$1,650 Purple Chip Bounty No Limit Hold’em (Freeze-out)
Level 14: 1,000/2,000/300 Ante

After the two quick eliminations, the action has slowed down again as we still stand at six players remaining at what has been the most entertaining final table of the series so far.  Travell Thomas and Oktay Altinbas have been carrying the load of the table chatter and keeping things lively with not a dull moment in sight.

As for the poker, Kazu Oshima and Alon Yehudi are taking control of the tournament and are leading the way for the top prize of $29,750.

Play will resume on Level 15 at 1,200/2.400/400 ante.

$570 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em
Level 34: 200,000/400,000/50,000 Ante

When the players returned from their break, they decided to use the official chip counts that were taken to run the numbers on a potential chip chop.

The average chip stack had about 15 big blinds, and there were two short stacks, three middle stacks, and three big stacks — but nobody was running away with it. When they saw the chip-chopped prizepool as determined by a computer, everyone quickly agreed to the chop.

Leonard Benitez was the chipleader, with 275,000 more than Richard Zipes, so Benitez won the trophy. Congratulations, Leonard!

Here are the modified payouts for the final table of Event 5:

1st:  Leonard Benitez  –  $113,357
2nd:  Richard Zipes  –  $112,080
3rd:  Sam Panzica  –  $109,326
4th:  Kyle Sorel  –  $91,266
5th:  Michael Tufaro  –  $87,765
6th:  Rafael Reis  –  $87,421
7th:  Manfred Rosenow  –  $59,805
8th:  Bradley Hinson  –  $51,499
9th:  Benjamin Zamani  –  $21,648

1,650 Purple Chip Bounty No Limit Hold’em (Freeze-out)
Level 14: 1,000/2,000/300 Ante

There were 75 minutes of little action before three straight shoves created two knockouts. Joseph Elia was the next to walk out and it was Kazu Oshima doing the hard work once again.

Elia was all-in and looking for a river with and the board reading against Oshima’s . The river was no help and he was gone in 7th place and Oshima picked up another $500 with back-to-back big hands.

1,650 Purple Chip Bounty No Limit Hold’em (Freeze-out)
Level 14: 1,000/2,000/300 Ante

Lawrence Paden and Jon Brody were flip-flopping as the shortest stack when Brody managed his double. His held against Alon Yehudai’s to get some chips back in the game.

On the next hand, Paden was in the big blind when he called a 4,500 open from Kazu Oshima. They were heads up to the flop and Paden checked before Oshima tossed in a 5k chip.

Paden moved all-in and Oshima quickly called with . Paden needed a lot fo help but missed the turn and river to go out in 8th place for $2,975.

$570 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em
Level 33: 150,000/300,000/50,000 Ante

Leonard Benitez raised from middle position to 900,000, Rafael Reis reraised from the hijack to 2,500,000, and Benitez moved all in for about 9 million. Reis tanked for a while before he folded, and Benitez showed as he took the pot.

Leonard Benitez  –  11,600,000  (38 bb)
Rafael Reis  –  5,600,000  (18 bb)

The next hand, Benitez raised UTG+1 to 900,000, and Benjamin Zamani moved all in from the button for 2,750,000. Benitez tanked for a bit before he folded, and Zamani took the pot.

Benjamin Zamani  –  4,550,000  (15 bb)
Leonard Benitez  –  10,550,000  (35 bb)

The next hand, Benjamin Zamani moved all in from the cutoff for 4,500,000, and Richard Zipes called all in from the button with an identical stack — 4,500,000.

It was a race situation, with Zamani’s vs. the of Zipes.

The board came  , and Zipes paired his ace on the flop to win the pot and eliminate Zamani in ninth place.

Richard Zipes  –  9,900,000  (33 bb)
Benjamin Zamani  –  Eliminated in 9th Place  ($21,648)

$570 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em
Level 33: 150,000/300,000/50,000 Ante

Sam Mallard moved all in under the gun for 525,000, Kyle Sorel reraised from the cutoff to 900,000, and everyone else folded. Mallard turned over , and he needed to improve to stay alive against Sorel’s .

The board came — Mallard paired his deuce on the flop to take the lead, but Sorel spiked an ace on the river to win the pot and eliminate Mallard in 10th place.

Kyle Sorel  –  8,200,000  (27 bb)
Sam Mallard  –  Eliminated in 10th Place  ($14,226)

$570 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em
Level 33: 150,000/300,000/50,000 Ante

Richard Zipes moved all in from middle position for 1,150,000, and Leonard Benitez called from the cutoff with . Zipes turned over , and he needed it to hold to stay alive.

The board came , and the pocket fours hold up for Zipes to win the pot and double up in chips.

Richard Zipes  –  2,850,000  (9 bb)
Leonard Benitez  –  2,500,000  (8 bb)

After that hand, the blinds increased to 150,000-300,000 and a 50,000 ante.

Benjamin Zamani moved all in UTG+1 for 1,625,000, and it folded around to Bradley Hinson, who tanked for more than two minutes in the big blind before somebody called for a clock. Hinson eventually called with , and Zamani turned over .

The board came , and Zamani won the pot with his king to double up in chips.

Benjamin Zamani  –  3,900,000  (13 bb)
Bradley Hinson  –  2,950,000  (9 bb)

Leonard Benitez moved all in UTG+1 for 1,200,000, and Kyle Sorel called from the big blind with . Benitez turned over , and he needed it to hold to stay alive.

The board came — Sorel paired his six on the flop, but Benitez paired his king on the turn to win the pot and double up in chips.

Leonard Benitez  –  3,050,000  (10 bb)
Kyle Sorel  –  7,700,000  (25 bb)

1,650 Purple Chip Bounty No Limit Hold’em (Freeze-out)
Level 13: 800/1,600/200 Ante

No pressure and no hurry, that’s the best way to describe the action so far at the 8-handed final table. The average stack is 80 big blinds deep with hour-long levels, more conversation than action.

The first 30 minutes only saw a handful of flops and Travell Thomas waited 20 minutes to make his way to the table to unbag.

Kazu Oshima move up the most after picking up a few pots with three-bets against the rest of the table. Joseph Elia has moved lower and made one all-in move against a Alon Yehudai raise but it was not called.

$570 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em
Level 32: 100,000/200,000/25,000 Ante

Richard Zipes moved all in from the cutoff for about 5.1 million, and Sam Panzica called all in from the small blind for 3,975,000 with . Zipes surprised the entire table by turning over .

The board came — Zipes flopped a heart flush draw, but improved no further. The pocket queens held up for Panzica to win the pot and double up in chips.

Sam Panzica  –  8,400,000  (42 bb)
Richard Zipes  –  1,150,000  (5 bb)