The player on the button raised, and after flipping an imaginary coin in the air and having it land tails, the small blind folded. That left Jesse Sylvia with barely more than two bets behind to raise. The button called and they headed to the flop with Sylvia's tournament hopes on the line.
When the flop rolled off 5♥Q♣7♥ the button announced bet, and Sylvia's lone $1,000 chip beat the button's into the pot.
Sylvia A♣8♥
Button A♥6♦
Neither player made a pair as the 3♣ and 7♣ came turn, river, but Sylvia's eight kicker to the player's shared ace high gave him a much-needed chance at survival.
Level 19 brought furious action before, during and after the flop between three players.
Matthew Alexander raised from under the gun, but was re-raised by Lonnie Price. The small blind flatted the action, only to see Alexander raise the pot once more. Price and the small blind flatted.
The flop brought 3♥2♦3♣ on the board. The small blind checked, prompting Alexander to bet, which Price and the small blind called. Things got interesting on the turn when 10♦ hit the board.
Alexander bet, and then Price raised. The player in the small blind took his time to study the board while looking at Price for at least a full minute before electing to fold.
“Did you raise?” Alexander asked.
“Yes,” Price said.
Alexander then re-raised, which Price re-raised. Alexander flatted to bring the action to the river, which saw 6♥ on the board.
“I have to bet,” Alexander said as he moved chips forward.
Price appeared undeterred by the comment and raised, which Alexander quickly called.
“I got lucky,” Price said as he tabled 10♣10♠ for a full house.
Alexander folded his cards his anguish, inadvertently exposing the A♠ and an unknown card as he tossed both cards in the air towards the muck. The dealer then pushed the massive pot to Price, who now owns a large stack of chips in front of him.
Scott Eskenazi raised from early position to see the player in the big blind commit her final chips before the flop. Eskenazi called and the cards were turned on their backs.
Button: Q♠10♣
Scott Eskenazi: A♣K♠
The board ran out 10♦A♦A♠7♠9♦, allowing Eskenazi's hand to hold and sending his opponent to the rail.
The very next hand, Eskenazi raised under the gun only to see the button three-bet. Eskenazi put in the call and saw a flop of 5♥K♣8♠.
Eskenazi check-called a bet on the flop and the dealer turned the Q♠.
Eskenazi check-called a bet once more before seeing the river come out the 9♥. Both players checked through and Eskenazi quickly turned over A♠A♦. His opponent tossed his cards toward the muck and Eslenazi won a second straight pot.
With 80 players officially making the money during Level 19, the field quickly thinned out.
Dana Davidson, who entered Day 2 as the chip leader, headlines the list of players to hit the rail. Davidson saw his run come to an early end midway through the level.
Sandy Sanchez, Brandon Hamlet and Michael Coombs are among other players to bust shortly after the bubble burst.
There are currently 65 players remaining in the tournament.
Action folded to Patrick Leonard in late position who raised before seeing John Mullaney three-bet him from the cutoff. Leonard called and the two saw a flop of A♣2♦8♦.
"Pads" check-called a bet from Mullaney to see the 4♦ hit the turn. Leonard check-called another bet before the river came the 9♠.
Leonard checked to see Mullaney toss out a bet. Leonard wasn't done yet, though, as he put in a raise only to see his opponent answer back with another raise.
This sent Leonard into the tank as it was for most of the rest of his chips. After running through the hand aloud and listing off possible hands that his opponent could have, he eventually put in the call and saw the bad news as Mullaney turned over the A♦J♦ for the nuts.
Paul Sokoloff moved all in as a short stack in middle position to start action in Level 20, but was quickly called by Kimphong Duong, who was on the button.
The small and big blinds folded, allowing both players to table their hands.
Sokoloff tabled Q♦10♣, but saw he was behind when Duong turned over 9♠9♦.
The dealer ran out 5♠K♥6♣7♣5♦, giving Duong the win with two pair and sending Sokoloff out in 59th place.
Sokoloff started a mini-run of players to exit, as the tournament restarted with 60 players in the field but the number dropped to 56 less than 15 minutes after the break ended.
Two GOATS in their own right, Doug Polk and Phil Ivey, have both officially made their 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) debuts in what is one of the most stacked tournaments of the summer.
Event #8: $25,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship began at noon PT on Friday with 64 of the best and most popular players in the game, all just hoping to keep pace with the great John Smith, of course.
Action folded to Kerry Welsh on the button who put in a raise before facing a three-bet from the player in the small blind. Welsh decided he wanted to get the betting out of the way before the flop and raised his opponent back who called off the remainder of his chips.
Small Blind: J♦9♣
Kerry Welsh: A♠K♥
The board ran out 6♦2♠5♣6♠Q♣, offering no help to the at-risk player who hit the rail as Welsh scooped the pot and moved up in the chip counts.