Blake Kelso was down to 630,000 when he moved all in under the gun. JD McNamara reshipped from middle position and successfully isolated Kelso.
Showdown
Kelso:
McNamara:
The flop earned a murmur from the crowd as it brought Kelso an open-ended straight draw. The on the turn gave Kelso a few more outs as he'd double up with an ace as well as a king, jack, or eight. But the river was the instead, eliminating Kelso in sixth place.
Denis Murphy raised to 115,000 under the gun, and David Cai called in the big blind.
Flop: - Cai checked, and Murphy checked behind.
Turn: - Let's not overlook the meaning of this beautiful , the first turn card we've seen in a hand that wasn't all in preflop. Despite the weight of this moment, both players checked again.
River: - Cai checked, and Murphy bet 100,000. That was all it took to get a fold from Cai. So we still haven't gotten to a post-flop showdown yet.
Denis Murphy raised to 115,000 from middle position, and Kiet Tran defended his big blind. The flop came , and Tran checked. Murphy bet 265,000, and Tran tanked as always before folding.
The chip counts are starting to bunch up in the middle, with Kiet Tran pulling away with the lead and Blake Kelso falling further behind. This is what their stacks mean in terms of big blinds:
Kiet Tran - 2.9 million (58 bb)
Jeff Tebben - 1.85 million (37 bb)
JD McNamara - 1.45 million (29 bb)
Denis Murphy - 1.35 million (27 bb)
David Cai - 1.34 million (27 bb)
Blake Kelso - 840,000 (17 bb)
A few more notables have joined the Hinkle brothers on the rail. Joe Serock and Greg Dyer are sitting with them now. George Lind is part of another cheering section, and Jon Friedberg stopped by to check things out from the balcony.
JD McNamara raised to 120,000 from the cutoff, and Kiet Tran called on the button. Oh boy! Another flop! It came . McNamara bet out 130,000, sending Tran into the tank. He emerged with a 325,000 bet, and McNamara didn't need nearly as much time to decide on a fold.
With that, Tran is the first player to reach 3 million. McNamara slipped to 1.15 million.
Things are nice and calm over at our final table, but around us, the Amazon room is in flux. Tournament staff are currently attempting to move an entire tournament from the Blue Section to the Pavilion room across the hall to make room for the 5:00 p.m. start of the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. All the moving, of course, has to occur without the players touching their own chips. This seems like a perfect time for the events in Orange and Red to go on break as well. Duck and cover.
Only a back from break for a minute, Denis Murphy moved all in from the cutoff for 495,000. David Tolbert reshoved from the small blind, though it turns out that he actually called all in since he only had 480,000.
Showdown
Murphy:
Tolbert:
The flop and turn gave Tolbert some chop outs, but the on the river shipped the whole pot to Murphy. When the stacks were counted down, Tolbert was found wanting and sent home in seventh place. Murphy has gone from almost out with 200,000 to 1.1 million.