From the cutoff seat, John Racener opened with a raise, and Adam Kornuth three-bet it from the button. Racener called.
The flop came , and Racener led out into the pot with the first bet. Kornuth raised, Racener reraised, and Kornuth called. It went check-check after both the turn and river.
Kornuth showed up , and his aces up are good. They're good enough to push him up to 330,000 in fact, knocking Racener down to 300,000.
In middle position, Michele Limongi opened with a raise, and Adam Geyer three-bet from the hijack. In the cutoff, John Monnette put in the third bet, and Limongi and Geyer both called.
The flop came out , and Limongi knocked the table. Geyer bet out, Monnette called, and Limongi kicked 'em into the muck. That brought the other two heads-up to the turn, and Geyer fired another bet. Monnette raised, Geyer reraised all in, and Monnette made the call with a chance at the knockout.
Showdown
Monnette:
Geyer:
The players were even with the same aces up, but Monnette had the nut club draw with one to come. Sure enough, the river was the , and Monnette's flush sends Geyer out on the final table bubble. He'll earn $19,268 for his first deep run at this 2011 WSOP.
Our final eight players are now on the move to the secondary featured table to play it out for the bracelet. Or as close to the bracelet as we can get by 3:00 A.M.
From the small blind, Rami Boukai raised first into the pot. Eric Buchman reraised from the big, and Boukai called to see a flop.
It came , and Boukai check-called a bet. Action went check-check on the turn, and the river came the . Buchman led back out with another bet, and this time Boukai was forced to fold, getting dangerously short on chips.
Boukai was eliminated just a couple hands later when his fell to John Monnette's , and he's off in 10th place. That's worth close to $20,000, and our final nine players have redrawn down to one table.
It's the last redraw of the night, and we'll show you how they look in just a moment.
Eric Buchman raised second to go, and John Monnette three-bet from the small blind. Buchman called, and we've seen him play a lot of pots like this in position with pretty good success.
Monnette continued out on the flop, and Buchman called. It went check-check on the turn, and the river came the . Monnette paused to consider, then splashed out one last bet. Buchman quickly called, and Monnette essentially surrendered with a mumble and a pause. Buchman tabled , and it was good.
That pot moved Monnette down to 605,000, while Buchman climbed to 865,000. He also won the next two consecutive pots, binking the magical one-million chip mark as he dragged the last one. If there was any question before, it's clear now that Buchman is the man to beat tonight.
Owais Ahmed raised from the cutoff seat, and was called by John Monnette on the button and Rami Boukai in the big blind. Boukai drew two, Ahmed drew one, and Monnette drew two. Boukai led out and was called by both opponents.
On the second draw, all three players drew one, and Boukai led again. Ahmed raised, Monnette folded, and Boukai called all-in.
Boukai drew one, and Ahmed patted, showing . Boukai was drawing to a an eight with , and pulled a to make him an eighty-seven. Boukai doubled to 230,000, while Ahmed was left with his last 80,000.
A few hands later he was all in against Eric Buchman. On the final draw, Buchman was pat with , and Ahmed drew with . He was dealt a , which was no good, and he was eliminated from the tournament.
"Rami," Ahmed called to Boukai. "Take it down for the brown man."
Eric Buchman raised from the cutoff seat, Owais Ahmed called on the button, and the blinds released. Both players drew two cards, Buchman led out, and Ahmed called.
Both players drew one card, checked, then drew one last card. Buchman bet after the last draw, and Ahmed tanked for nearly two minutes before folding.
Under the gun, John Monnette raised to 17,000, and Mikko Pispala reraised the pot. Monnette re-potted, and Pispala called all in for his remaining 89,000.
Showdown
Monnette:
Pispala:
The board ran out in Monnette's favor, coming . A straight beats a pair of aces every day, and Pispala's chips were shipped across the felt. He's out in 12th place, good for a pay bump up to $15,196.