Once he got the chip lead, Adria Balaguer switched into hyperdrive. He's been raising nearly every single pot to 48,000, but so far it's not been very productive. He's been played back at frequently, and his stack has dipped down to about 1.6 million. Barry Shulman has three-bet shoved on him once, and Gregg Wilkinson did it twice before he found that last double.
Adria Balaguer opened the pot to 48,000 before Gregg Wilkinson three-bet shoved for 411,000 total. Next door in the big blind, Kennii Nguyen either called or re-shoved himself. We couldn't hear the verbal declaration, and no chip movement was made, but the decision was back on Balaguer. He folded, and Wilkinson was in jeopardy.
Showdown
Wilkinson:
Nguyen:
The flop almost knocked Wilkinson out of his chair, and a celebration was two cards away. Only after the turn and river did he clap his hands together loudly and let out a big, "Yes!" He's found his double, taking a bite out of Nguyen's chip-leading stack in the process.
Adria Balaguer and Kennii Nguyen just can't get enough of each other. In their latest duel, Balaguer raised to 48,000 from under the gun and Nguyen called on the button. The two players saw a flop of and Balaguer led out for 59,000. Nguyen fired back with a raise to 141,000, and Balaguer paused for a minute before opting to call.
Balaguer then slowed down when the hit the turn. Nguyen kept the pressure on with a bet of 218,000, and that was enough to get Balaguer away from his hand.
With that, it appears Nguyen has taken the chip lead away from the Spanish pro.
One hand ago, Barry Shulman raised to 48,000 from the button to open the pot. Adria Balaguer was in the small blind, and he three-bet shoved in the form of a tall tower of green chips. Shulman spent a few minutes in the tank before surrendering.
The next hand, it was Balaguer opening to 48,000 from the button, but this time it was he who got shoved on. Gregg Wilkinson three-bet all in for 259,000, and Balaguer tank-folded.
Adria Balaguer raised to 48,000 in early position, and he found action from Kennii Nguyen. His call came from the button, and off they went to a heads-up flop.
The dealer spread , and both men checked to the turn. Balaguer made his continuation bet of 57,000 there, and Nguyen wasted no time calling.
The river was the , and Balaguer fired out a final 126,000. Nguyen spent a few minutes in the tank, then announced a fold.
We're two levels deep in this Day 3, and our 19-player field has been reduced to just 11 in that time. For their persistance, those remaining have been granted a 20-minute break.
We'll be back with a fresh round of chip counts in a moment.
We picked up the action on a flop, heads-up between Cliff Goldkind and Adria Balaguer. We're not sure what the preceding action was, but when we arrived, Goldkind had 176,000 chips out in front of him. It was either a bet or a check-raise, we're not sure which. In any event, Balaguer made the call.
The turn came the , and now Goldkind knocked the table. Balaguer took his cue to slide out a bet of 215,000, but Goldkind check-raised all in for 710,000 total. Snap-call, cards up.
Showdown
Goldkind:
Balaguer:
Balaguer had smashed his flush on the turn, but he needed to fade the rest of the diamonds to stay in front. The river was safe, the black , and that's the biggest pot we've seen this tournament. If it's not 2 million chips, it's awfully close. We'll mark Balaguer down for 1.95 million until he finishes stacking up.