Raj Vohra was sent packing early in the level by Matt Waxman, who has run his stack up over 1.7 million. Just moments later, Mark “Dipthrong” Herm busted out with top pair. Jared Bleznick followed them to the rail when his pocket queens were outdrawn by Michael Finstein, who had flopped a pair of nines with and turned a brutal two pair after getting Bleznick all in.
Kevin “1sickdisease” Eyster, a former top-ranked online crusher who has transitioned smoothly to the live arena to the tune of over $2 million in earnings, also fell this level. He three-bet shoved all in from the button with and lost a race against the of Jason Johnson.
Notables Mike Wattel (200th), Nathan Bjerno (210th), Ankush Mandavia (216th), Ola Amundsgard (237th), and Kevin MacPhee (242nd) headed for the rail as well.
Zach Jiganti, who has sat toward the top of the chip counts for the past two days, has been eliminated from play after two unfortunate hands.
In his final hand, Donys Angelli opened with a raise to 35,000 from under the gun. Jiganti three-bet shipped from the hijack for his last 318,000 and Clayton Maguire flatted from the button. The blinds folded and Angelli tank-folded his hand.
Jiganti:
Maguire:
Jiganti found that he was dominated by Maguire's queens and suddenly he was in need of improvement to stay alive. The board fell down , ensuring that Maguire's ladies would hold. Jiganti was eliminated from play and Maguire's stack increased to about 1.89 million.
In a four-bet pot, Bruno Politano and Zach Jiganti took a flop of . Politano came out swinging on the flop with a bet of 279,000. Jiganti was on the button and came over the top with a raise to 657,000.
Politano went into the tank for roughly four minutes before moving out a three-bet to 1.2 million. After just 15 seconds back on Jiganti he announced an all-in four-bet and Politano quickly called for his tournament life of 2.185 million.
Politano:
Jiganti:
Both players had flopped a set with Politano's coming out on top. Suddenly Jiganti was hoping to drill the fourth nine in order to score the elimination and save his stack from destruction.
The turn was the which was no help to either player. Politano's set of kings retained the lead and cliched him the key double up after the hit the river. Politano dragged in the massive pot and now holds the chip lead with about 4.96 million. Jiganti, on the other hand, has dropped to just 340,000.
Roland Israelashvili raised to 32,000 from middle position, and Jason Johnson made the call in the cutoff. Kevin Eyster shipped from the button, putting the squeeze on Israelashvili, who folded, but Johnson quickly called.
Johnson:
Eyster:
Eyster had a slight lead, but it became a big deficit on the flop, giving Johnson top two. A turn brought even more grim news, as Eyster was down to one out, and the river gave Johnson the nuts.
"Good luck, boys," Eyster said as he grabbed his backpack.
Johnson, a Michigan native, has already had plenty of luck and skill at the 2014 World Series of Poker. He's banked more than $400,000 from deep runs in the Millionaire Maker (seventh place) and Event #44: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em (third). A November Nine run would be quite the cherry on top.
"All in and a call Table 376," a dealer bellowed. We made our way over and discovered that there was around 400,000 in the pot on a board reading . Jared "harrington25" Bleznick had gotten his last 468,000 all in and was in prime shape to double through Michael Finstein.
Bleznick:
Finstein:
Finstein had flopped top pair with top kicker, but it was no good as Bleznick held an overpair. With the ESPN cameras capturing the action, the dealer burned and put out the ! Finstein spiked an ace to steal the pot, which inspired some moans and groans from the other players at the table. Bleznick simply stared at the board in disbelief as he watched his 2014 WSOP Main Event come to a screeching halt in 217th place for $44,728.
Players are on break after Level 20, the first level of the day, and it was relatively light on major action for a two-hour stretch this deep in a tournament. Having said that, some notable names did head for the payout desk this level: Mike Sowers (286th), Sam Jaddi (284th), Michael Shklover (278th), John Monnette (272nd), Tony Ma (265th), Konstantin Puchkov (262nd), and Kory Kilpatrick (249th).
At the other end of the spectrum, Griffin Benger has pushed for the chip lead by hitting the 3.3 million mark. He still trails the 3.5 million of Kyle Keranen.
In one recent pot, Benger was in the big blind against Michael Palo on the button, and he check-called 75,000 on a board of . On the river, Benger checked again before calling 150,000. After his opponent announced a pair of sevens, Benger turned over for top two, and he took down the pot.
Trailing Benger at the top of the counts: Zach Jiganti (2845,000), Leif Force (2,563,000), and Dan Smith (2,550,000).
Mark Newhouse is surging today with 2.35 million after outdrawing a pair of kings in the hole with by making an ace-high flush as he pushes toward a second straight November Nine appearance.
Raj Vohra opened to 26,000 in the hijack only to have Mukul Pahuja three-bet next to act to 64,000. Vohra responded by making it 157,000 and Pahuja called as the dealer spread a flop.
Vohra checked and Pahuja bet out 88,000 which Vohra called as the was checked by both players on the turn. The river landed the and as Vohra checked a third time, Pahuja cut out a bet of 315,000.
With players now heading on break, Vohra went deep into the tank as Pahuja sat there stone-faced looking down towards the board and the pot.
Although a few players stayed behind, over eight minutes would pass with Vohra still not settling on a decision.
Pahuja finally broke his statuesque gaze and took a sip of his coffee Vohra pushed the calling chips into the pot with half the break already over.
Pahuja tabled his for a full house to scoop the pot and climb to 1,770,000 as Vohra slipped down to 171,000 in chips.
When we arrived at the table, Timur Margolin had 78,000 in front of him on the button and was facing a four-bet from Kyle Keranen to 158,000 from an earlier position. Margolin opted to make the call, and the flop fell . After Keranen checked, Margolin bet 116,000. Keranen made the call to see the turn.
Fourth street produced the , and action was checked through to the river card. Keranen studied, then bet 245,000. Margolin received the count on the bet, took about a minute, then called.
Keranen rolled over the for top two pair, kings and queens, and Margolin mucked his hand. This moved Keranen up over 3.5 million and dropped Margolin to 500,000.
To provide a little background information on Keranen, he was the chip leader at the end of Day 5 in the 2012 World Series of Poker Main Event. t that point i the tournament that year, Keranen finished the day with 6.935 million in chips and 97 players remained. He went on to bust on Day 6 in 38th place for $191,646. Keranen has two other WSOP cashes on record, one from 2011 and one from 2010, and a total of $260,856 in live tournament earnings.
Below are the full chip counts from Table 422 following the hand.
and turned a brutal two pair after getting Bleznick all in.
and lost a race against the 
of Jason Johnson.
, ensuring that Maguire's ladies would hold. Jiganti was eliminated from play and Maguire's stack increased to about 1.89 million.
. Politano came out swinging on the flop with a bet of 279,000. Jiganti was on the button and came over the top with a raise to 657,000.
which was no help to either player. Politano's set of kings retained the lead and cliched him the key double up after the 
hit the river. Politano dragged in the massive pot and now holds the chip lead with about 4.96 million. Jiganti, on the other hand, has dropped to just 340,000.
flop, giving Johnson top two. A 
river gave Johnson the nuts.
. Jared "harrington25" Bleznick had gotten his last 468,000 all in and was in prime shape to double through Michael Finstein.
! Finstein spiked an ace to steal the pot, which inspired some moans and groans from the other players at the table. Bleznick simply stared at the board in disbelief as he watched his 2014 WSOP Main Event come to a screeching halt in 217th place for $44,728.
. On the 
river, Benger checked again before calling 150,000. After his opponent announced a pair of sevens, Benger turned over 
for top two, and he took down the pot.
flop.
for a full house to scoop the pot and climb to 1,770,000 as Vohra slipped down to 171,000 in chips.
river card. Keranen studied, then bet 245,000. Margolin received the count on the bet, took about a minute, then called.
