$300 Seniors 50+ NLH (Re-Entry)
Payouts
Level 20: 5,000/10,000 with a 1,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 5 of 147

Marc Sacheli was all in under the gun for about 55,000 with , and he was up against the of Ozzie Amor on the button.

Ozzie Amor said that queen-jack is his favorite hand, but Sacheli pointed to his cards and said, “But I have the king.”

The board came — Sacheli paired his king on the flop, but Amor rivered an ace-high straight to win the pot and eliminate Sacheli in sixth place.

Ozzie Amor  –  565,000  (57 bb)
Marc Sacheli  –  Eliminated in 6th Place  ($1,501)

The final five players are guaranteed at least $1,818 each.

$300 Seniors 50+ NLH (Re-Entry)
Payouts
Level 19: 4,000/8,000 with a 1,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 6 of 147

After moving all in preflop to take the blinds and antes, Jeff Silverstein finally hit a new personal peak with his chip stack in this event — 55,000. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a sign of things to come.

A short while later, Silverstein moved all in from the cutoff for about 35,000, and Ozzie Amor called from the button with . Silverstein turned over , and he was dominated and facing elimination.

The board came , and Amor won the pot with his jack kicker to eliminate Silverstein in seventh place.

Ozzie Amor  –  443,000  (55 bb)
Jeff Silverstein  –  Eliminated in 7th Place  ($1,312)

$300 Seniors 50+ NLH (Re-Entry)
Payouts
Level 19: 4,000/8,000 with a 1,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 7 of 147

With eight players remaining, Ofer Peleg raised from the button, Paul Balzano reraised from the small blind, and Peleg called. There is nearly 100K already in the pot.

The flop came , Balzano bet 17,000, Peleg raised to 50,000, and Balzano tanked for a while before he moved all in.

Peleg paused for a moment before he called all in for 166,000 with for a pair of jacks. Balzano turned over for a pair of sevens, and Peleg needed his hand to hold to stay alive.

The turn card was the , the river card was the , and Peleg’s pair of jacks held up for him to win the pot and double up in chips.

Ofer Peleg  –  430,000  (54 bb)
Paul Balzano  –  151,000  (19 bb)

A short while later, Julian Wohlgemuth got it all in from the big blind for about 75,000 with , but he was drawing thin to stay alive against the of Ofer Peleg, who was under the gun.

The board came — Wohlgemuth paired his king on the flop to give himself some outs, but improved no further. Peleg won the pot with his pocket aces to eliminate Wohlgemuth and increase his chip lead.

Ofer Peleg  –  552,000  (69 bb)
Julian Wohlgemuth  –  Eliminated in 8th Place  ($1,171)

The remaining seven players are guaranteed at least $1,312 each.

$300 Seniors 50+ NLH (Re-Entry)
Payouts
Level 18: 3,000/6,000 with a 1,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 8 of 147

Spencer Liebmann moved all in from middle position for 55,000, and Ozzie Amor was next to act and called with . Liebmann turned over , and he would need his hand to hold to stay alive.

The board came — Amor flopped trip jacks and Liebmann turned an open-ended straight draw, but the river card was a blank. Amor won the pot with his trip jacks to eliminate Liebmann in ninth place.

Ozzie Amor  –  245,000  (41 bb)
Spencer Liebmann  –  Eliminated in 9th Place  ($1,035)

A short while later, Jeff Silverstein (who has a cute little dog sitting next to him in a doggie backpack) moved all in from the small blind, and Ozzie Amor asked for a count from the big blind. The dealer stacked the chips to make the amounts clear, and announced, “Twenty-seven,” indicating 27,000.

Silverstein smiled and said, “That’s twenty-seven thousand,” over-enunciating the thousand to make it sound like a large amount.

Amor rechecked his cards and decided to fold, showing . Silverstein returned the favor by turning over his cards — .

Jeff Silverstein  –  41,000  (7 bb)

Silverstein has been treading water with a short stack for a long time, and says he’s been below 50,000 for most of the tournament, with a peak chip count of about 54,000.

Silverstein mentions that most people around here know him by his nickname, “Short Stack,” which has definitely been appropriate for his path so far thru this field.

$300 Seniors 50+ NLH (Re-Entry)
Payouts
Level 18: 3,000/6,000 with a 1,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 9 of 147

The final 10 players redrew for random seats at a single table, and then played for a short while before it was time for a 15-minute break.

When they returned, it didn’t take long for an all-in situation to develop.

Miguel Munoz moved all in from UTG+1 for 50,000, and Paul Balzano called from the small blind with . Munoz turned over , and he was a big favorite to double up.

But there was a queen in the window as the board came . Balzano won the pot with two pair, queens and nines, to eliminate Munoz in 10th place.

Paul Balzano  –  326,000  (54 bb)
Miguel Munoz  –  Eliminated in 10th Place  ($900)

That means the official final table of nine is set and ready to play down to a winner. Here are seating assignments and approximate chip counts for the final nine players:

Seat 1.  Ozzie Amor  –  205,000  (34 bb)
Seat 2.  Dave Roy  –  175,000  (29 bb)
Seat 3.  John Holley  –  250,000  (42 bb)
Seat 4.  Marc Sacheli  –  115,000  (19 bb)
Seat 5.  Julian Wohlgemuth  –  148,000  (25 bb)
Seat 6.  Ofer Peleg  –  135,000  (23 bb)
Seat 7.  Paul Balzano  –  326,000  (54 bb)
Seat 8.  Jeff Silverstein  –  40,000  (7 bb)
Seat 9.  Spencer Liebmann  –  55,000  (9 bb)

As you can see, Balzano has the chip lead, while short-stack Jeff Silverstein has been hovering around the 40K mark ever since they were playing hand-for-hand on the Money Bubble — and he’s survived four pay jumps so far.

$300 Seniors 50+ NLH (Re-Entry)
Payouts
Level 18: 3,000/6,000 with a 1,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 10 of 147

Here’s a look at the results from 11th to 19th place:

11th:  Oniel McCalla  –  $900
12th:  Christopher Honore  –  $900
13th:  Eugene Nussbaum  –  $768
14th:  Nir Peleg  –  $768
15th:  Robert Benford  –  $768
16th:  Brett Brucaleri  –  $656
17th:  David Levi  –  $656
18th:  Raymond Kondler  –  $656
19th:  Nancy Birnbaum  –  $562

$300 Seniors 50+ NLH (Re-Entry)
Payouts
Level 13: 1,000/2,000 with a 300 Ante
Players Remaining: 17 of 147

After the Money Bubble burst, a player was moved to balance the tables, and it was Ofer Peleg. Why are we mentioning a simple seat change? Because Ofer ended up sitting next to his brother Nir. (We’ll come back to this situation in a moment.)

At one of the other tables, Rob Benford limped from the button for 4,000, Nancy Birnbaum moved all in from the small blind for 15,500, and Benford called with . Birnbaum turned over , and she’d need to improve to stay alive.

The board came — both players flopped a pair, and Benford went on to win the pot with his pair of aces to eliminate Birnbaum in 19th place.

Rob Benford  –  65,000  (16 bb)
Nancy Birnbaum  –  Eliminated in 19th Place  ($562)

Now back to Nir and Ofer Peleg.

They only got to play one hand together, sitting side-by-side in the blinds. When action folded to Ofer in the small blind, Nir said, “If you raise me, I’m telling Mom.”

The entire table got a good laugh out of that one.

Ofer went on to win the hand, but during that time, Nancy Birnbaum was eliminated in 19th place, and their table broke.

The Peleg brothers were given random seats at the two remaining tables, and once again ended up seated side-by-side, though this time Ofer had position against Nir.

Here are some notable chip counts as the final 17 players are battling for the final table:

John Holley  –  222,000  (56 bb)
Paul Balzano  –  141,000  (35 bb)
Oniel McCalla  –  115,000  (29 bb)
Ozzie Amor  –  110,000  (28 bb)
Ofer Peleg  –  105,000  (26 bb)
David Levy  –  82,000  (21 bb)
Eugene Nussbaum  –  47,000  (12 bb)
Nir Peleg  –  25,000  (6 bb)

$300 Seniors 50+ NLH (Re-Entry)
Payouts
Level 13: 1,000/2,000 with a 300 Ante
Players Remaining: 19 of 147

With 20 players remaining in the Seniors Event, and only 19 getting paid, it was time for the Money Bubble, and it was a long one.

At one point, Nancy Birnbaum got it all in from the button for 6,500 with against David Levy’s .

There was a jack in the window as the flop came , and even though she was behind, Birnbaum took it in good spirits, smiling as she said, “Oh, right in the window!”

Birnbaum called for a ten, but the dealer put out the on the turn. Birnbaum again called for a ten, and the river card was — the . Birnbaum won the pot with an ace-high straight to double up in chips.

Nancy Birnbaum  –  20,500  (7 bb)
David Levy  –  55,000  (18 bb)

There were no more all-in-and-call situations for a while, and the blinds increased to 2,000/4,000 with a 500 ante.

Eventually, a player was down to his final 4,500 in the small blind, putting 500 in for the ante and then he called all in against four other players.

The flop came , and three players checked to John Holley on the button, who bets 10,000. The other three players folded, including one who claimed he folded pocket jacks.

The short-stack showed for a gutshot straight draw, but Holley turned over for a pair of nines.

The turn was the , giving the short stack a pair and additional outs, but the river card was the . Holley won the pot with two pair, aces and nines, to knock out his opponent and burst the Money Bubble.

The player who claimed to fold pocket jacks complained that Holley didn’t play it right, implying he should have checked it down to the river to increase the chances of bursting the Money Bubble, but Holley just took the criticism in stride and said he thinks he played it just fine.

John Holley  –  195,000  (49 bb)

$300 Seniors 50+ NLH (Re-Entry)
Payouts
Level 13: 1,000/2,000 with a 300 Ante
Players Remaining: 25 of 147

The Seniors event returns from dinner, and they are still six spots away from the money. Paul Balzano leads the field with 130K, and here’s a look at the other big stacks, along with other notables still in the hunt for the SHRPO Seniors trophy:

1.  Paul Balzano  –  130,000  (65 bb)
2.  Oniel McCalla  –  123,900  (62 bb)
3.  Ozzie Amor  –  108,900  (54 bb)
4.  Eugene Nussbaum  –  95,000  (48 bb)

John Holley  –  74,000  (37 bb)
David Levy  –  60,000  (30 bb)
Dan Heimiller  –  35,000  (18 bb)
Nancy Birnbaum  –  12,000  (6 bb)

The final 19 players will finish in the money, guaranteed at least $562 each.

$300 Seniors 50+ NLH (Re-Entry)
Payouts
Level 13: 1,000/2,000 with a 300 Ante
Players Remaining: 27 of 147

The Seniors event is down to the final three tables (27 players) as they take their dinner break, with an average chip stack around 54,500 (27 big blinds). The final 19 players will finish in the money, guaranteed at least $562 each, and that’s when we’ll pick up our coverage as they begin playing down to the final table.