Cronin raised to 125,000, and Kuether made the call. The dealer put out a flop of , and Kuether check called a bet of 225,000. Both players checked the on the turn, and the on the river. Kuether opened up , and Cronin mucked, sending the first big pot of heads up over to Kuether.
Chris Cronin opened with a raise on the button to 90,000 and was called by both Joe Kuether in the small blind and Ryan Gentry in the big blind.
The flop was and the first two players checked to Cronin, allowing him to continue for 190,000. Kuether folded but Gentry put in a raise to 420,000. Almost immediately, Cronin announced, "All in" and Gentry had made the call.
Cronin:
Gentry:
The turn was the which kept Gentry in the lead but the river gave Cronin a better kicker on their two pair and sent Gentry to the cashier.
Chris Cronin raised to 90,000 in the small blind, and Joe Kuether called in the big blind. The flop came down , and both players checked. The turn brought the , and Cronin fired out 110,000. Kuether called, and the river came the . Cronin thought for about 10 seconds before betting out 160,000, and it was on Kuether. He thought for about a minute before sliding out a stack of the yellow T25,000 chips, a raise to 500,000 total. Cronin look confused by the bet, and eventually folded, flashing the in the process. Kuether is up to over 3 million now, while Cronin drops to 2 million.
Freddy Deeb was first to act and moved all in for his last 405,000. Joe Kuether was next and made the call. When Ryan Gentry folded his small blind, Chris Cronin thought for a bit and also decided to try and take a stab at eliminating the seasoned pro.
The flop was , Cronin checked and Kuether bet 300,000. That was enough to force Cronin off his hand, claiming to have had pocket fives.
Deeb:
Kuether:
Deeb was a world of hurt but did pick up some outs to split with the turn. That, of course, sent Cronin into a spin as he tried to figure out why he didn't peel a card when he was getting better than 5:1 odds to call the flop. Regardless, the river officially eliminated Deeb and got us down to three-handed play.
"I almost checked the flop too," Kuether said to Cronin who was still contemplating his flop decision.
Freddy Deeb had been widdled all the way down to 250,000 when he open shoved under the gun. It folded around to Chris Cronin in the big blind, and he made the called. When the cards were flipped, Deeb was way out in front.
Deeb:
Cronin:
Any chance that Cronin had to get the suckout was virtually out the window when the flop came . Cronin would need runner runner to get the knockout, but the on the turn gave Deeb an unnecessary full house. The river came the , and Deeb got the double up to get back to 600,000.
David Funkhuaser opened shoved all in on the button, and Chris Cronin was next to act in the small blind. Cronin peaked down at this cards, then called fairly quickly. Freddy Deeb folded, and the cards were tabled, with Cronin way out in front.
David Funkhauser:
Chris Cronin:
The flop brought no help for Funkhauser, coming . Funkhauser was still looking for an eight, and while he didn't get it on the turn, he did pick up some more outs, as the hit the turn. Funkhauser would get a chop if the board paired again, but it wouldn't happen, as the the river. Funkhauser was eliminated, while Cronin secured the knockout. Cronin now has nearly half the chips in play.
Joe Kuether opened with a raise to 80,000 before David Funkhauser moved all in out of the small blind. Chris Cronin was waiting in the big blind and asked for a count of Funkhauser's chips, which stood at 470,000 total. Eventually, both Cronin and Kuether let Funkhauser rake in the pot.
The very next hand, Funkhauser moved all in, and once again did not find a caller.