Aaron Kaiser's clock-bleeding antics have worn thin with his table. First, he tanked when action folded to him until someone called a clock. After folding during the countdown, the tournament director informed him that his next clock would be thirty seconds.
A short time later, Kaiser tanked for about a minute before Mark Newhouse attempted to call the clock. Newhouse was informed that he had to give Kaiser his requisite two minutes before the clock could even be called. When the two minutes were up and the clock began, Kaiser put 1,050,000 into the pot, nearly his whole stack. Dan Smith called from middle position, and everyone else folded. The flop came , and Kaiser used his two minutes again before checking. Smith shrugged and put 300,000 in the pot, more than enough to put Kaiser at risk for his 160,000. He began thinking again.
"Do you have it?" Smith asked.
"I do have it."
After another few moments passed, Kaiser put his chips in and turned over for top set. Smith showed .
"Man this would be some Kentucky justice," Smith said. He let out a cheer when the turn brought the for a flush and straight draw. He called for the Kentucky justice once more, but the river kept Kaiser in the tournament.
Gal Erlichman opened to 250,000 from under the gun and Dan Sindelar flatted from two seats over. Action folded around to Luis Velador in the big blind and he came along for the ride as well.
The flop came down and Velador checked. Erlichman continued out for 475,000. Sindelar was next to act and he reached for raising chips. He pushed 1.2 million into the middle and Velador quickly got out of the way. Action was back on Erlichman and he shipped all in for 3.43 million total. Sindelar instantly called and the hands were turned over.
Erlichman:
Sindelar:
Sindelar led with his pocket aces heading to fourth street. The turn was the , leaving Erlichman with two outs heading to the river. The river, in fact, gave Sindelar a set with the and Erlichman was eliminated from play in 37th place.
"Is that Madrid or Bilbao?" Craig McCorkell just asked Andoni Larrabe, after he just got moved to this table.
"Athletic Bilbao," Larrabe proudly responded, as he's been supporting his Primera Division club all day.
"Are you Basque?" McCorkell continued.
"Yes, and where are you from?" Larrabe asked.
"I'm from London," McCorkell responded.
"How do you know Athletic?" Larrabe asked next.
"I played a season with them on Football Manager," McCorkell said, as Felix Stephensen's ears perked up.
"How did you do?" a very surprising Larrab responded.
"I was so s*** with them," McCorkell laughed.
"What a great topic!" Stephensen chimed in, as the Europeans at the table had a very casually chat about their favorite sport and video games.
After the remaining players made a big pay jump to $230,487 the atmosphere in the room seems to have taken a turn to the lighter side, because for now this secondary feature table is very much focused on sharing some good old Football Manager stories.
From the hijack seat, Aaron Kaiser raised to 225,000. Dan Smith made the call from the button, and the flop came down . Kaiser bet 250,000, and Smith made the call.
The turn card was the , and Kaiser checked. Smith opted to check behind, and the river delivered the . Kaiser led with a bet of 450,000, and Smith put in a big enough raise to put him all in. Kaiser made the call for around 1.6 million total and tabled the for a set of aces. Smith had backed into Broadway with the , and his hand would be the best one.
Kaiser was eliminated in 36th place for $230,487, and Smith moved to over 10 million in chips.
Eddy Sabat was the second player to act preflop and he raised to 250,000. Andoni Larrabe reraised to 625,000 on his direct left, and the action folded back to Sabat, who called.
The dealer fanned , Sabat checked, and Larrabe tossed out 425,000. Sabat called almost instantly.
The turn was a repeat three - the - Sabat checked again, and Larrabe bet an additional 1.1 million. Sabat called quicker than he did on the flop.
Sabat checked as soon as the completed the board, and Larrabe immediately announced he was all in.
"You didn't want to think about it?" Sabat asked as Larrabe double-fisted his remaining 3.15 million into the middle.
Sabat tanked for several minutes, moving around in his chair and staring down Larrabe.
"Which Spanish country are you from?" he finally asked the Spaniard, who is of course, Spanish.
Larrabe remained silent, focusing his eyes on one single spot on the felt.
Sabat, with a smile on his face, finally folded. Larrabe, unchanged, pushed his cards into the muck and pulled in the pot.
Peter Placey raised to 200,000 out of the hijack seat, and Martin Jacobson made it 500,000 from the button. Placey came back with 1.2 million, and Jacobson called. After the flop came out , Placey leaned back in his seat and announced that he was all in. He had about four million left, and Jacobson snap-called, turning over the . Placey was in bad shape with the .
The dealer burned and turned the , meaning Placey could survive if a hit for a chop. The fell, though, and Jacobson busted Placey to increase his chip lead.
Level 28 turned out to be a slow level, at least as far as eliminations were concerned. The level began with 37 players, and after two hours of play 34 of them are still in contention.
Before anyone hit the rail in Level 28, a new chip leader emerged in Luis Velador. The two-time bracelet winner played a big 8.5 million pot against Kyle Keranen in which pocket queens helped vault Velador into the chip lead with nearly 15 million. However, by the end of the level Martin Jacobson would reclaim the top spot on the chip counts.
The only other player to fall in Level 28 was Peter Placey, who flopped a pair of aces with a queen kicker, but was way behind Jacobson's ace-king. Placey exited in 35th place for $230,487.
When the players return, they will either play one more level or down to the final 24, whichever comes first. While you wait for action to resume, check out this interview with Bryan Devonshire, who is making yet another deep run in the WSOP Main Event:
Luis Assuncao moved all in for around 1.4 million, and Martin Jacobson made the call. Everyone else folded, and it was Assuncao at risk with the to Jacobson's .
The board ran out in Jacobson's favor with the coming out, and Assuncao was eliminated in 34th place.
Andrey Zaichenko opened to 260,000 and Robert Park moved all in next to act for 2,055,000. Once the action returned to Zaichenko, he went into the tank for several minutes before making the call.
Park:
Zaichenko:
With Park racing for his tournament life, the flop changed little as the landed on the turn.
Needing an ace or queen, Park would unfortunately see the land on the river to send him to the rail in 33rd place as the Russian climbed to 5.7 million in chips.
Andoni Larrabe raised to 250,000 and Garrett Greer three-bet all in from the big blind for 2,265,000. Larrabe asked for a count, Greer gave him one immediately and after about 20 seconds the Spaniard called.
Larrabe:
Greer:
The flop brought and Greer stayed out of trouble. Greer's rail kept chanting for a whole bunch of cards that would keep their friend in the tournament, and the turn brought the . This card gave Larrabe an inside straight draw, but the river brought the to give the Spaniard a winning pair of jacks.
The entire room went silent as Greer stared quietly at the card that had just taken away his hopes and dreams of making the November Nine.
Larrabe celebrated on his own, but the rail remained silent.
As Greer made his way out of the tournament area everyone put their hands together, and the 32nd place finisher shook his head in disbelief once more before he headed towards the payout desk.