Table 26 is the only shootout table remaining in action. The players still seated at the table are Stephen Boots, Sean Keeton and Neil Channing. Two of them will go through to the final table; one will go home with ninth place prize money of AU$9,450.
Action folded around to the very active Jai Kemp in the small blind. He open-shoved against Sherrie Gelberg's big blind. Gelberg, with 80,000 total chips in her stack, made the call.
Kemp:
Gelberg:
Kemp paired his jack on the flop, . Gelberg couldn't find an ace on the turn or river. She is the bubble girl for Table 25. Jai Kemp and Saidal Wardak are through to the final table with 330,000 chips and 210,000 chips, respectively.
Steve Topakas was out of options. With only 40,000 chips in his stack, he was forced to call all in after Jai Kemp shoved from the button preflop. Kemp was in the lead with , but Topakas was drawing live with . The board was all baby cards, . None were any help to Topakas. He's out of the tournament.
Saidal Wardak lost a big pot a short while ago but he has regrouped. He raised to 12,000 preflop and was called only by Steve Topakas. When the flop came down , Wardak moved all in for 102,000 chips. Topakas made the call, tabling for a flush draw with an overcard. Wardak showed an unimproved that was in the lead, but gave him a big sweat. The turn was the , giving Wardak a flush draw and taking away Topakas' pair outs. The river bricked to allow Wardak to drag the pot.
It was a big change in fortune at the table, with Wardak climbing to 225,000 and Topakas now in critical condition at 32,000.
Two tables remain in play. On Table 25, Jai Kemp, Steve Topakas, Sherrie Gelberg and Saidal Wardak are trading cautious jabs as they look to exploit each other's weaknesses. On Table 26, Sean Keeton, Stephen Boots and Neil Channing are all trying to avoid the fate of being the Table 26 bubble boy.
Matthew Lea is the unlucky final table bubble boy from Table 28. He three-bet to 25,000 after Edison Nguyen opened with a raise to 10,000. Nguyen then moved all in for more than 200,000, putting Lea to a decision for the 170,000 he retained behind his initial raise. Lea made the call with and found himself in rough shape against Nguyen's . No help was to be found anywhere on a board of . Lea has been eliminated.
With that elimination, play has been suspended on Table 28. Edison Nguyen and Liv Boeree are through to the final table with 429,600 chips and 122,000 chips, respectively.
Play has paused on Table 27 with the elimination of Eric Assadourian. Assadourian was short-stacked and moved all in preflop with . Ben Delaney woke up with pocket tens and made the call. Assadourian never improved, bubbling off the final table on a board of .
Delaney and Cort Kibler-Melby are now through to the final table. Delaney will bring 285,000 chips; Kibler-Melby will bring 295,000 chips.
There are two females left in today's tournament. One of them, Liv Boeree, is playing three-handed at Table 28 with a berth to the final table on the line. Boeree raised to 17,000 after Edison Nguyen limped from the button. Nguyen then moved all in for 96,000 total and Boeree called. Amazingly for a three-handed table, both players had huge hands.
Boeree:
Nguyen:
Nguyen proved the victor in this race, catching a queen on a flop, then riding out the turn and river. Boeree had Nguyen well-covered, falling to 106,000 chips. Nguyen is now up to about 195,000.
Not wanting to be left out of the action, things have started heating up on Table 25. Jai Kemp raised to 12,000 from under the gun. Action folded around to Saidal Wardak, who moved all in for roughly 140,000. Kemp called for a total of roughly 75,000.
Kemp:
Wardak:
Kemp was racing Wardak for his tournament life. The window card was a deflating for Kemp, but then the dealer spread an and a blessed to make a set for Kemp. The turn meant that Kemp had to sweat a heart on the river. It didn't come. The river blanked .