The board read , and Max Weinberg had an opponent all in and at risk for 82,000. Weinberg's was well ahead of his opponents , but the spiked on the river, giving his opponent a better full house.
Weinberg's stack took a big hit, and he's now down to 190,000 chips,
Daryl Jace opened for 2,700 and Billy Paradiso raised to 22,000. Don Nguyen, on Paradiso's left raised to 52,300. Jace reraised to 130,000, Paradiso shoved all in, Don Nguyen folded and Jace called.
Nguyen and Jace both had huge stacks at the start of the hand, each with over 400,000. The hands were tabled and they were off to the showdown.
Jace:
Paradiso:
With a team of ESPN production and every field reporter within eyesight flocking to the table, the dealer peeled off the flop. Right in the window was the and everyone heard Paradiso sigh. The flop was and the turn was . Paradiso was drawing to one of the two remaining kings for his tournament life and possible chip lead.
The river came and Paradiso grabbed his sweatshirt and covered his face as he exited the Amazon Room. With that pot Jace climbs to the top of the counts, teasing with the 1,000,000 mark.
We picked up the action on the flop, heads-up between Jason Alexander and Jonathan Frey. The board showed , and the big pot hints at a three- or possibly even four-bet preflop. On that flop, Frey checked, and he called a bet of 40,000 from Alexander. That led them to the turn, and Frey took the betting lead in a big way. He slid all 137,000 of his remaining chips forward, and Alexander made the call with a similar stack. Cards up, gents.
Showdown
Alexander:
Frey:
Frey had turned his flush, and Alexander needed to find a four-out full house to keep himself afloat. With the ESPN cameras hustling into place, the river completed the board, a blank for Alexander. When his chips were counted down, he was left with just 5,900 while Frey climbs up over 400,000.
A middle position player raised it up, and action folded to Mike Caro in the small blind, who shipped it all in for his last 33,800. Action folded back to the raiser, and he took about a minute before throwing in the call. The cards were tabled, and Caro was in great shape.
Caro:
Opponent:
Caro had to wait over a minute to learn his fate as the ESPN cameras set up, and as he waited, he began to say his goodbyes in case the hand didn't fare too well. Once the cameras were set, the flop was dealt, and it looked like Caro was a prophet, as it came out , giving his opponent two pair. The turn came the , and Caro still had a handful of outs to win. However, none of them came, as the river brought the . Caro graciously wished everyone luck, then made his exit from the Pavilion, ending his 2011 WSOP.
Claudia Crawford was faced with an all-in bet of 39,800 with the board reading . She tank-called.
"Ace-king?" Eli Elezra asked Crawford's opponent before the cards were tabled.
Crawford showed for a pair of sevens, and her opponent rolled over for top pair, top kicker. Crawford groaned at the sight of her opponent's hand, saying she thought he had ace-king too.
The turn and river came , respectively, which would've given her opponent the best hand anyway if he had ace-king, and Crawford dropped to 185,000.
Phil Hellmuth (middle position) and an opponent (late position) had built a pot of about 25,000 when they both checked the turn, the board showing . The river brought another deuce -- the -- and Hellmuth quickly bet 15,500. His opponent thought just a moment, then called.
Hellmuth rapidly flipped over and his opponent nodded and mucked. "Boys, I have 'em, too, sometimes," said Hellmuth as he gathered the chips.
We caught up with the action to see Todd Brunson all in with two players to act on a board of . There was about 58,000 in the pot going to the flop and Brunson's all in was for 46,400. Brunson's first opponent tanked for about a minute before raising on top of the all in, thus pushing out the third opponent. The hands were turned over to see Brunson would need help on the two cards to come:
Brunson:
Opponent:
Brunson struck gold on the turn when the fell, completing his flush. The river brought the and Brunson was able to double up, his club flush cracking his opponent's pocket aces.