The play is tightening, with most pre-flop raises of the minimum variety. Rob Hollink opened with a raise from the small blind. Big blind Dan Shak re-raised and soon enough all of Hollink's chips were at risk. He showed to Shak's .
"Put a couple of diamonds up there," Shak said. Instead the dealer put up , giving Hollink two pair, kings and fives. He also flopped the nut low draw. The turn and river came and , giving each player a live ace for low but also securing the high half for Hollink.
Leif Force raised from the button and Erik Seidel pushed from the big blind with an air of resignation. Force called with a little, "OK."
Force:
Seidel:
Board:
"A quarter?" said Force - he'd got rather excited when he had a flush draw on the turn but it had not come to pass and Seidel took the high while they chopped the low. The dealer confirmed it, and Seidel moved up to 190,000 while Force dropped to 495,000 and blew a raspberry.
Rob Hollink has spent the past half hour or so making players, railers and bloggers alike salivate - he dropped by Vegas institution Naked Fish's on the way here and picked up some distractingly tasty-looking sushi, which he brought out of a bag and proceeded to scoff.
Even the dealer was kind of jealous.
Said the dealer: "God you're making me hungry."
But perhaps this was all just part of Hollink's tournament strategy.
"I wanted to make the other guys hungry," said Hollink, pointing to the rest of his table.
There wasn't anything John Cernuto could do about a very bad situation. On a flop of , he check-raised all in after David Ulliott bet 48,000. Ulliott quickly called with , middle set. That was bad news for Cernuto, who turned over bottom set and a flush draw with . Cernuto would need running low cards or a non-pairing heart to remain in the tourament. He caught a heart on the turn with the , but Ulliott still had a draw off his own. He binked it when the river came to give him quad queens, drawing a pained "oooooo!" from Cernuto.
Cernuto finished in 12th place and will receive $23,318.
A big pot was just played between David "Devilfish" Ulliott and Cam McKinley, with the usual PLO8 result -- a chop. Ulliott opened for 40,000 pre-flop, with McKinley calling from the blinds. McKinley check-raised all in for 167,000 on a flop of after Ulliott bet 88,000. It put Ulliott to a decision but eventually he called.
"Show the ten," said Leif Force to McKinley. McKinley not only had the ten, but he had the flush draw as well with . Ulliott showed . His flush draw was no good, but he runner-runnered a chop with the turn and river.
McKinley's supporters, not seeing the chop, started to cheer for him scooping the pot, then let out a collective "awwww" when the dealer started to split the pot.
"Awww," said Ulliott in response. "You guys don't know what the f***'s going on and you're cheering."
Play continues with 12 remaining. Nobody is particular short. Counts are coming.
David Nowakowski opened to 40,000 in early position and to his immediate left Joe Ritzie made it 125,000. It folded back around to Nowakowski, who threw in too many chips and a moment later announced, "I call." For a moment he looked horrified, worrying that it might be deemed another raise. But the dealer gave him change, and they saw a flop.
As it happened, Nowakowski quickly moved all in on the flop anyway, and Ritzie called.
Nowakowski:
Ritzie:
Turn:
River:
Both made players made two pair, aces and threes with a king kicker, to chop the high. Nowakowski's took the low, and he got three quarters of the pot to bump him up to 335,000, right around average. Ritzie fell back to 430,000.
Jeremy Harkin opened pre-flop for 40,000 and was called by both blinds, Leif Force and Dave Ulliott. All three players checked a paired flop, . When the turn came the , Force, who had first action, bet 75,000. That bet chased Ulliott out of the pot but Harkin called to see the river double-pair the board with the . Force made a small bet of 65,000 that went uncalled as Harkin folded.
The plan, by the way, is to play nine levels tonight regardless. With a bit of luck this will be over by then, but if it's not then players and TDs will reassess then.
![[user75032]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
to Shak's 
.
, giving Hollink two pair, kings and fives. He also flopped the nut low draw. The turn and river came 
and 
, giving each player a live ace for low but also securing the high half for Hollink.
, he check-raised all in after David Ulliott bet 48,000. Ulliott quickly called with 
, middle set. That was bad news for Cernuto, who turned over bottom set and a flush draw with 
, but Ulliott still had a draw off his own. He binked it when the river came 
to give him quad queens, drawing a pained "oooooo!" from Cernuto.
. Ulliott showed 
took the low, and he got three quarters of the pot to bump him up to 335,000, right around average. Ritzie fell back to 430,000.