$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 24: 12,000/24,000 with a 4,000 ante
Players Remaining: 33 of 1,973

Evan Dollinger had just over 500,000 chips left when he was dealt pocket aces and found a spot to get all in against Elias Nassif, who had him covered.

Dollinger:
Nassif:

The flop gave Nassif a gutshot, and the turn added another four outs to the bottom end of the straight, too. Sure enough, the river was the , and Nassif ran down his Broadway straight to scoop the big knockout pot. He’s now challenging at the top of the leaderboard.

Dollinger could only shake his head as he walked quietly to the payout desk in 33rd place.

Elias Nassif – 1,480,000 (62 bb)
Evan Dollinger – Eliminated

$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 23: 10,000/20,000 with a 3,000 ante
Players Remaining: 40 of 1,973

In three-way action, Francis Garcia was all in for his last few big blinds, Ethiel Garcia was also all in for 159,000, and Yigal Hen had both opponents covered and at risk.

F. Garcia:
E. Garcia:
Hen:

The flop was , leaving Hen in the lead but giving Ethiel Garcia two extra outs to try to survive. The turn was a blank, but the river was quite the opposite. Garcia improved to aces up, winning the pot to more than double-up. The come-from-behind win also sent Francis Garcia to the payout desk in 40th place.

After paying off his debt, Hen was left with just a handful of big blinds himself. “This is why I never win tournaments,” he lamented. “It’s always these bull*** two outs.”

Ethiel Garcia – 390,000 (20 bb)
Yigal Hen – 95,000 (5 bb)
Francis Garcia – Eliminated

$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 23: 10,000/20,000 with a 3,000 ante
Players Remaining: 40 of 1,973

Victor Hamilton’s chip lead didn’t last long, through no fault of his own.

Hamilton has continued to win a few small pots here and there over the course of the last couple orbits, but he’s recently been leapfrogged at the top of the leaderboard.

Hiep Doan is the new leader, sitting in front of a stack of about 1,610,000 chips. Doan lives in New Orleans, and he has close to $170,000 in career tournament earnings, with most of his previous results coming in either his hometown or nearby Biloxi. He also cashed in the WSOP Main Event this past year, but this is his first cash at Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood.

Hiep Doan – 1,610,000 (81 bb)

$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 23: 10,000/20,000 with a 3,000 ante
Players Remaining: 45 of 1,973

Marcus Stein has been in or near the chip lead for the bulk of the day, and he still is, though his table has gotten tougher with the recent addition of Jessica Dawley.

There’s a new big stack in the field, though.

Victor Hamilton was just spotted dragging a huge pot, and after he stacked up, it became apparent that he’s the first player to cross into seven-figure territory.

Hamilton is a poker dealer at a local casino, and this result represents the first cash on his live tournament record. He’s put himself in good position to make it a big one, too. His stack of 1,225,000 gives him the overall chip lead with 45 players left, and he’s the only player with more than 60 big blinds as the new level begins.

Victor Hamilton – 1,225,000 (61 bb)

$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 22: 8,000/16,000 with a 2,000 ante
Players Remaining: 54 of 1,973

Event 5 is quickly down to the last six tables and SHRP regular has taken a turn atop the chip counts. He began the day with the 11th place stack but quickly ran his 220,000 up to 810,000 as the field drops all around him.

Marcus Stein – 810,000 (51 bb)

$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 21: 6,000/12,000 with a 2,000 ante
Players Remaining: 71 of 1,973

Early in the day, Jimmy Cortes cracked kings with aces to get the field closer to the money. Then had a big hand of his own cracked after the money.

He three-bet shoved from the cutoff for 122,000 after an open from Alfred Ratmiroff and he picked up a call with a good chance to double.

Ratmiroff:
Cortes:

The big pair was only ahead until the flop. After that, all Cortes could do was watch the blanks hit the turn and river to exit the tournament in 72nd place.

Alfredo Ratmiroff – 655,000 (55 bb)
Jimmy Cortes – Eliminated in 72nd ($616)

$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 20: 5,000/10,000 with a 1,000 ante
Players Remaining: 84 of 1,973

Once the money bubble burst, the dam broke on the action and players hit the payout desk in a steady stream until know we only have 84 players remaining.

Sean Shah, Evan Teitelbaum, Eric Rivkin, Clifford Conners, Jeff Kessler, and Event 1 fifth place finisher Ben Sirqui were among the early cashers.

85th: Steven Moreno – $497
86th: Rafael Indriago – $497
87th: Unclaimed – $497
88th: Adam Wagner – $497
89th: Michael Brown – $497
90th: Ben Sriqui – $497
91st: Nikolla Sinishtaj – $450
92nd: Jacobo Fernandez – $450
93rd: Ronald Hines – $450
94th: Nick Chiappetta – $450
95th: Jonathan Joffey – $450
96th: Yuan Shen – $450
97th: Sean Shah – $450
98th: Ebrahim Figueroa Noboa – $450
99th: Eric Rivkin – $450
100th: Michael Rosenberg – $379
101st: Clifford Conners – $379
102nd: Mark Nahama – $379
103rd: Evan Teitelbaum – $379
104th: Matthew Kronenberg – $379
105th: Gregory Spinder – $379
106th: Jack Battaglla – $379
107th: Shawn Vrenna – $379
108th: James Kerr – $379
109th: Christian Rodriguez – $355
110th: Jeff Kessler – $355
111th: Jerrold Jacobs – $355
112th: Michael Lutgen – $355
113th: Unclaimed – $355
114th: Martin Markov – $355
115th: Song Yim – $355
116th: George McCurdy III – $355
117th: Charles Odenz – $355

$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 18: 3,000/6,000 with a 1,000 ante
Players Remaining: 117 of 1,973

It only took two rounds of hand-for-hand action to put Event 5 in the money but it still lasted 15 minutes thanks to some big pots. On the second hand, 2016 WPTDeepStack Seminole Hard Rock Tampa champ Anthony Astarita was all-in from the cutoff for 69,000 and Kevin Hartmann called from the big blind.

Then they waited. And waited some more while all other hands were finished before they could table their hands.

Hartmann:
Astarita:

“I’m uncomfortable with the T9 suited,” Hartmann told Astarita before the hand rolled out.

Astarita hit the flop but Hartmann turned it harder with the to leave Astarita looking for one of the four remaining jacks. The river was a blank for Astarita and he was sent out in 118th with 117 getting paid.

Kevin Hartmann – 310,000 (52 bb)
Anthony Astarita – Eliminated

$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 18: 3,000/6,000 with a 1,000 ante
Players Remaining: 118 of 1,973

It didn’t take long after the break to hit hand-for-hand action. The will go one hand at a time per table until only 117 players remain.

$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 17: 2,500/5,000 with a 500 ante
Players Remaining: 123 of 1,973

Event 5 players are on their first break as the purple 500 denom chips come out of play and they are only five eliminations from playing the money bubble.

They’ll return in 15 minutes to get down to the business of making some money.