Only 27 remain in the 888Live São Paulo Main event. That means there is three tables standing between one player, and the winner of the R$200,000 first place prize, the $13,000 WSOPE Package, and the Breitling winner's watch as well. Action is kicking off at 2 p.m. local time at level 22, as there was one unscheduled level of play that took place late into last night.
Leading the way is Guilherme Cazula. The young poker phenom was all over the chip counts yesterday, hopping up and down from the top spot to the middle of the pack. And not only that, he was keeping tabs on Daniel Aziz too. While he wasn't focused solely on locking up the top spot, he was excited to be there at the end of the night. Aziz happened to finish just behind Cazula in the counts, and they were followed by Osvaldo Ruben Irrazabal who rounded out the top three counts.
One other player to keep an eye on today is Fernando "Grow" Garcia. While Garcia may not be a household poker name in the U.S.A. he is definitely one of Brazil's brightest poker stars. In 2013 he took down the Brazil Series of Poker High Roller for $123,000 USD as well as two other tournaments in that same series for roughly $20,000 USD more. Garcia is returning today as one of the shorter stacks, but he definitely should not be counted out yet.
Yesterday, multiple well-known players fell by the wayside before making it to the money. Bruno Politano, Leo Margets, Tiffany Michelle, Sofia Lövgren and Felipe Ramos all fell before the money. One of the only 888 Ambassadors to even cash was Kara Scott who made it past the bubble and beyond but ended up falling after the dinner break on the live streamed feature table.
Blinds for today will start at 10,000/20,000 with a 3,000 ante and today is set to be the final day of play and action will kick off right at 2 p.m. PokerNews will be here with all the live updates to make sure you stay tuned!
We caught up to the action on the river of a massive pot brewing between Mauro Tabarin and Leonardo Garcia. Tabarin was first to act from the small blind and he had moved all in for roughly 300,000 into the pot of almost 450,000. The board was and Garcia was in the tank as the decision was for his tournament life.
He thought about it for several minutes, then he finally decided to call, throwing in one chip. Tabarin turned up for a flopped set. Garcia showed his but it was no good. Tabarin scooped the big pot and Garcia hit the rail in 23rd place.
We didn't catch the preflop action, but when we approached the table on the river there was nearly 1,000,000 in the pot and Daniel Aziz was facing off against Mauro Tabarin. The board read . Tabarin was first to act and was positioned in the small blind. He checked over to Aziz on the button who decided to put Tabarin to the ultimate test. He moved all in.
Tabarin thought for a couple of minutes then folded his hand, allowing Aziz to take the massive pot with no showdown.
According to a fellow media outlet, Aziz fired three bullets to take down the pot. He opened on the button with a raise and was called by Tabarin. Tabrin then check-called a bet of 75,000 on the flop, and another bet of 250,000 on the turn, creating the massive pot.
Action folded around to Mario Borges who moved all in on the button for 121,000 total. Valcir Mello called the shove from the big blind.
Mello:
Borges:
The flop came down keeping Borges in the lead, but the came on the turn giving Mello even more outs to a flush. He hit one of those outs on the river, making his flush and that would do it for Borges, who was eliminated from the tournament in 18th place.
Patricia Alencar opened up the action with a raise to 66,000 from the lojack seat. She found calls from Sandro Santos in the small blind and Valcir Mello in the big blind.
The flop came down and Santos immediately moved all in for 618,000 total, almost double the size of the pot. Mello thought for a while then folded. Alencar counted out the chips to call, then put them in.
Alencar:
Santos:
The turn sealed the deal when the came, giving Alencar the unbeateable flush. The river was the but it didn't change anything and Santos was eliminated in one of the biggest pots of the tournament so far while Alencar moved into the position of chip leader.
PokerNews does not have clear access to the feature table so we were unable to get the preflop betting actions, but we do know that Haroldo Silva was all in holding against Guilherme Cazula's .
The board rolled out with the river giving Silva the winning straight. It appeared that he was all in for roughly 850,000, while Cazula was left with roughly 1,000,000 chips after the hand.
From early position, Osvaldo Ruben Irrazabal opened with a raise to 125,000 action folded around to Mauro Tabarin who was on the cutoff and he called the raise.
The flop came down and Irrazabal checked then called a bet of 155,000 from Tabarin.
On the turn, Irrazabal checked again. Tabarin put out a bet. Quickly Irrazabal moved all in, and even quicker, Tabarin called. Irrazabal confidently turned up his but it was no good as Tabarin had turned better with .
The river was the and that would do it for Irrazabal who was eliminated from the tournament in 12th place.
Luis Lima opened with a raise. Action folded to Luiz Costa on the button and he moved all in for a little over 900,000. Next to act was Emanuel Fernandez and he moved all in over that for just a bit less. Action was back to Lima and he called both all ins.
Lima:
Fernandez:
Costa:
The board ran out and that gave Fernandez the main pot with two pair, while Lima took down the side pot with his pair of queens.
The final nine players are now on a 45-minute dinner break and will return shortly.
Patricia Alencar opened with a raise preflop and she was called by Daniel Aziz on the button and Emanuel Fernadez in the big blind.
The flop came down and action checked to Aziz who put out a bet of 150,000. Only Alencar called.
The turn was the and Alencar moved all in for 440,000. Aziz thought about it for a long while before calling.
Aziz:
Alencar:
Aziz was well behind with a dead flush draw and a straight draw that was still live. It was the that peeled off on the river, causing Alencar to think that she had won the hand, but Aziz hit one of his few outs to make a straight and that was it for Alencar who was eliminated from the tournament in 9th place.
and Garcia was in the tank as the decision was for his tournament life. 
for a flopped set. Garcia showed his 
but it was no good. Tabarin scooped the big pot and Garcia hit the rail in 23rd place.
. Tabarin was first to act and was positioned in the small blind. He checked over to Aziz on the button who decided to put Tabarin to the ultimate test. He moved all in. 
keeping Borges in the lead, but the 
came on the turn giving Mello even more outs to a flush. He hit one of those outs on the 
came, giving Alencar the unbeateable flush. The river was the 
but it didn't change anything and Santos was eliminated in one of the biggest pots of the tournament so far while Alencar moved into the position of chip leader.
. 
and Irrazabal checked then called a bet of 155,000 from Tabarin. 
and that would do it for Irrazabal who was eliminated from the tournament in 12th place.
and action checked to Aziz who put out a bet of 150,000. Only Alencar called. 
that peeled off on the river, causing Alencar to think that she had won the hand, but Aziz hit one of his few outs to make a straight and that was it for Alencar who was eliminated from the tournament in 9th place.