We just witnessed an enormous pot over on Table 365 in the Amazon Orange section a few spots away from the money.
The action folded around to Stephen Graner in the small blind and he made it 17,500 to go. Dan Smith called from the big blind and the flop came down .
Graner bet 25,000 on the flop and Smith made the call in position. The turn brought the and Graner bet another 65,000. This time Smith opted to raise it up to 175,000 and Graner went into the tank.
After a while Graner three-bet to 430,000 and this put Smith in the tank for several minutes. Eventually, with all the ESPN cameras rolling, Smith made the call.
The river brought out the and Graner paused for about a minute before checking to Smith. Smith started counting down his own stack and about two minutes later he announced, "All in."
Graner sighed.
Graner tanked.
About five minutes went by, as Graner started talking to himself before ultimately letting go of his hand. Graner pushed his cards to the muck and the ESPN production staff was about to grab his cards when Graner freaked out.
"You're not recording my cards! I paid $400 rake to play this tournament, you are not filming my cards!" Graner yelled.
Graner and the member of the production staff got tangled over the cards and eventually the dealer ripped the cards to the side.
"Don't film my cards! It's only Day 4 anyway, so who cares?" a very upset Graner yelled.
"I was going to show, but now I think that's unfair," Dan Smith said as he swiftly put his cards into the muck.
"He mucked his cards! Now you definitely can't show mine!" Graner yelled.
Eventually Graner's cards were mucked and we will never know what either player had. What we do know is that Smith is the chip leader right on the bubble!
After a player opened for 11,000 and Hasan Habib called, Mark Herm three-bet to 41,000. The original raiser folded, and then Habib called to see a flop of . Herm checked, Habib moved all in for his last 80,000 or so, and Herm snap-called.
Habib:
Herm:
Habib had the best of it preflop, but Herm flopped a set to take a massive lead in the hand. The turn meant Habib could chop with a six and still win with a jack, but neither card came as a blanked on the river.
Meanwhile, Malachy Hagan has also been eliminated from the tournament.
The tournament has now been paused for over five minutes with all the dealers standing once their tables' hands are complete so that hand-for-hand play can begin.
Unfortunately a dealer in the Orange section began dealing another hand, and once that issue is resolved, hand-for-hand play shall be underway.
We arrived at the table in time to find Antonio Luft all in and at risk for his last 145,000 against Goran Mandic. The flop read and both players had flopped sets.
Luft tabled and was dejected to find that Mandic held for top set. Play was halted while the ESPN camera crew was called over. Luft stood up and stared at the board with a stunned look on his face. After about one minute, the dealer was instructed to roll out the rest of the board.
The dealer tapped the table and produced the turn card.
The .
Players around the table gasped and yelled in disbelief as Luft had spiked a fourth nine to make quads. Luft dropped to his knees with his elbows on the table as he stared upward, stunned. The completed the board and just like that Luft found renewed tournament life. He now has about 300,000 in chips while Mandic's stack has dropped to 340,000.
We arrived to find Andrey Zaichenko and Randy Ohel engaged in a hand where the completed board read . Ohel checked the river and Zaichenko fired out a bet of what looked to be 70,000. Ohel announced a call and Zaichenko showed for a rivered straight.
Ohel sighed, flashed for two pair, and dropped his cards into the muck. This hit left Ohel with just 9,000 in chips while Zaichenko's stack soared to around 845,000.
There were multiple all-in situations on the first hand of the bubble, and one of the first to play out happened over at Table 377.
It began when Mark Newhouse, who finished ninth in this very event last year, opened for 10,500 and John Dwyer called on the button. The player in the small blind came along for the ride and it was three-way action to the flop. The small blind checked, Newhouse bet 18,000, and only Dwyer called.
When the appeared on the turn, Newhouse bet 32,000 and Dwyer called, which brought about the on river. Newhouse simply bet 205,000, which put Dwyer, who had 160,000 behind, to the ultimate test. The minutes ticked by as Dwyer debated what to do, and he ultimately dropped in a single orange T5,000 chip to signify a call.
Action was paused until tournament director Jack Effel could make his way over, and he told the players to table their hands. Dwyer showed for a full house, but it was no good as Newhouse held for quads.
There were other hands yet to play out, so Dywer stuck around to see if any other players would bust on the hand.
Zhen Cai shoved from early position for 29,500 and was called by Darren Keyes in the big blind. After several minutes of having to wait for the ESPN cameras to get there because of multiple all-in hands, the hands were revealed.
Cai:
Keyes:
Cai found no help from the board that ran out , ending his Main Event on the bubble.