Ronaldo has moved back over 100,000 in chips after three-betting Josue Sauvageau's 11,000-chip open to 25,000. Ronaldo was in the big blind, and Sauvageau folded to give the Brazilian football legend the pot.
Following a flop of , Konstantinos Pantaridis got his stack of 146,500 into the middle with . Eugenio Pacelli Mattar held and Pavel Veksler had them both covered with .
The turn kept Pantaridis in the lead, but the river gave Mattar an ace-high flush to more than double up and eliminate Pantaridis.
With 45,000 in the pot and a board of , Ronaldo bet 22,000 after his opponent, Diego Gomez, checked to him. Gomez called and the two would see the be dealt on the turn.
Gomez checked again, and Ronaldo made another bet, this time for 24,000. Gomez thought for a bit, looked back at his cards, and with the television cameras watched his every move gave the hand to the soccer legend when he pushed his cards to the dealer.
There was already more than 100,000 in the pot preflop when Chance Kornuth checked to Stefan Jedlicka on . Jedlicka bet 72,000, and Kornuth called. Both players checked the turn and river.
Steve Brecher got the last of his chips in against Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier before the flop. Brecher was at risk for about 125,000.
Brecher:
Mercier:
The board fell , keeping Mercier's kings in the lead. Brecher made his exit from the table and Mercier, who has been grinding a shorter stack for most of the day, is now above the average stack with 360,000.
While the bubble was bursting on one side of the Imperial Ballroom, today's NFL playoff games provided an occasion for some tailgating fun with burgers, a big screen, and some intense beer pong battles highlighted by PokerNews' own Remko Rinkema taking on Chris Moneymaker. Join the party at the PokerStars Blog.
Daniel Strelitz was down to about 50,000 when he shoved from the button over a raise to 11,000 from David Lopez Llacer in middle position. Llacer made the call.
Llacer:
Strelitz:
Strelitz prepared to leave after the flop gave his opponent a set, but the turn gave him a glimmer of hope. No four materialized though, and Strelitz made his way out.
Ratharam Sivagnanam opened to 11,500 from uner the gun, Trevor Pope three-bet to 27,000 in middle position, Sivagnanam four-bet to effectively 138,000 and Pope called all in.
Sivagnanam:
Pope:
The board ran out , giving Pope a pair of aces to double up.