Supporters of Jason Gray, excited after Gray took down a small pot with a bet on the turn against Martin Rowe, have started chanting, "Let's go Jason!" Gray grinned, then shouted back at them, "I want to stay!"
The two remaining players, Martin Rowe and Jason Gray, have traded chips the first few hands of heads-up play. Rowe has a slight edge after betting 150,000 on the river of a board of that was checked down on the flop and turn. Gray called the river bet and was shown by Rowe for two pair, fours and deuces.
Talk about action! The dust had barely settled on the elimination of Antonio Fazzolari then Martin Rowe and Tony Basile went to war. Rowe opened the pot from the button for 150,000. Jason Gray folded his small blind before Tony Basile reraised out of the big blind to 450,000.
It took Martin Rowe about three seconds to shove all of his chips into the middle, more than 5 million. He had Basile well covered.
"Wow," said a shocked Basile. He peeked at his cards a second time and then went into the tank. After about a minute, he made the call. With a total of 5.2 million chips in the middle, it was the largest pot of the tournament.
Rowe:
Basile:
Basile picked up a three-handed monster, but was up against an even bigger monster. The board bricked out to send a stunned Tony Basile to the rail in third place. He collected AU$266,000 before heading off to the APPT closing party upstairs.
Lee Nelson has just arrived to the feature table gallery, flanked by two world champions -- 2005 WSOP Main Event champion Joe Hachem and 2008 WSOP Main Event champion Peter Eastgate.
After his last hand, Antonio Fazzolari had only 470,000 chips left. With blinds at 30,000 and 60,000, he was extremely short. Fazzolari looked down at and shipped his chips into the middle. Martin Rowe squeezed his cards and quickly called, showing . The board ran out , no help to either player. Fazzolari was therefore eliminated in fourth place. He walks away with AU$182,000.
We've seen lots of limped pots here today. They've all resulted in huge pots, and this one was no exception. Tony Basile and Antonio Fazzolari limped to a flop. Basile bet 60,000 and Fazzolari called.
On the turn, Basile bet 125,000. Again Fazzolari called. He finally surrendered after Basile bet 200,000 on the river, flashing the as he did. Basile flashed the back at him.
The air conditioning in the casino was turned up while everyone was at dinner. There are vents right over the table above Martin Rowe and Jason Gray. Condensation is forming on the vents and dripping down onto the floor. Neither player has noticed yet.
Tony Basile has taken a shot at the now-reeling Antonio Fazzolari. Basile opened for 110,000, then called a button raise to 250,000 from Fazzolari. Both players checked the flop after it came down . On the turn , Basile bet 300,000. Fazzolari called.
With 1.2 million in the pot, the river came . Basile bet another 300,000 which Fazzolari also called. Basile turned over for two pair, kings and deuces. Fazzolari never showed.
As a result of the last two hands, Fazzolari is down to just 700,000 chips.