After losing that huge hand to Greg Hopkins, Yuval Bronshtein needed to find a hand and go with it, and that's what he did when he found pocket sixes. After Hopkins raised on the button with Bronshtein moved in for the last of his chips with pocket sixes. Hopkins called and the race was on.
And it was all but over when the flop came . Bronshtein started gathering his things and when the fell the rest of the way, Yuval Bronshtein was our third-place finisher, collecting $109,018.
The three player left in today's event all had nearly equal stacks, so if anyone could land a decisive blow, he could take a 2-1 chip lead into the heads-up battle. Yuval Bronshtein came one card away from doing just that.
On the button, Bronshtein raised with and after Jason Newburger folded, Greg Hopkins raised the pot with . Bronshtein chose to call, and after the flop of Hopkins announced he was all-in. Bronshtein made the call with the best hand, but when the turned it gave Hopkins a flush draw as well.
A draw he didn't need in the end. The spiked on the river to give Hopkins the pot and the chip lead with 1,225,000. Instead of going into the heads-up battle with a huge lead, Bronshtein was left with just 360,000.
With a new lease on life, Jason Newburger crippled Pete Lawson when Lawson raised before the flop with pocket sixes and Newburger woke up in the big blind with pocket nines. He raised, Lawson made the call, and after Lawson got no help on the flop the spiked on the turn to give Newburger the pot.
On the next hand Lawson put in the rest of his chips with and this time Newburger held pocket deuces. The board rand out and Pete Lawson, not long ago our chip leader, was eliminated in fourth place, winning $72,497
Newburger needed a hand to push with, and in pocket eights he found one. Yuval Bronshtein chose to just call with , and then Pete Lawson reraised with . That gave Bronshtein a decision to make, and he chose to lay his hand down.
With one fewer ace in play, Newburger was in better shape than your usual coin-flip, and the board didn’t improve Lawson’s hand and doubled Newburger to 325K. If Bronshtein had chosen to call, he might’ve won a nice pot and eliminated Newburger…but that’s a pretty big if.
After Pete Lawson raised with pocket sixes, Jason Newburger chose to flat-call with and Greg Hopkins called in the big blind with . The flop came and when Lawson and Newburger didn't make a move at the pot, Hopkins threw in a bet. The others escaped the trap and Hopkins picked up the pot.
After Pete Lawson charged from last place to take over the chip lead, Yuval Bronshtein turned the tables for one hand at least. Holding J-10, Lawson flopped top pair on the flop and checked it, and when he turned the he led out for 35K. But that card gave Bronshtein, holding , a flush draw, one that came in when the spiked on the river. Lawson checked and then called Bronshtein's 65,000 bet, and that big hand moved Bronshtein back near the chip lead.
In a three-way pot both David Zarrin and Greg Hopkins flopped aces with a so-so kicker on an A-J-10 board…but Pete Lawson, holding K-Q, flopped Broadway. Zarrin bet and when Lawson raised, that chased Hopkins out of the pot.
Zarrin called and both players checked the on the turn. The on the river was a scare card that might have convinced Zarrin not to put any more chips in the pot, but he made a move for the rest of his chips and Lawson quickly called. That eliminated David Zarrin in fifth place, which was good for a $52,874 payday.
Yuval Bronshtein has been pushing a lot of hands so far today, but on one occasion when he raised with a fairly decent hand (A-9) Pete Lawson reraised him with pocket jacks. Bronshtein made the call and the board didn't improve Bronshtein's hand. That doubled Lawson up to 650,000 and dropped Bronshtein down to 760,000.
So far Yuval Bronshtein has pretty much dictated the play at the final table. He's playing his big stack aggressively...so aggressively, in fact, that he's been picked off twice in big hands. But both times he's hit miracle cards to wriggle off the hook and pad his lead, and so far he shows no signs of slowing down.