Event 1: Battle of the Big Stacks w/ 7 Left

$350 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 35:  150,000/300,000/50,000 Ante

Shortly after the blinds increased to 125K-250K (25K), Thomas Collazo limped from the button for 250,000, Jake Melen moved all in from the big blind for 1,275,000, and Collazo called with 9s6s. Melen turned over 8s8d, and he needed to hold to stay alive.

The board came JsJd6h3h4c — Collazo paired his six on the flop, but improved no further. Melen won the pot with his pocket eights to double up in chips.

Jake Melen  –  2,850,000  (11 bb)
Thomas Collazo  –  13,500,000  (54 bb)

Taylor Fortini
Taylor Fortini three-bet the flop to take a big chip lead.

In a battle between the two biggest stacks at the table, Ivan Freitez raised UTG+1 to 500,000 or so, Taylor Fortini reraised from the small blind to 1,425,000, and Freitez called.

The flop came AsKs6h, and Fortini bet 975,000. Freitez raised to 2,500, and Fortini thought for a while before he moved all in for 12,325,000. Freitez — who had Fortini covered by 1.5 big blinds — tanked for a while before he folded. Fortini took the pot.

Taylor Fortini  –  18,100,000  (72 bb)
Ivan Freitez  –  10,200,000  (41 bb)

A short while later, the blinds increased to 150,000-300,000 with a 50,000 ante. With seven players remaining, the average chip stack is about 8.6 million (29 big blinds).