Gavin Smith completed from the small blind, Danny Hannawa raised from the big blind, and Smith called. The flop came . Smith checked, Hannawa bet, and Smith called. The turn was the . Smith bet this time, and Hannawa looked over at his opponent while contemplating what to do. Smith sat quietly beneath his hat, looking down at the board. Finally Hannawa called.
The river was the , and Hannawa again called Smith's bet. Smith showed for the straight, and Hannawa mucked.
"Winning never gets old, does it?" yelled Layne Flack from the stands. "Yeah, but sometimes it gets hard to remember," cracked Smith.
Smith smiled for a moment more, then turned serious again, his attention already turned to the next hand.
Timothy Finne raised from the button, and Michael Michnik three-bet from the small blind. Finne called.
The flop came . Michnik bet (40,000) and Finne called. The turn was the , and Michnik bet again (80,000). Finne again called.
The river was the and both checked. Michnik showed and won the pot.
With stakes this high, a lot is changing on each hand. Michnik moves up to 732,000 on that one, passing Finne who falls to 670,000. Meanwhile, both Gavin Smith and Danny Hannawa sit in the 1.15 million range.
It was folded to Gavin Smith in the small blind who made it two bets to go. Danny Hannawa made the call from the big blind and the flop came down .
Smtih bet and Hannawa raised. Smith made the call and the fell on the turn.
Both players checked to the river. Smith tossed in a bet. Hannawa went into the tank for a minute staring Smith down. He eventually made the call and Smith turned over for a pair of queens to take the pot.
With this win, Smith takes over the chip lead with a little more than 1,200,000.
In the last hand of the no-limit round, Danny Hannawa opened with a raise to 65,000 from the button, then Timothy Finne reraised to 178,000 from the small blind. Michael Michnik folded the BB, then Hannawa took a look over at Finne, then his stack, then let it go.
Back to limit we go. Hannawa still leads with about 1.35 million, both Gavin Smith and Finne sit with around one million each, and Michnik is the short stack with 400,000.
Jamie Rosen opened with a raise to 59,000 from the cutoff, and it folded around to Danny Hannawa who reraised all in from the small blind. Rosen took just a moment, then called, committing his entire stack of about 550,000.
Hannawa turned over , and Rosen was going to need help with his . The board ran out , and Rosen is out in fifth.
Hannawa increases his chip lead further, and now has about 1.7 million.
It started out looking like a harmless little blind-vs.-blind encounter. The table folded around to Jamie Rosen who completed from the small blind, and Gavin Smith checked from the big blind.
The flop came . Rosen bet 30,000, and Smith called. Not too special yet.
The turn brought the . This time Rosen checked, Smith bet 83,000, and Rosen thought a minute before calling. Getting a little more interesting.
The river came the . Rosen quickly checked, and Smith spent little time firing 244,000 into the middle. The pot was now over a half million, and Rosen went deep in the tank to study the situation. Now this had become downright intriguing.
After three minutes, it looked as if Rosen was sincerely contemplating a call, but finally pushed his cards away.
Smith moves to 745,000, and Rosen back to about 600,000.