After the recent spate of eliminations, which felled all of the shortest stacks at the table except for Yuji Masaka, play has again slowed. It's gotten to the point that most of the gallery which assembled at the start of the final table has drifted away, leaving only a few diehards and/or individuals with a financial interest in the proceedings.
The action passed to David Horvath on the button who raised all in for 31,500 in total. Yuji Masaki folded his small blind but Brian Kang asked for a count, thought for a few moments before making the call.
Kang:
Horvath:
Some of the table raised their eyebrows at Kang's deliberate decision for such a small amount. "It was not a slowroll I promise," defended Kang, "I had to be sure."
The board fell and Horvath gets no help and is sent to the exit in 7th place for a collect of $16,027. We're down to six!
David Horvath moved all in from the small blind against short-stacked Yuji Masaka. Masaka woke up with pocket kings, , and made a snap call. He was up against Horvath's and didn't suffer a bad beat as the board missed both players. The win boosted his chip stack to 46,000.
Players are finally starting to take a few chances. Daniel Williams moved all in from late position for 13,000 and was called by Yoshihiro Tasaka from the button and David Horvath from the big blind. Those two players checked the action all the way down a board of . With no side pot to play for, the players opened for the main pot. Williams showed but was beaten by Tasaka's lucky eights, . That was a winner after Horvath mucked and it also signalled Williams' exit from the final table in eighth place.
Yuji Masaki is battling hard with his short stack. He recently moved all in for his last 11,500 and the action folded around to Yoshihiro Tasaka in the big blind. It was only 6,500 more to Tasaka and with over 200,000 in his stack you thought he might take a shot at eliminating his short stacked opponent but he sighed and folded face up.
Masaki showed as he collected the blinds and antes, which almost doubled him up!
Now that Daniel Schreiber has taken over the chip lead, it seems as he if he is trying to put his stamp on the final table. He has opened several pots in a row to 16,000, collecting 11,500 in blinds and antes each time. The table is very passive right now, and nobody seems to willing to stand up to Schreiber without a very strong hand.