Edison Nguyen was the only caller of Saidal Wardak's preflop raise to 16,000. Dressed in a red and white hooded jacket, Nguyen sillently checked the flop to Wardak, who checked back. On the turn , Nguyen checked again. This time Wardak bet 20,000. Nguyen waited until his time back was at five seconds before he called.
The river came down . Again Nguyen checked, and again Wardak bet, this time making it 33,000 to go. When Nguyen's time back was at five seconds, he check-raised to 95,000. Wardak let his time bank run all the way down to two seconds before flicking his cards into the dealer.
Talk about a great time for aces. Liv Boeree had only 40,000 chips left in her stack when Jai Kemp opened for 18,000 from early position. She looked down at and moved her stack into the middle. Kemp made the call after everyone else folded, tabling . He never improved on a board of . A pumped Boeree gave the table an enthusiastic knock after the river blanked and she dragged the 90,000-chip pot. Kemp still has about 200,000 chips.
We finally had a player that was actually all in and at risk of elimination. That player was Liv Boeree, who moved in for 40,000 after Ben Delaney opened for 15,000. Delaney called.
Delaney:
Boeree:
The player's showed the same hand and chopped the pot on a board of . For a final table that has lacked edge, it seems somewhat fitting that the first called all-in bet should end in a chop.
Players still seem to be feeling each other out, an hour into this final table. Edison Nguyen recently tried a raise preflop, but had to fold after Sean Keeton pushed all in for roughly 110,000.
Liv Boeree came into the table as the short stack, and that hole just keeps on getting deeper. She took a three-way limped pot with Neil Channing and Cort Kibler-Melby. Action checked to Channing, who tried a bet of 5,000 on the board. that bet folded Kibler-Melby, but then Boeree check-raised to 16,000. Channing responded by simply shoving a stack of chips into the middle tall enough to put Boeree all in. She silently folded, leaving herself about 60,000.
Ben Delaney would surely like to win every pot he raises, but that's not likely to happen. He opened for 9,000 and was called by Edison Nguyen. Both players checked the flop. On the turn , Delaney checked again and then folded when Nguyen bet 15,000.
The mood at the table is still quite sullen. None of the players are talking to each other. The only chatter is coming from the rail and from the tournament staff. One person joked, "Can we change the game to no-limit hold'em to speed things up a bit?"
Ben Delaney has been showing more of a willingness to raise than anyone else at the final table. He opened another pot preflop for 11,000 and was called by Edison Nguyen. Delaney made a 16,000-chip continuation bet when the dealer pulled a flop out of the deck. Nguyen nervously glanced at Delaney twice before giving up his hand.
Jai Kemp and Edison Nguyen finally gave the railbirds what they came to see -- a big pot. Liv Boeree got things going with a preflop raise to 11,000. Kemp reraised her from the button to 24,000 before Nguyen put the third raise in from the small blind. He made it 60,000 to go. Boeree folded, but Kemp made the call.
The flop came down . Nguyen made a curious check to Kemp, who bit and bet 60,000. Nguyen then used his whole twenty seconds before check-raising to 160,000. Kemp thought it over, then surrendered one of his "time breaker" buttons to give himself an extra forty seconds. In the end, it didn't matter. He folded his hand.
Jai Kemp's been rather unnoticed during the first half hour of the final table. He finally took a flop, calling a raise to 11,000 from Edison Nguyen. Nguyen bet 17,000 after Kemp checked the flop, then folded when Kemp check-raised to 62,000.