Jason Mercier raised to 1,150 in early position, and a player two seats over three bet it to 3,300. Action folded back around to Mercier, and he called to see the flop come down . Both players checked that flop, and the hit the turn. Mercier bet out 5,300, his opponent called, and the hit the river. Mercier stared at the board for about 15 seconds before he started to assemble a bet. The bet was 14,800, and his opponent thought for about 30 seconds before dropping a chip in for the call.
Mercier rolled over for trip queens, and his opponent shook his head before showing and mucking. Mercier scooped the big pot to up his stack to 45,000.
A player in middle position raised to 1,300. Ted Driscoll was in late position and called. Harry Lodge was in the cutoff and re-raised to 4,900. The player on the button moved all in for 4,800, and the player in the small blind moved all in for 6,425. The original raiser folded, and Driscoll and Lodge both called. Driscoll and Lodge were heads-up in the side pot. The player on the button was all in for the main pot, and the player in the small blind was all in for the main pot and a secondary side pot.
The flop was , and both players checked. The turn was the , and Driscoll fired out a bet of 14,000, getting Lodge to fold.
Ted Driscoll:
Button:
Small blind:
The river was the , and that clinched things for Driscoll, who vaulted his stack up the leaderboard with that pot.
With registration officially closed at the end of the last break, the clock shows 687 entries today. With two more starting flights coming up tomorrow and Thursday, the prizepool promises to be massive.
Right now, 290 players remain. They will be playing three and a half more levels before the players bag up around 2:30 a.m. local time.
A few familiar faces just hopped in on this last break, including 2017 bracelet winner Ben Yu. Jason Mercier also appears to have busted and re-entered over break, as he is in a new seat with a fresh stack of 10,000.
Registration has closed in this event as the seventh level begins. It looks like a few players waited until the last second to hop in. A small list of those players will be posted shortly.