Three-way action on the 2♥7♠J♠ flop saw a flurry of action at the table.
Eoghan O'Dea bet 130,000, representing much of his remaining stack. Ryan Hoenig then moved all in covering both opponents, with George Wang deciding to get his stack into the middle. O'Dea called and the hands were turned up.
George Wang: A♥Q♥4♣3♣
Eoghan O'Dea: A♠Q♠6♥2♠
Ryan Hoenig: A♣J♣J♥7♦
Hoenig's set of jacks was in the lead, fading his opponents' flush and low draws on the 9♣ turn and Q♦ river to score the double elimination.
Three hands on three separate tables took place at the same time and two of them were of particular interest.
Taylor Wilson flat-called a min-raise to 20,000 by Long Tran while on the button and they checked the 8♣7♣2♦ flop. On the 5♣ turn, Tran checked and Wilson bet 20,000. The check-raise to 100,000 followed and Wilson sigh-folded with the words, "I know you are so full of shit right now," before asking how much it would cost him to see Tran's hand.
Tran shook his head and raked in the chips.
One table over, the betting action was already completed and a duo waited to proceed with their showdown. Igor Zektser had potted in the cutoff to 35,000 with 18,000 behind. Stephen Deutsch groaned but then opted to gamble with the words, "Ah fuck it," as Zektser called it off.
"It is not a great hand, I am sure you are winning,"Deutsch had told Zektser who replied "let's keep it that way" while they were waiting for the other tables to finish.
Igor Zektser: A♣5♣4♠3♦
Stephen Deutsch: A♥Q♥Q♠5♥
Deutsch was surprised to find himself ahead and Zektser ended up drawing dead on the K♦2♦2♥10♥ turn to make the 10♦ river a formality, bursting the bubble after some half an hour of hand-for-hand mode.
Dylan Wilkerson checked the A♦8♥3♦ flop before Felipe Ramos moved his short stack into the middle. Dzmitry Urbanovich got out of the way and Wilkerson made the call.
Felipe Ramos: A♠K♦5♦4♠
Dylan Wilkerson: A♥5♠4♣3♥
Ramos was trailing Wilkerson's two pair, looking to complete a flush or a wheel while the two shared the same low. The Q♥ turn and 7♣ river changed nothing, leaving Ramos even shorter with just a quarter of the pot.
Hassan Kamel three-bet the pot against an open raise and a call, forcing snap folds to reveal the A♣K♣2♥.
Anton Smirnov raised to 20,000 and was called by Long Tran on the button, Vincas Tamasauskas as one of the two table short stacks defended the big blind. The trio headed to the Q♦10♣5♥ flop and Tamasauskas checked, Smirnov bet 25,000 and Tran was the only caller.
The K♦ followed on the turn and Smirnov check-folded to Tran's bet.
Over on table 144, Ryan Rapaski had aces twice to win minor pots off Dylan Wilkerson and Dzmitry Urbanovich.
Last but not least, Ryan Hoenig raised to 25,000 and Stephen Deutsch called from the next seat. They checked the Q♥7♣7♦ flop before Hoenig check-raised the 9♠ turn and forced a fold from Deutsch.
George Wolff was down to his last 11,000 chips in the big blind, facing Martin Zamani for his tournament life. Play was halted while the other tables completed their hands, with Wolff in front as the cards were tabled.
George Wolff: K♣Q♠Q♣9♠
Martin Zamani: J♦7♥4♥2♦
Zamani connected with the 4♣4♦2♥ flop for trip fours, collecting a low on the 3♦ turn and improving to a full house on the 7♣ river. Wolff wished the table good luck as he exited just before the money.
Players are now on the direct bubble with 43 remaining.
Ben Grundy raised to 25,000 in the hijack and Taylor Wilson called in the cutoff. Anton Smirnov potted to 115,000 on the button and Grundy folded, visibly annoyed. Wilson called rather swiftly and checked the 6♥6♠3♣ flop after which Smirnov waved with his hands to see the stack of the table neighbour.
Once Wilson revealed what he had behind, Smirnov bet the pot for 280,000 and Wilson folded.
"I had ace-king-five-six, how tilting is that ... and I cannot call," Grundy groaned.
Christopher Vitch limped from the small blind and faced a pot-sized raise by Naoya Kihara in the big blind. After verifying the stack size of Kihara, Vitch came along to the A♣9♦7♥ flop and checked. Kihara bet the pot and Vitch snap-folded.
"Scared," Kihara said and Jeffrie Rine inquired "scared or skilled" from the other side of the table.
One table over, Ben Grundy bet the pot on the J♣10♠3♣5♥K♠ river to see Taylor Wilson call by sliding forward a stack of T-5,000 chips. Grundy instantly mucked his cards with a lot of force and dropped below 20 blinds.
Another two players busted in Phillip Hui and Paul Tedeschi to reduce the field to the last 45 hopefuls with 42 of them making the money. One further all-in showdown took place in which Day 1 chip leader Michael Banducci was facing James Obst.
Obst raised on the button and called the pot-sized three-bet to 104,000 by Banducci in the big blind. They got it in after the Q♠5♥2♥ flop with Obst at risk.
James Obst: A♦Q♥J♥5♠
Michael Banducci: A♠A♣8♣7♣
The J♠ turn gave Obst a slight improvement for his hand but the 8♠ river ensured the split pot.
On the same table, Daniel Negreanu then raised for Randen Honigman to call and both invested one big blind on the Q♥Q♣6♠ flop. Negreanu checked the 2♠ turn to call a bet worth 70,000 before they checked the 6♥ river.
Negreanu tabled his A♣Q♠10♥4♦ and that won the pot.