After the last redraw moved Antonio Esfandiari from Jonathan Driscoll's right to his left, in terms of table position, we expected him to start taking advantage. Instead, it has been Driscoll, who dispatched Phill Hellmuth late on Day 2, continuing to run over the top pros in the world.
After the Quebec native raised to 25,000 from the button, Esfandiari three-bet and made it 75,000 to see the flop. After a lengthy tank, Driscoll decided to come along and he called the raise.
The flop fell and Esfandiari led out with a precisely measured bet of 108,000. Driscoll again paused for a few minutes to refelct, before sliding out two stacks and raising to 216,000. Esfandiari studied the situation for a minute of his own but eventually released his hand. This nearly seven-minute hand left Esfandiari with 340,000 while Driscoll continued to pad his million-plus stack.
Eric Baudry raised to 28,000 from the hijack and action folded to Jon Driscoll in the big blind who re-raised to 78,000. Baudry then shoved all in and Driscoll snap-called.
Baudry:
Driscoll:
The flop came giving Driscoll straight outs in addition to his overcards. The turn was the and the river was a dramatic which gave Driscoll his straight, but gave Baudry a flush and the win.
Baudry doubled his stack to around 900,000 while Driscoll's stack dropped to 1,100,000.
Kenneth griffin raised to 30,000 from middle position and watched as Nicolo Calia reraised all-in. The Italian put his last 136,000 into the middle and Griffin quickly made the call with his . Calia showed down the and he was in the lead for the moment.
Flop:
The first three cards on board hit Griffin hard and he vaulted into the lead with his trip jacks. After the fell on the turn, he held an unbeatable full house and Calia was eliminated.
After doubling through Antonio Esfandiari on the previous deal, when his caught up to The Magician's , Stuart Fischbein decided to try the trick again.
David Baker raised to open the action making it 27,000 to go and Fischbein three-bet all-in for his last 165,000. Before Baker could even consider a call, Eric Baudry shoved all-in over the top for 220,000. Baker mucked and the two all-in players showed their cards.
Showdown:
Baudry:
Fischbein:
It was the classic coin flip, but when the flop rolled out , Baudry's heart gave him the decided advantage. The on the turn furthered his lead and the on the river ended Fischbein's tournament life.
Kent Novick was just all in for his tourney life, playing out of the big blind with versus Aaron Massey on the button with . The flop came -X, giving both pairs but Massey's the better of the two. The turn and river bricked for Novick, and he hits the rail in 18th.
Massey keeps amassing chips. He's up to about 730,000 now.
After Antonio Esfandiari raised to 26,000 from the hijack, chip leader Jonathan Driscoll took a moment to ponder before making the call. Michael Marks looked down at his short stack and decided to make his move. He shoved all-in for his last 176,000 and step one of the plan worked when The Magician mucked his hand.
Driscoll did not release, however, and asked the dealer to count the stack. He eventually shrugged and said "I call" while flipping up his . Marks stood and turned over his , telling a friend on the rail "It's nines versus king-ten ... he called with king ten."
Both players watched the flop fall and Marks threw his hands up in frustration, telling the same friend "He flopped two par, that's it!" When he saw the in the turn he knew it really was over and turned to make a hasty exit. The on the river made it official and Driscoll notched his first knockout of the day, building his stack to nearly 1,500,000 in the process.