[user66118]
The Italian Pirate
Max Pescatori brought it in with the , and both Eric Drache and Hasan Habib made the call. On fourth street, the first two men checked to Drache, and he obliged them with a bet. Habib ducked out with the showing, but Pescatori put in a raise. Drache called.
Pescatori: (X-X) / / (X)
Drache: (X-X) / / (X)
On fifth and sixth streets, Drache called bets from the Italian Pirate. On seventh street, Pescatori fired one more bet, and Drache couldn't call. With that, Max Pescatori (who is sporting the red-white-green bandana that he won his bracelet wearing last year) has recouped some of the chips he dropped into Drache's stack a few hands ago.
[user66118]
Max Pescatori was just tapped on the shoulder by a floor person and given a little talking-to. Pescatori was rocking out to some tunes on his iPod, a no-no in WSOP events once the players reach the money.
On the next hand, Eric Drache completed the bring-in with the up, and Pescatori popped it back with the . Drache called.
Drache: (X-X) /
Pescatori: (X-X) /
On fourth and fifth streets, Pescatori put in bets and Drache was the caller. On sixth, Drache picked up the leading queen-high board, but he checked. Pescatori fired another bet, and Drache put in a check-raise to 60,000. That was enough to get Pescatori out, left now with just the voices in his head for entertainment at the table.
[user75032]
Pot by pot, Tim Phan is rebuilding an empire of poker chips. He very patiently let his board develop (X-X) / while Eric Drache's board came (X-X) / . Drache bet every street until sixth, when both players checked. Down the river it was Phan who fired out a bet that Drache called. Phan turned over in the hole for his second Dead Man's Hand in half an hour, aces and eights. He continues to climb in the counts.
[user75032]
Freddie Ellis' stack climbed to more than a million chips about twenty minutes ago and he's not finished yet. He has the chip lead now after Ivan Schertzer tried to steam-roll him with buried sixes. Ellis, who had started with buried jacks, patiently called all the way until sixth street, when he picked up a second pair -- of fives.
He led that street, then checked the river. Schertzer tried one more time with a bet on the river, but Ellis wouldn't be denied. He called and was rewarded the pot when Schertzer couldn't produce anything better than his starting pair of sixes.
[user75032]
Jeff Lisandro - 9th Place
It didn't take long to find our first elimination from the final table. It was one of our bracelet-winners -- Jeff Lisandro.
Lisandro's stack took hit after hit, coming up second-best in several hands to start the day. He was all in by fourth street on his final hand, starting with split tens. Greg Mueller and Ville Wahlbeck went all the way to the river with Lisandro. It was Wahlbeck who collected the pot. He started with three small spades, caught a fourth spade on fourth street, and then runnered his way into two pairs, kings and sixes, by the river.
Lisandro earns $36,267 for ninth place and everyone else earns a little extra elbow room at the table.
[user75032]
Putting this stud final table on the secondary feature table has turned out an imppressive crowd (for stud, anyway). Luminaries in attendance include Matt Glantz, Chino Rheem, Jeremiah Smith, and Michael Mizrachi.
Alessio Isaia and Tiffany Michelle have also been spotted sweating the action.
[user75032]
Could we be witnessing a short-stack miracle? Tim Phan just took down another pot at the expense of Jeff Lisandro. Phan led every street after starting with split eights and finished with the Dead Man's Hand, aces and eights. He added four-and-a-half big bets to his stack as a result.
[user75032]
Tim Phan's stack -- all 44,000 chips worth -- went into the pot on third street. Max Pescatori decided to look him up, but Phan's / / provided a decisive two pair, kings and nines, for the double-up. He remains in the game and we remain nine-handed.
[user75032]
Freddie Ellis, from Day 2 action
We started rooting for Freddie Ellis on Day 1, when he had his table in stitches after a hand against Daniel Negreanu. We were still pulling for him on Day 2 as he briefly surged to the chip lead. And we're happy to see him here at this final table on Day 3.
Ellis has taken down the first sizable pot of the final tale. He called with the after Tim Phan completed the . Perhaps feeling left out, Jeff Lisandro then raised the . Both other players called.
Ellis took over the betting lead on fourth street and on fifth street. On sixth street, the boards were:
Phan: (X-X) /
Ellis: (X-X) /
Lisandro: (X-X) /
Lisandro picked up first action with an open pair and bet out. Phan called before Ellis raised. Both Lisandro and Phan called to the river and checked it to Ellis. His single bet on the river was enough to fold both opponents.
![[user66118]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
, and both Eric Drache and Hasan Habib made the call. On fourth street, the first two men checked to Drache, and he obliged them with a bet. Habib ducked out with the 
showing, but Pescatori put in a raise. Drache called.
/ (X)
/ (X)
. Drache called.
while Eric Drache's board came (X-X) / 
in the hole for his second Dead Man's Hand in half an hour, aces and eights. He continues to climb in the counts.
/ 
provided a decisive two pair, kings and nines, for the double-up. He remains in the game and we remain nine-handed.
. Both other players called.
