HomeTien Pham is fighting his way to chip up against the big stacks. He opened the hand with a raise to 4000 and was called by both Michael Mariakis and Peter Nguyen. At the flop, A♥ A♠ 6♣, they all checked for a free turn look of 8♣. Action was checked to Pham who bet 4000 and got one caller in Mariakis. Then at the river of 9♥, action slowed and both players checked. Pham won with his K♦ 9♦ against Mariakis 4♣{5c).
Several hands after, Michael Mariakis was all in and Pham called. Pham had K♥ A♦ while Mariakis had A♥ 7♠. With the board running blanks, Mariakis was eliminated and Pham added more to his growing pile.