The money bubble has been fast approaching and the tournament director has requested dealers to stand after dealing the hands in play, signifying that the bubble is in play. If no players bust out on the current hands, then hand-for-hand play will commence.
Dylan Wilkerson and Dmitry Savelyev were clashing in a massive pot four places away from the money. The pot was already up to over 100,000 and the board read .
Savelyev had moved all in for 90,000, which was effectively for Wilkerson's remaining stack of 69,000. Wilkerson took several minutes to make up his mind.
"Show me if I fold?" tried Wilkinson, but the Russian remained stoic.
Eventually, Wilkinson threw his hand in the muck and surrendered the big pot to Savelyev.
"Good bluff," said Wilkinson.
Finally, the Russian broke his silence.
"It was," he said with a sudden smile. Savelyev showed , which drew some gasps from the table.
Pierre Merlin opened to 4,500 under the gun. Tommy Chen defended in the big blind.
A flop reading was dealt and checked to the turn. Chen led for 9,000. Merlin called.
The river completed the board. Chen continued for 13,000. Merlin went deep into the tank for a few minutes. Eventually, Chen asked the dealer to call the clock on him. The floor gave Merlin 30 seconds to act, but his time elapsed before he made a decision and his hand was declared dead.