$1,650 Purple Chip Bounty No Limit Hold’em (Freeze-out)
Level 18: 2,500/5,000/500 Ante

It’s been an interesting duel between Kazu Oshima and Pete Malkoun so far.  Malkoun has been in trouble on a couple of occasions but was able to fight back and has been able to chip away at Oshima’s big lead.

The two players have agreed to take a 30-minute dinner break and will get back at it in Level 19 with blinds at 3,000/6,000 with a 1,000 ante as they continue to battle for the Event 8 title.

Oshima stands at 673,000 chips (112 big blinds) and Malkoun has climbed up to 347,000 (58 big blinds) as the players step away with some seriously deep stacks.

It could be a long way to go before we have a champion tonight.

$1,650 Purple Chip Bounty No Limit Hold’em (Freeze-out)
Level 18: 2,500/5,000/500 Ante

Not much has changed since heads-up play began between Kazu Oshima and Pete Malkoun.  Malkoun has stayed agressive depsite his chip deficit and the two players have played to a standstill.  Here are the approximate chip counts to start Level 18:

Kazu Oshima: 770,000
Pete Malkoun: 250,000

$1,650 Purple Chip Bounty No Limit Hold’em (Freeze-out)
Level 17: 2,000/4,000/500 Ante

Oktay Altinbas was scrapping since the final two tables and managed to turn an entry from a freeroll here into a five-figure score.

Short-stacked, Altinbas made a stand with and was called by Kazu Oshima holding .  Altinbas got some extra outs with the flop but after the board ran out , his amazing run through Event 8 was over.

Oktay Altinbas finishes in 3rd place for $11,050.

$1,650 Purple Chip Bounty No Limit Hold’em (Freeze-out)
Level 17: 2,000/4,000/500 Ante

After a quick break, the remaining three players are back in action here in Event 8.  Here are the chip counts:

Kazu Oshima – 789,500
Pete Malkoun – 255,000
Oktay Altinbas – 50,500

$1,650 Purple Chip Bounty No Limit Hold’em (Freeze-out)
Level 16: 1,500/3,000/500 Ante

A brutal hand has sent Alon Yehudi packing here in Event 8 and continues the charge for Kazu Oshima toward this championship.

Yehudi bet out 19,000 on a flop and was called by Oshima.  Another 40,000 went in on the turn and Yehudi pushed the rest of his chips in on a river and Oshima snap-called.

Yehudi flipped over his showing he’d flopped the nut straight but Oshima turned over as his chase of the straight turned into a back door flush.  Yehudi never saw it coming and was unceremoniously ousted in 4th place after an outstanding tournament.

Alon Yehudi finished in 4th place for$7,650.

$1,650 Purple Chip Bounty No Limit Hold’em (Freeze-out)
Level 16: 1,500/3,000/500 Ante

This may turn out to be Kazu Oshima’s night to shine.

Oshima now stands at 595,000 chips with four players remaining.  At this point, he has the rest of the table covered with Pete Malkoun, Alon Yehudi and Oktay Altinbas fighting to get back into it.

Play rolls on here with about 20 minutes to go here in Level 16.

$1,650 Purple Chip Bounty No Limit Hold’em (Freeze-out)
Level 16: 1,500/3,000/500 Ante

Travell Thomas hit top pair but unfortunately it wasn’t enough.

On a flop, Thomas made his move and was called down by the big stack in the tournament – Kazu Oshima.  Oshima held looking to knock out Thomas with the two overcards and the flush draw.

Oshima has been on a roll and it didn’t stop as the peeled off on the turn.  Thomas got no help from a on the river and was dismissed from the table.

Thomas finishes in 5th place picking up $5,950.

$1,650 Purple Chip Bounty No Limit Hold’em (Freeze-out)
Level 15: 1,200/2,400/400 Ante

Oktay Altinbas must have been watching the hit TV show “Game of Thrones” last night because he was inspired to bring some extra firepower to today’s final table – a dragon.

It’s been good to him so far as he managed to crack Kazu Oshima’s set of fives rivering a six for a set of his own to double up and stay alive.  With his chips under extreme protection, we’ll see if anyone can slay the dragon and take Altinbas’s chips and his bounty.

$1,650 Purple Chip Bounty No Limit Hold’em (Freeze-out)
Level 15: 1,200/2,400/400 Ante

John Brody managed to get one double up but the poker gods had other ideas on his try to do it again.

Brody went in with and was called by Kazu Oshima holding .  A seemingly harmless flop of turned into a disaster as the board ran out giving Oshima the nut flush and Brody’s bounty.

John Brody finishes in 6th place for $4,675.