officially doubled up to 255,000.