Just before the break, Andrey Zaichenko opened to 60,000 from middle position. Scott Mahin called on the button, Timur Margolin called from the small blind and Pfizer Jordan called from the big blind.
The flop fell and Margolin led for 86,000. Only Zaichenko called to see the turn where Margolin bet 208,000. Zaichenko called again, the river completed the board and Margolin checked. Zaichenko bet 516,000 effective, sending Margolin into the tank for nearly five minutes before he called.
Zaichenko tabled for kings and fours, Margolin mucked and Zaichenko scored the elimination.
Another two hours, but more of the same story after Level 23 of the Main Event. Bruno Politano continued his dominion over the top spot in the chip counts, increasing his stack to more than 6 million.
Nobody else is within a stone’s throw of that mark, but there is a Mark surging up the counts: Mark Newhouse, who was the first to fall during last year’s November Nine for just over $733,000, rocketed up the leaderboard with an extremely productive two hours. He entered the dinner break with just over 3 million and now finds himself hovering around 5 million. His aggression got Chris Johnson off a hand where Johnson made hefty bets on the turn and river before folding to a huge river shove.
Maria Ho and Mikiyo Aoki are providing the tournament with some feminine flair. Aoki has grinded her stack to north of 2.5 million, while Ho reached a peak of about 2.7 million before faltering a bit to 2.1 million. In a recent pot, she snapped off a three-bet shove with kings to bust Michael Palo.
Vincent Maglio (138th), Alex Outhred (140th), and Huy Nguyen (142nd) were among the fallen this past level.
With around 300,000 in the pot and a flop of , a raising war broke out between Nathan Goldstein and Hieu Nguyen over at a secondary feature table that resulted in the latter getting all in for his last 407,000.
Nguyen:
Goldstein:
It seemed Goldstein had picked the wrong spot to mix it up as Nguyen had top set, but the turn made things interesting as Goldstein picked up an open-ended straight draw. Much to Nguyen's dismay it came in as the spiked on the river. The stacks were counted down and Goldstein had Nguyen covered by just 83,000.
Lee Taylor and Nathan Fletcher found all the money in the middle preflop on one of the secondary feature tables. Fletcher was at risk with the for 310,000 against the for Taylor.
The board ran out to give Fletcher quads and double him up.
On the flop, Michael Aron checked, Pakinai Lisawad checked, and then Peter Placey bet 120,000. Aron check-raised to 260,000, Lisawad folded, and Placey called.
The turn was the , and Aron led for 450,000 into his opponent. Placey made the call with about 600,000 behind, and the dealer delivered the on the river. After taking his time, Aron announced that he was all in. Placey tanked for several long minutes, but folded in the end, and Aron won the pot
"Did you have it?" asked Placey after the hand.
"You'll see it on TV," responded Aron, although no cameras filmed the hand.
We missed the first couple bets, but it appeared Maria Ho had raised from the button and Greg Himmelbrand three-bet from the big blind. Ho then four-bet to 190,000 and called when Himmelbrand moved all in for roughly 750,000.
Ho:
Himmelbrand:
Both players held an ace, but Ho was out in front with her superior kicker. The flop was kind to Himmelbrand though as it paired his queen and gave him the lead. Ho picked up a Broadway draw, but she missed as the blanked on the turn followed by the on the river.
From middle position, Ali Eslami raised to 52,000. Anthony Diotte reraised from the hijack seat to 130,000, and Eslami called to see the flop. Both players checked, and the turn was the . Again, both players checked, then the river brought the . Eslami bet all but 1,000 of his chips for 459,000, and Diotte tank-called. Eslami showed the for a set of sevens, and Diotte mucked his hand.
![[user139916]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
and Margolin led for 86,000. Only Zaichenko called to see the 
turn where Margolin bet 208,000. Zaichenko called again, the 
river completed the board and Margolin checked. Zaichenko bet 516,000 effective, sending Margolin into the tank for nearly five minutes before he called.
for kings and fours, Margolin mucked and Zaichenko scored the elimination.
, a raising war broke out between Nathan Goldstein and Hieu Nguyen over at a secondary feature table that resulted in the latter getting all in for his last 407,000.
turn made things interesting as Goldstein picked up an open-ended straight draw. Much to Nguyen's dismay it came in as the 
spiked on the river. The stacks were counted down and Goldstein had Nguyen covered by just 83,000.
for 310,000 against the 
for Taylor.
to give Fletcher quads and double him up.
flop, Michael Aron checked, Pakinai Lisawad checked, and then Peter Placey bet 120,000. Aron check-raised to 260,000, Lisawad folded, and Placey called.
on the river. After taking his time, Aron announced that he was all in. Placey tanked for several long minutes, but folded in the end, and Aron won the pot
flop was kind to Himmelbrand though as it paired his queen and gave him the lead. Ho picked up a Broadway draw, but she missed as the 
blanked on the turn followed by the 
on the river.
for a set of sevens, and Diotte mucked his hand.
