Eugene Katchalov made a raise from under the gun and then Tony Merksick called from the big blind. The flop came down 
and Merksick bet out. Katchalov called.
The turn brought the 
and both players checked. The river card was the 
and Merksick bet out. Katchlov took a moment and then made the call.
Merksick showed the 
-X-X, but lost to Katchalov's 
. Katchalov improved to 370,000 in chips.
Sammy Farha made the comment that he's been up all night to which James Dempsey asked, "Winning?"
Farha responded, "If I win this, I'll break even from last night. Seriously."
![[user75032]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
James Dempsey is the chip leader, and if he keeps winning pots with hands as weak as two pair, it's going to be very tough for his opponents to catch up. Dempsey opened pre-flop with a raise that was called by Rich Zhu, Eugene Katchalov, and Sam Farha from the big blind. Farha checked to Dempsey on a flop of 
. Dempsey bet and was called by Zhu and Farha.
The board paired on the turn, . Farha checked to Dempsey, who again bet. Only Zhu called. Both players checked the 
river. Dempsey turned over 
for two pair, nines and sevens. It was good to win the whole pot.
Sammy Farha raised from middle position and then James Dempsey called. Action the moved to short-stacked Steve Wong in the small blind and he reraised all in for 56,000 total. Farha and Dempsey both called the extra 6,000.
The flop came down 
and Farha bet out. Dempsey called. The two then checked the turn () and river (
).
Dempsey mucked when Farha tabled the 
for a pair of tens. Wong showed the 
for just a pair of sixes and was eliminated from the tournament. Farha moved to roughly 800,000 in chips.
Four players put in two bets each preflop and watched the first three community cards come down 
. Sammy Farha was first and checked, then Sergey Altbregin and Michael Chow checked, and then Abe Mosseri bet. Farha and Chow called, while Altbregin had tossed his cards in.
The turn card was the and action checked to Mosseri. He bet and both his opponents called. The river card completed the board with the and Farha fired out first. Chow folded and Mosseri called.
Farha tabled the 
for a nine-high straight. Mosseri held the 
for a live four and the two chopped the pot.
Level: 22
Blinds: 13,000/25,000
Ante:
Steve Wong has already been all in twice at this final table. The first time he chopped heads-up with Eugene Katchalov. The second time he was involved in a three-way pot with Rich Zhu and Sam Farha.
Zhu opened with a pre-flop raise that Wong re-raised. Farha called two cold out of the blinds and Zhu also called. Zhu led a flop of 
. Wong quickly called all in and Farha called as well.
Farha and Zhu checked the turn. Farha checked again on the 
river, then folded to a bet. For the main pot, Zhu showed 
, three aces and a deuce-six low. Wong showed 
, three aces with a better kicker. He got the high half of the pot to stay alive.
Tony Merksick raised from under the gun and got three callers. Eugene Katchalov, Abe Mosseri and Sergey Altbregin all called in that order. The flop came down and action checked to Altbregin. He bet and all three players called.
The turn added the to the board and action checked to Altbregin again. He bet and everyone called, but Mosseri. The river card completed the board with the and Merksick bet out. Katchalov called and then Altbregin folded.
Both Merksick and Katchalov showed a wheel for the high and the low. They chopped it up.
On the very first hand of the final table, Abe Mosseri raised and was called by small blind MichaelChow. Chow check-called one bet on a flop of 
. When the hit the turn, he led into Mosseri. Mosseri raised, with Chow calling to the 
river. He checked, then called a last bet from Mosseri.
"Wheel," said Mosseri. He threw his cards face-up on the felt, revealing 
. Chow flashed 
, a hand that had been counterfeited by the river.
Cards are in the air at our 9-handed final table. 18 minutes and 28 seconds remain in Level 21.
