Action opened when Phil Hellmuth made it 55,000 to go from middle position. Richard Ashby three-bet Hellmuth to 150,000. Hellmuth asked how much Ashby had behind before announcing a reraise, four-betting to 400,000. Ashby quickly made the call.
Both players decided to stand pat leaving action up to Hellmuth first. Hellmuth arranged stacks of pink 5,000's with a couple of green 25,000's on top for a bet totaling 550,000. Ashby went into the tank for quite some time. Schulman and Juanda got up from the table during this time and exchanged some chatter about the hand in progress.
Eventually a dejected Ashby dropped his cards in front of the dealer, and Phil Hellmuth was able to scoop the biggest pot of the tournament thus far, boosting his stack up to 1,900,000.
When asked about what he and Schulman were talking about, Juanda replied "One of us thought you had it and one us didn't." Regardless of whether he had it or not, Hellmuth now holds a commanding chip lead over the table.
Action folded around to Phil Hellmuth in the small blind, and he raised the action. John Juanda three-bet to 120,000 from the big blind, and Hellmuth decided to make a stand, announcing a four-bet all in for Juanda's remaining chips. Juanda threw away his cards and Hellmuth scooped the pot, bringing him up to about 1.5 million. Juanda's stack has fallen to 400,000.
Steve Sung opened to 50,000, and David Baker three-bet all in for his last 61,000. Phil Hellmuth called from the big blind, and Sung added the extra few chips to the pot to go drawing.
Sung and Baker took one card apiece, while Hellmuth plucked two. He must have liked it, because he led out into the pot with 50,000. Sung folded, and Hellmuth tabled his . Baker was once again drawing live with , and he needed to pull lucky one more time.
He could not. The landed face-up on the felt, and it was no good at all.
The defending champ has thusly been sent off in sixth place, another fine run in the event he won last year. This one's good for $51,485 -- a fine consolation, but not exactly what he was looking for today.
David "Bakes" Baker identifies the winning hand -- his own
David "Bakes" Baker would prefer not to be eliminated here in sixth place. He was all in for 9,000 from the small blind, and Nick Schulman opened the pot with a raise. Phil Hellmuth and Richard Ashby called, and they'd check it down post-draw. Ashby patted, Baker and Hellmuth took one apiece, and Schulman drew two.
Schulman paired, turning up . Neither he nor Hellmuth couldn't beat Ashby's , and it was up to Baker. He tabled , drawing live to a ten-low. He drew lucky, flipping up the to drag a quadruple up and move back to 66,000.
The table folded around to the blinds, and Steve Sung raised all in for 283,000. In the big blind, David Baker had just about that many chips left himself, and he quickly called to put one of the two men at risk. Nobody was sure which one yet.
Sung patted, and Baker took one card. Sung showed , and Baker's had him drawing live. He couldn't find a card, though, peeling over the to ship the pot to Sung. When the stacks were counted down, Baker was left with just 14,000.
Sung doubles, and he's all the way up to 590,000 courtesy of Baker's chips.
Nick Schulman made it 50,000 from the cutoff and was called by Phil Hellmuth on the button and Richard Ashby from the big blind. Ashby began the draw by taking two cards, while Hellmuth and Schulman both opted to take one.
The action went check-check to Phil Hellmuth who slowly and deliberately counted out a raise. After peeking at his hand once more, Phil shoved in a stack of pinks totaling 140,000. Richard Ashby made the call with little hesitation as Schulman sent his cards to the muck.
"I have an eight," remarked Phil, flipping up . Ashby tossed his cards away and Hellmuth scooped a pot big enough to propel him back into the chip lead. Hellmuth is now sitting with 1,200,000 while Ashby is down to 960,000.
With such a high-profile final table, we're a bit surprised at the sparsity of the rail right now. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that nobody's allowed even a bottle of water here in the arena. As a result, there are a few dozen people lined up along the ropes outside the table, choosing a longer sight line and a cocktail over a seat in the stands.
A few souls have braved the no food or drink rule to come rail their pals or significant others. Most notably, Maria "Maridu" Mayrinck is here in the front row, and she looks infinitely more nervous than her beau David Baker. Maridu is joined in the row by Thayer Rasmussen, Carter King, and Melissa Hayden. We also saw Eugene Katchalov kicking around that section a while ago.
Chino Rheem is here on the rail too; he finished in 14th place last night. We also spotted Jean-Robert Bellande duck in and out a while back, and we spy Neil Channing and Keith "The Camel" Hawkins up in the nosebleeds keeping an eye on Richard Ashby.
The bleachers are less than half full, but we'd expect to see those empty seats fill in as Phil Hellmuth continues to march toward his twelfth bracelet.
. Baker was once again drawing live with 
, and he needed to pull lucky one more time.
landed face-up on the felt, and it was no good at all.
to drag a quadruple up and move back to 66,000.
to ship the pot to Sung. When the stacks were counted down, Baker was left with just 14,000.
