Andrey Pateychuk opened to 480,000 from the cutoff, Pius Heinz defended his big blind, and the flop fell . Both players checked.
The turn was the , Heinz checked again, and Pateychuk fired 655,000. Heinz check-raised to 1.68 million, and Pateychuk called.
The river was the , and Heinz tanked before leading for 2.725 million. Pateychuk called rather quickly, and Heinz tabled for aces and nines. Pateychuk paused for nearly 20 seconds, then finally mucked his cards. Heinz raked in the pot, and is now just under 20 million chips.
Action began with Scott Schwalich raising to 550,000 from under the gun. Only Martin Staszko called from a couple of seats over.
The flop came . Schwalich continued with a bet of 700,000, and Staszko again called. The turn was the and this time Schwalich checked. Staszko took the opening to fire a bet of 1.06 million, and Schwalich called.
The river was the . Schwalich checked again, and when Staszko bet 2.46 million, Schwalich stepped aside.
Staszko looks to have around 13 million now, while Schwalich sits at about 9 million.
Khoa Nguyen opened for 525,000 from the button, and Phil Collins defended his big blind. Both checked the flop. The turn was the . Collins checked, and Nguyen bet 625,000. Collins then raised to 1.45 million, and Nguyen called.
The river was the . Collins sat quietly for a moment, then pushed out chips to bet 2.5 million. Nguyen went into the tank, thinking for a couple of minutes, and then finally emerged having convinced himself to call.
Collins showed for a king-high flush, and Nguyen mucked. A big shift of chips there, as Collins now has over 19 million while Nguyen tumbles down to around 2 million.
Samuel Holden opened to 480,000 from under the gun, Anton Makievskyi three-bet to 1.1 million on the button, and Holden called. The flop was , and both players checked. The turn was the , Holden checked again, and Makievskyi fired 1.4 million. Holden folded, and Makievskyi won the pot.
On the first hand back from the break on the secondary feature table, Phil Collins opened with a raise to 525,000 from under the gun, and it folded to Martin Staszko in the cutoff who reraised to 1.28 million. It folded back around to Collins, who sat motionlessly for a few moments, then pushed his cards away.
Ben Lamb opened to 525,000 from under the gun, and Andrey Pateychuk called out of the big blind. The flop fell , Pateychuk checked, and Lamb continued for 500,000. Pateychuk mucked, and Lamb raked in the pot.
They've reached the first break of the day. We noted at the top how the eliminations came at a rate of seven per level yesterday, and that the pace might well slow down a bit today as they approach the final nine.
No slowing down yet.
The first hour of play today saw four eliminations -- Lars Bonding (22nd), Chris Moore (21st), Gionni Demers (20th), and Aleksandr Mozhnyakov (19th) -- after which the remaining 18 players reassembled around the final two tables. Following a brief period which saw players sticking to small-to-medium pots, the knockouts began anew, with three more coming before the break.
Within a few hands of the move, Kenny Shih got knocked out in 18th in a hand with John Hewitt, then Sam Barnhart was eliminated shortly thereafter in 17th after running pocket nines into Puis Heinz' pair of kings. Then Ryan Lenaghan pushed his below average stack all in with but couldn't outrun Samuel Holden's , and he hit the rail in 16th. Meanwhile, Anton Makievskyi continues to lead the way, having crossed the 30 million-chip mark, although Eoghan O'Dea is close on his heels.
The tension has risen a significant notch. Six of those who remain will see their two-week long runs end today, while the other nine will be continuing to live out their WSOP Main Event dreams until November. Cards go back in the air in 15 minutes.
![[user101598]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
. Both players checked.
, Heinz checked again, and Pateychuk fired 655,000. Heinz check-raised to 1.68 million, and Pateychuk called.
, and Heinz tanked before leading for 2.725 million. Pateychuk called rather quickly, and Heinz tabled 
for aces and nines. Pateychuk paused for nearly 20 seconds, then finally mucked his cards. Heinz raked in the pot, and is now just under 20 million chips.
. Schwalich continued with a bet of 700,000, and Staszko again called. The turn was the 
and this time Schwalich checked. Staszko took the opening to fire a bet of 1.06 million, and Schwalich called.
. Schwalich checked again, and when Staszko bet 2.46 million, Schwalich stepped aside.
. Collins checked, and Nguyen bet 625,000. Collins then raised to 1.45 million, and Nguyen called.
. Collins sat quietly for a moment, then pushed out chips to bet 2.5 million. Nguyen went into the tank, thinking for a couple of minutes, and then finally emerged having convinced himself to call.
for a king-high flush, and Nguyen mucked. A big shift of chips there, as Collins now has over 19 million while Nguyen tumbles down to around 2 million.
, and both players checked. The turn was the 
, Holden checked again, and Makievskyi fired 1.4 million. Holden folded, and Makievskyi won the pot.
, Pateychuk checked, and Lamb continued for 500,000. Pateychuk mucked, and Lamb raked in the pot.
but couldn't outrun Samuel Holden's 