Action is joined on a A♦8♦Q♠ flop with Yuri Dzivielevski all in and at risk. Day 1 chip leader Firas Kashat called the players were off to a turn and river.
Dzivielevski was holding top set but needed to fade quite a few outs to stay alive. The 7♠ turn and 6♣ river brought no help for Kashat and Dzivielevski would get the full double late in Day 2.
Gregory Nerenberg fell silent after paying off a double for Roger Teska, who had the winning hand with A♠9♠8♥6♣ on a board of K♣7♦2♠A♥3♠. Teska then hit a straight against Ben Lamb to win another small pot, further boosting his short stack.
One table over, Josh Arieh raised and peeled a three-bet by Mads Amot from one seat over in the hijack. Arieh checked the 5♦4♣3♠ flop and then instantly folded when Amot bet 150,000. The Norwegian won the pot but lost a time bank in the process.
In a battle of the blinds, the short stack of around 450,000 by Josh Arieh in the big blind went into the middle preflop and he was ahead versus Firas Kashat.
Josh Arieh: A♠K♣8♠7♣
Firas Kashat: A♣9♥5♥3♦
The 8♥3♠3♥ flop gave Kashat trips and the 9♣ turn made it a full house, leaving Arieh dead prior to the 5♣ river.
"Lucky, lucky, life is all about luck," Kashat grinned as he raked in the chips.
Moments later, Dimitrios Michailidis was knocked out by Ben Lamb one table over and the field dropped to 35 contenders with fewer than half an hour to go for the night.
Bradley Kil opened to 225 from the button and was called by the under-the-gun and Joseph Liberta in middle position.
The flop came out 7♥6♠5♣ and the under-the-gun player checked to Liberta who moved all in for a total of 640,000.
Kil then moved all in over the top and forced the other player to fold while they turned over their cards.
Joseph Liberta: A♥10♦8♥7♦
Bradley Kil: 10♥9♥7♣6♣
The turn 9♠ gave Kil the nut straight but also gave Liberta three pair for an added sweat. The river 8♦ also gave Liberta the exact same straight and the two players chopped up the pot.
"Wow, what a turn!" Liberta said.
"What a river!" Kil replied.
"Ahh, I had you crushed!" Liberta laughed as they stacked their chips.
Quan Zhou called when he limped in and Dylan Weisman raised it up to 120,000. He then gave up on the J♣10♦8♥7♠ turn when Weisman bet 360,000. That boosted the stack of Weisman further, who is hot on the heels of Chance Kornuth at the top of the leaderboard.
On a heads-up flop of 4♠5♥5♣, Chance Kornuth checked to Andrew Ige who announced a bet of 250,000 and Kornuth made the call.
The turn came the 6♠ and Kornuth checked once more to Ige who fired again for 500,000. Kornuth thought about it for a second and made the call to see the K♣ appear on the river.
Kornuth then paused for a few moments and took a sip from his drink before he potted it for over 2,500,000, covering Ige.
Ige then went deep into the tank, using several time banks before he finally set out a stack to make the call, putting his tournament life at risk.
"Kings full," Kornuth simply said as he tabled K♦K♠10♠6♦ for a rivered full house and Ige disappointingly tabled 6♥7♦8♥9♦ for the turned straight before he gathered his belongings and made his way to the exit.
Kornuth was still in shock as he raked in the massive pot to rocket him into the clear chip lead with over 7,000,000.
After a brief pre-flop betting war, Joseph Liberta and Ben Lamb get it all in the middle, with Liberta at risk.
Joseph Liberta: A♦A♥J♠3♠
Ben Lamb: K♦K♠5♥4♦
Liberta was in a great position to double up in this spot, and the runout of Q♦J♣A♣9♦Q♣ did just that as he made aces full on the river to scoop the pot.
In four-way action to the A♦K♣4♦ flop, Cary Katz checked out of the blinds and Firas Kashat bet 460,000. Klemens Roiter then jammed for 705,000 in the cutoff and Matthew Boulden called on the button. Katz folded and Kashat came along.
The 4♣ turn was checked through and the 9♠ river completed the board. Kashat moved all-in and Boulden snap-folded, exposing only the K♦ face-up.
Roiter exposed his Q♦Q♥J♦10♦ for a full wrap and flush draw that had missed, while Kashat scored the knockout with the K♥4♥3♠2♦ for a full house, fours full of kings.
During the final hands of the night, the action exploded and several all-in showdowns took place in quick succession.
Cary Katz had been all-in preflop after a raise by Firas Kashat and two calls. He was looked up three ways and it checked to the J♥7♥6♣7♦J♣ river. Yuri Dzivielevski bet 125,000 and his two active opponents folded.
The Brazilian only briefly flashed his cards but Katz quadrupled with the J♠10♣8♣5♣.
On the same table, Matthew Boulden was then all-in after a K♣6♠3♣ flop against Mads Amot.
Matthew Boulden: A♠K♥9♣6♥
Mads Amot: Q♥6♣5♠4♥
Amot had a wrap and got there instantly with the 7♦ turn, the 3♦ river sent Boulden to the payout desk with the words "at least I don't have to come back tomorrow".
Ka Kwan Lau then got it in for 1,505,000 post flop against Ben Lamb with the flop showing Q♣6♥3♠.
Ka Kwan Lau:A♥K♠K♣J♥
Ben Lamb: K♦Q♦10♥3♥
Lamb was ahead with the top and bottom pair and that remained to be the case on the 7♦ turn. However, the 6♦ river counterfeited Lamb's two pair and he vaulted out of the chair in disgust.