SHRPO $5 Million GTD Championship
Level 19: 6,000/12,000 with a 2,000 ante
Players Remaining: 52 of 847

Chris Klodnicki opened to 30,000 in middle position, and Michael Newman called in the cutoff. Alex Foxen was on the button, and he three-bet shoved for 245,000 total. Klodnicki folded, but Newman called to put Foxen at risk.

Newman:
Foxen:

The board ran out , and Newman won the pot with a pair of eights. Foxen was eliminated.

Michael Newman – 650,000 (54 bb)
Alex Foxen – Eliminated in 52nd place ($20,000)

SHRPO $5 Million GTD Championship
Level 19: 6,000/12,000 with a 2,000 ante
Players Remaining: 53 of 847

Joe Serock raised from the hijack to 24,000, and Justin Swilling called from the button. The flop came , Serock checked, Swilling bet 21,000, and Serock called. The turn was the , and both players checked.

The river card was the , Serock bet 65,000, and Swilling called. Serock showed to win the pot with two pair, kings and fours, and Swilling mucked.

Joe Serock  –  885,000  (74 bb)
Justin Swilling  –  1,351,000  (113 bb)

Around that time, Zo Karim had about 1.3 million in chips, so Swilling’s lead was smaller than it had been in a while.

Then, about 10 minutes later, Karim had won a good-sized pot to take the lead with more than 1.5 million, while Swilling had bounced back a bit to more than 1.4 million.

Zo Karim  –  1,575,000  (131 bb)
Justin Swilling  –  1,470,000  (123 bb)

SHRPO $5 Million GTD Championship
Level 19: 6,000/12,000 with a 2,000 ante
Players Remaining: 56 of 847

David Peters opened with a raise from middle position, and Kunal Patel defended his big blind.

The flop was . Patel checked, Peters continued for 25,000, and Patel called. The turn was the , and Patel led out with a bet of 43,000. Peters called. The river was the , and Patel moved all in for 135,000. Peters called, tabling  for the nut flush. Patel mucked, heading to the payout desk as the remainder of his stack was pushed to Peters.

David Peters – 745,000 (62 bb)
Kunal Patel – Eliminated

SHRPO $5 Million GTD Championship
Level 19: 6,000/12,000 with a 2,000 ante
Players Remaining: 61 of 847

A scan of the field during the break turned up three players with at least a million in chips. Justin Swilling still leads, but Zo Karim is getting close to striking distance.

Justin Swilling  –  1,542,000  (129 bb)
Zo Karim  –  1,237,000  (103 bb)
Seth Davies  –  1,036,000  (86 bb)

SHRPO $5 Million GTD Championship
Level 19: 6,000/12,000 with a 2,000 ante
Players Remaining: 61 of 847

The players return from break to begin Level 19, with increased blinds of 6,000-12,000 and a 2,000 ante. With 61 players remaining, the average chip stack is about 417,000 (35 big blinds).

The field is in the money, and the remaining players are guaranteed at least $17,500 each. The next pay jump is $20,000 for 54th place.

SHRPO $5 Million GTD Championship
Level 18: 5,000/10,000 with a 1,000 ante
Players Remaining: 61 of 847

A player moved all in from middle position for 37,000, and chipleader Justin Swilling thought for a bit before calling from the big blind with . His opponent turned over , and needed it to hold to stay alive.

The board came , and the short-stacked player won the pot with two pair, queens and tens, to double up thru Swilling.

Justin Swilling  –  1,560,000  (156 bb)

SHRPO $5 Million GTD Championship
Level 18: 5,000/10,000 with a 1,000 ante
Players Remaining: 63 of 847

Eric Panayiotou was all-in after the flop with and Zo Karim had him covered with .

“What were you thinking?” a tablemate asked Panayiotou.

“(Shrug)” was the response from the short stacked Panayiotou.

The turn and river did him now help and Karim moved up the counts.

Zo Karim – 735,000 (74 bb)
Eric Panayiotou – Eliminated in 64th ($15,000)

SHRPO $5 Million GTD Championship
Level 18: 5,000/10,000 with a 1,000 ante
Players Remaining: 63 of 847

Marsel Backa raised UTG+1 to 26,000, Scott Zakheim moved all in from the cutoff for 105,000, and Backa asked for an exact count and tanked for a while before calling with . Zakheim turned over , and needed his hand to hold to stay alive.

The flop came , and the pocket nines held up for Zakheim to win the pot and double up in chips.

Scott Zakheim  –  233,000  (23 bb)
Marsel Backa  –  270,000  (27 bb)

SHRPO $5 Million GTD Championship
Level 18: 5,000/10,000 with a 1,000 ante
Players Remaining: 65 of 847

Action folded around to the blinds where Andre Crooks raised from the small. Tom Gity three-bet from the big, and Crooks slid the majority of his chips forward on a four-bet. It’s not clear whether he verbalized an all in or not, but both hands were tabled, and the all-in button was then placed in front of Crooks.

Crooks:
Gity:

The board ran out , and Crooks won the pot with a pair of eights.

At this point, Gity protested that he did not call the shove, but had intended to open-muck his hand. The floor was called. It was ruled that Gity accepted the all-in action, as he made no effort to protest as the hands were tabled, the all-in button was delivered, and the board was run out. He was therefore committed for Crooks’ full stack of 230,000. Gity asked for a second ruling, so the Tournament Director was summoned, and he upheld the initial ruling.

Crooks doubled up.

Andre Crooks – 468,000 (47 bb)
Tom Gity – 80,000 (8 bb)

SHRPO $5 Million GTD Championship
Level 18: 5,000/10,000 with a 1,000 ante
Players Remaining: 68 of 847

There was a three-way all-in situation at Table 23, and these were their cards in descending order of chip counts:

Alexis Sterner:  
Mark Thibodeau:  
Sunny Patel:  

The board came , and the pocket aces held up for Sterner and Thibodeau to chop the pot and eliminate Patel in 69th place.

Alexis Sterner  –  725,000  (73 bb)
Mark Thibodeau  –  685,000  (69 bb)
Sunny Patel  –  Eliminated in 69th Place  ($15,000)