We say that tongue-in-cheek, of course, but Seidel does appear to be well on his way toward the final table after a big double a moment ago.
We were looking the other way during the preflop action, but the pot and the positions allow us to infer that Michael Mizrachi opened with a raise, and Seidel three-bet him in position. Heads up, they saw the dealer spread out , and Mizrachi checked it over. Seidel stacked out 24,000 into the pot, and Grinder quickly announced an all-in check-raise.
Seidel let out a mumbled curse word and a wry smirk, and he double-checked his cards to make sure before making the call for his last 139,500. Seidel was at risk, but he was well ahead.
Showdown
Mizrachi:
Seidel:
Despite his concerns, Seidel's rockets were out in front, and the turn and river kept them safe. Seidel has had a bit of tough going since the dinner break, but he's rebounded fully to put himself back in the top five.
Bruno Fitoussi moved all in on the river with the board reading . Dmitry Motorov made the call holding the for the nut flush. Fitoussi had a straight with , but it was a losing straight and he was eliminated.
The field is now down to 18 players and we'll have the complete redraw coming for you shortly.
After Joel Nordkvist raised to 8,000 from the cutoff seat, Dennis Bejedal reraised all in for 102,000 from the button. Brian Hastings reraised all in from the small blind for about 130,000 and everyone folded.
Bejedal:
Hastings:
The flop came down and Bejedal picked up a flush draw. The turn was the and the river the . All of that missed Bejedal and he was eliminated in 20th place.
From the button Matt Waxman, raised to 6,000. Shawn Buchanan reraised to 14,000 from the small blind and then Waxman four-bet to 28,000 from the big blind. Buchanan moved all in and, after a minute, Waxman folded.
When we arrived at the table, Brian Powell has 7,500 in front of him from the small blind and Bryn Kenney had 23,500 in front of him from the big blind. Powell then reraised all in and had Kenney covered. Eventually, Kenney folded and Powell showed just the .
First into the pot, Noah Schwartz raised to 6,500, and Bruno Fitoussi defended his big blind with a call. Off they went to a flop, and Schwartz continued out with the same 6,500. Fitoussi check-called, and he checked again on the turn. Schwartz wasn't stopping now, and he made it 17,500. But Fitoussi took control with a check-raise to 36,000, and Schwartz asked how much he was playing before making the call.
On the river, both men were content to check it down.
Schwartz showed his first, and Fitoussi flashed one card (possibly the ), nodded in acknowledgement, and returned his cards to the muck.
We're fairly sure Noah Schwartz and Jason Mercier both come to France as residents of South Florida, and the two of them have been mixing it up for the last few orbits as this field continues to shrink.
A couple hands ago, Mercier raised to 6,000 to open the pot, and Schwartz three-bet to 14,500 in position. Mercier called, and he checked the flop. Schwartz continued out with 24,500 more chips, and Mercier gave it a good stare before releasing his cards. Schwartz flashed .
And then a moment ago, we picked up another heads-up pot between them, this one also opened by Mercier preflop. On the , he fired out with 7,500, and Schwartz floated to see the on the turn. Mercier kept the heat on with another 22,000, and Schwartz spent some time in the tank before waving the white flag and folding.
Not much movement in the chips so far, but we're keeping a close eye on the Floridians over there.