HomeTetsuya Tsuchikawa may have the lowest stack at the final three but it is still a stack to be worried about. From the button, Tsuchikawa raised to 160K and Tech called from the big blind.
At the flop of 5♥ 6♥ 7♥, Tech checked to Tsuchikawa who bet 140K. Tech smooth-called. On the turn of J♦, Tech checked again and this time Tsuchikawa slid out a tower of blue chips amounting to 200K. This was enough for him to take the pot as Tech folded.
On the small blinds, Jojo Tech raised to 160,000 and BB Tetsuya Tsuchikawa made the call.
Flop: 7♥ K♦ 6♠
Tech fired another 110,000 and again, Tsuchikawa flat-called.
Turn: 10♣
Tech fired a bigger 240,000 this time and Tsuchikawa frustratingly threw away his hand.
Tech has nearly 3M at this point while Tech is at 1.2 or so.
Shortly after Linh Tran’s elimination, big stacked John Tech was looking to increase his stack further as he raised on the button to make it 170K to go. Huy Pham on the big blind made an aggressive move and shoved all his 1,485,000 chips in the middle. After assessing the possible damage to his chips, Tech still made the call and it was a showdown.
Tech: A♥ J♣
Pham: A♦ J♠
With the board running 9♠ Q♠ 10♣ K♦ 8♦, both players had to settle for a split pot.
Linh Tran’s main event run is over.
All-in preflop against Tetsuya Tsuchikawa, the Canadian needed help when his A♦ 8♦ was dominated by Tet’s A♥ J♦.
The flop Q♣ 9♦ 4♦ provided hope and additional outs for Tran but the flush/eight couldn’t be found on the turn 7♣ or river 10♥.
Tran is out in 4th place and we are down to 3 players in the main event.
Estimated chip counts after the hand:
Tech – 2.7M
Tsuchikawa – 1.45M
Pham – 1.6M
After one orbit around the table, Michael Mariakis and John Tech faced the same battle as before with both of them on the blinds, however, things didn’t turn out like the previous encounter.
As everyone folded to Tech on the small blind, he raised it up to 130K and Mariakis smooth-called.
At the flop of A♣ 10♠ 3♣, Tech sent out a continuation bet of 130K but got raised to 300K by Mariakis. This time it was Tech who smooth-called.
With the turn landing 9♥, the intensity between the players lay thick in the room. Tech quietly checked to Mariakis who took some time to decide his next move. Mariakis eventually moved all in and in a snap Tech called.
Tech: A♥ 10♦ top pair
Mariakis: 8♣ 6♣ gut shot draw / flush draw
Though he had several outs, the A♠ river card was not one of them. Mariakis bows out in 5th place and collects P696,000 for his great run at the Main Event.
Tech is now the overwhelming chip leader with 2.6M in his arsenal.
Michael Mariakis limped into the pot as small blind Tetsuya Tsuchikawa folded and big blind Huy Pham checked to bring the flop Q♥ 4♥ A♠.
Pham check-called Mariakis’ bet of 80,000 and both players checked the turn 4♣.
On the river 7♠, Pham check-called again Mariakis’ 155,000 bet. The Vietnamese was shown the bad news when the Australian tabled 2♦ 4♦. 2-4!
In a battle of the blinds between sb John Tech and bb Michael Mariakis, Tech raised to 130K only to face a re-raise all in from Mariakis. Having to call an additional 600K, Tech tanked then eventually folded. Mariakis was shipped the pot and now has 900K chips.
Tetsuya Tsuchikawa raised to 130,000 preflop but saw Huy Pham shove his stack worth well over 700,000.
Tsuchikawa called and was willing to risk with K♦ Q♦ but was behind against Pham’s A♠ 4♣.
Dealer flopped A♦ A♥ 6♦ which means trips for Pham but Tsuchikaw now needs a diamond to win this hand. None on the turn 3♥ and river 7♥ however and Pham is back among the leaders with around 1.45M. Tsuchikawa drops to around 1.15M.
Michael Mariakis and Linh Tran have about the same amount of chips and both were engaged in a pot that would bring one up and the other at the shortest stack at the table. Mariakis led the betting with a 120K raise from the cutoff seat and was three-bet all in by Tran for another 560K. With only 590K behind, Mariakis tanked then folded.