James Dempsey raised from early position, and Mark Babekov and Steve Chanthabouasy both called.
Flop: - Chanthabouasy checked to Dempsey, and he bet 48,000. Babekov folded, but Chanthabouasy made the call.
Turn: - Chanthabouasy checked again, then called an 87,000-chip bet from Dempsey.
River: - Chanthabouasy checked for a third time. Dempsey made a substantial bet - 197,000. Chanthabouasy talked himself into calling, but he regretted it as soon as he saw Dempsey's for the flopped straight. With that huge pot, Dempsey took over the chip lead. He now has around 960,000 to Chanthabouasy's 400,000.
Armen Kara raised to 56,000, and big blind Scott Haraden potted. With only 32,000 behind, Kara called. He held and would need to hold against Haraden's . The board fell a safe , doubling Kara to 176,000.
We've now had five all ins at the final table, only one of which resulted in an elimination.
Steve Chanthabouasy made it 35,000 to go from the cutoff, and on the button, Joseph Williams potted to 144,000. Chanthabouasy moved all in, and Williams called for the few chips he had left.
Showdown:
Chanthabouasy:
Williams:
The flop fell , and things looked bad for Williams. The announcer said, "He'll need to catch a queen or running clubs to stay alive." And then as an afterthought, added, "Or a four to chop." Bink. on the turn. The on the river meant both Chanthabouasy and Williams were playing the board, and they split the pot.
James Dempsey has a crew of British poker players supporting him on the rail, including Chris Moorman and Nicky Evans. This hasn't been the most action-filled final table yet, so they're keeping themselves entertained by betting on the color of the flops. There haven't been so many of those, either, but when they do come out, the announcer is getting into the spirit of the game. He's been calling out the red/black tally along with the poker action. The case of Milwaukee's Best that just showed up ought to help keep the rail entertained as well.
From the cutoff, James Dempsey raised to 32,000. On the button, Armen Kara made it 92,000 to go, leaving himself 90,000 behind. Mark Babekov, next to act in the small blind, four-bet shoved for a total of 284,000. Dempsey folded, and rather than call all in, Kara folded as well. Babekov was shocked, clearly expecting Kara to call with his last 90,000. Babekov had been standing up while Kara tanked. He shrugged and sat back down to scoop the pot. Babekov is now around 420,000.
JJ Liu raised to 40,000, and Scott Haraden called from the cutoff. The flop came out , and JJ bet 44,000. Haraden then potted for another 192,000, and that was enough to get Liu to fold.
![[user140525]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
- Chanthabouasy checked to Dempsey, and he bet 48,000. Babekov folded, but Chanthabouasy made the call.
- Chanthabouasy checked again, then called an 87,000-chip bet from Dempsey.
- Chanthabouasy checked for a third time. Dempsey made a substantial bet - 197,000. Chanthabouasy talked himself into calling, but he regretted it as soon as he saw Dempsey's 
for the flopped straight. With that huge pot, Dempsey took over the chip lead. He now has around 960,000 to Chanthabouasy's 400,000.
and would need to hold against Haraden's 
. The board fell a safe 
, doubling Kara to 176,000.
, and things looked bad for Williams. The announcer said, "He'll need to catch a queen or running clubs to stay alive." And then as an afterthought, added, "Or a four to chop." Bink. 
on the turn. The 
, and JJ bet 44,000. Haraden then potted for another 192,000, and that was enough to get Liu to fold.
