The action was caught as Matthias Lipp, who was under the gun, was all-in and at risk for his effective stack of 1,750,000 against Karen Nazarian, in the hijack.
Matthias Lipp: A♥Q♣
Karen Nazarian: AxJ♣
The board ran out 7♠K♠K♦5♦K♣; Lipp's kicker played and he doubled up for the second time this level.
Marius Kudzmanas pushed all in from under the gun for 295,000. Nicolae Paunescu then raised to 600,000 from middle position, Guo Liang Wei called in late position, and Karen Nazarian came along in the big blind.
The flop came A♦4♥4♦ and action checked to Paunescu, who made it 1,400,000 to go. Only Wei called.
"I need help!", said Kudzmanas to his tablemate Boris Kolev.
On the 3♥ turn, Wei put his remaining 2,800,000 in the middle against Paunescu to make for a game changing pot. Players flipped their cards.
Marius Kudzmanas: 6♦6♥
Guo Liang Wei: A♠Q♦
Nicolae Paunescu: A♥K♥
Kudzmanas was in bad shape and Paunescu was ahead with his pair of aces, two pair with the fours on board with the king kicker. It looked like it was all over for Wei as well as Kudzmanas.
But then the river came the Q♣ and Wei jumped out of his seat as he made the best hand with his aces and queens.
Paunescu lost a huge chunk of his stack, while Wei chipped up to close to 10,000,000. Kudzmanas was eliminated from the tournament in seventh place for $41,590.
The fourth season of the North American Poker Tour (NAPT) run by PokerStars is well underway and the action only continues to heat up with the recent schedule release for its marquee stop in Las Vegas. Running from Friday November 1st through Sunday November 10th at Resorts World Las Vegas, the series is not one to miss as it features a whopping 36 tournaments in the span of a week and a half.
Buy-ins range from just $250 all the way up to $25,000 so there are plenty of options for those who want to enjoy some live tournament action without breaking the bank while also providing an opportunity for high stakes regulars to satisfy their desire to play for eye watering sums of money. The high volume means the series comes with a healthy $4,000,000 in total guarantees, including a sizable $3,000,000 set aside for the $5,300 Main Event.
Karen Nazarian raised to 310,000 from middle position and Uladzimir Zhyharau moved all in from late position for 1,200,000. Nazarian had a little think and then threw in his chips to make the call, putting Zhyharau at risk as players flipped their cards.
Uladzimir Zhyharau: A♥10♣
Karen Nazarian: J♦9♦
The board ran out J♥7♣5♠Q♠4♦ and Nazarian paired his jack on the flop. He held to win the pot, eliminating Zhyharau.
Zhyharau, who started the day as chip leader, was out of the tournament in eighth place for $31,990.