Scott Baumstein raised it up to 80,000 in the small blind, and Chance Kornuth made it 205,000 in the small blind. Baumstein shipped it in for 1.325 million, and Kornuth took off his glasses, thought briefly, and made the call.
Kornuth:
Baumstein:
Baumstein's cards were live, but that's all he had going for him still after the flop missed both. The turn and river did likewise, leaving ace-high best.
Former chip lead Emrah Cakmak opened for 85,000 on the button and four-bet all in to 1.28 million after Diego Ventura three-bet to 240,000 in the big blind. Ventura snapped it off with , and Cakmak had . A run out of left Cakmak drawing stone dead on the turn.
Pratyush Buddiga opened for 90,000 in the cutoff, and Diego Ventura called on his left. Ratharam Sivagnanam shoved it in for 995,000 in the big, and Buddiga called.
Buddiga:
Sivagnanam:
Sivagnanam found himself dominated, and his three-outer was nowhere to be found on the community.
Shyam Srinivasan limped in from middle position, and Chance Kornuth followed suit in the cutoff. Eugenio Mattar completed, and Rami Boukai checked. Action checked to Srinivasan on the flop, and he bet 85,000. Kornuth called, Mattar made it 250,000, and Boukai jammed for 820,000. That flurry of action prompted folds from Srinivasan and Kornuth, and Mattar called.
Mattar:
Boukai:
Boukai was in fantastic shape, and the run out was clean for him, reducing the former chip leader to just over two big blinds. He lost those last two one hand later when he got in against the of Kevin Schulz, and neither player hit anything to leave queen-high best.
Shyam Srinivasan shoved all in from the button for his last 750,000, and Kevin Schulz put him at risk from the big blind.
Schulz:
Srinivasan:
The flop was clean enough for Srinivasan, but the turn brought a double-gutshot for Schulz. The sweat was on, and Schulz binked the on the river to make his straight. Srinivasan leaned back and tilted his head toward the ceiling in disappointment, as he'd fallen just short of back-to-back final tables at the PCA.
Pratyush Buddiga opened for a raise to 130,000, and Chance Kornuth made it 330,000 to go from the cutoff. Uwe Ritter shipped for 540,000 in the big blind, and Buddiga folded, while Kornuth called.
Kornuth:
Ritter:
The flop was a bad one for Ritter, giving Kornuth top pair. Ritter had some backdoor possibilities, but those disappeared on the turn. An river ended Ritter's tournament, making the final table official.
Dylan Linde jammed his 1.905 million stack in the big blind after Kevin Schulz opened for a raise to 180,000 in middle position. Schulz said he probably couldn't fold, and he didn't.
Schulz:
Linde:
Linde found no aces or kings as the board came , and "ImaLucSac" was done in eighth.
Pratyush Buddiga shoved from under the gun for 1.415 million and Kevin Schulz called from middle position.
Schulz:
Buddiga:
The flop fell , giving Buddiga a pair of jacks and a flush draw. However, he found no help from the turn nor the river, ending his run in seventh place.
Day 5 of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure commenced with the plan to play down from 24 to six players, and Chance Kornuth emerged as the leader after nearly 12 hours of play with 7.86 million. The Florida native has put together a successful live poker career with more than $1.7 million in cashes and a World Series of Poker bracelet in 2010, but if he can finish the job here at PCA and claim the first prize of nearly $1.5 million, it would be the biggest score he's had by far.
Joining Kornuth for the final day of the tournament will be Kevin Schulz (6.155 million), Diego Ventura (3.98 million), Niklas Hambitzer (3.1 million), Juan Martin Pastor (2.655 million), and Rami Boukai (780,000). Play stopped with the elimination of Pratyush Buddiga in seventh place with about half an hour left in Level 29 (40,000/80,000/10,000), which will leave everyone under 100 big blinds when play resumes on Wednesday for the conclusion of the tournament.
A couple of players doubled through Kornuth near the beginning of the day, knocking him down to the middle of the pack. Things turned when he picked up and snapped off Jim Collopy's four-bet shove, crushing his . A bit later, a limped pot turned into a big one for Kornuth when he completed the small and saw big blind Felipe Ramos check. Kornuth check-called 45,000 on the flop and then came out betting with 97,000 on the turn. Ramos went nowhere, and Kornuth forced the issue, putting his opponent all in for about 250,000 on the river. Ramos called with for a full house, but Kornuth had run quads with .
Kornuth continued climbing from there, employing extreme preflop aggression to separate himself from the pack, at one point having more than 110 big blinds when the next best stack had 45. In the waning minutes, Schulz narrowed the gap by winning three big preflop all in to rocket up the counts. First, he doubled through Buddiga with against Buddiga's , turning a queen and fading a backdoor flush. Then, he busted Dylan "ImaLucSac" Linde when Linde's didn't improve against . Right after that, Buddiga jammed his last 1.415 million with only for Schulz's rush to continue with . Even a flop couldn't stop Schulz from getting another elimination as two bricks fell.
Others who found the rail during the course of Day 5 play included Tim Reilly (23rd), Noah Schwartz (22nd), Maurice Hawkins (16th), Scott Baumstein (15th), Ratharam Sivagnanam (13th), Day 4 leader Eugenio Mattar (12th), Benjamin Pollak (11th), and Shyam "sdot_111" Srinivasan (10th). The latter came heartbreakingly close to back-to-back PCA final tables, only to have his outdrawn all in preflop by Schulz's when Schulz was able to run a straight.
Day 6 play resumes at 1 p.m. local time here in the Bahamas, with a delayed stream with hole cards firing up shortly thereafter. PokerNews will be on the scene until the EPT crowns a new champion.