After Brian Cavaliere opened for a raise to 20,000, a short-stacked David Lackey made his stand with the , moving all in over the top for his last 110,000.
The action folded back around to Cavaliere and he quickly called with the to find himself in the classic coin flip situation. The board ran out , and despite finding a four-flush on fourth street, the river missed Lackey's hand entirely and he hit the rail in sixth place.
The board read by fourth street and Mark Castaldo had a bet of 15,000 pushed in front of his stack.
David Lackey responded with a raise to 45,000, forcing Castaldo to a tough decision. After asking for a count of the raise, Castaldo opted to flat the bet and take the river, which came down .
Pausing a beat to ponder his options, Castaldo suddenly announced himself all in for approximately 114,000, which was effectively an all-in bet for Lackey as well, who held 120,000 behind.
After squeezing and re-checking his hole cards, Lackey appeared to be pained by the bet, and he flashed the before announcing the fold.
After a 13,000 opening raise from Lee Childs in early position, a short-stacked Brian Cavaliere three-bet shoved for 55,000 more.
Childs went deep into the tank and cut out a stack of calling chips to assess the damage should he wind up second-best.
"Well, if I'm gonna lose, it might as well be to you Lee..." said Cavaliere. "I took you out in the last one."
Childs only grinned in response, before saying aloud "you might've cost yourself some action there."
Eventually though, after a tank that spanned more than three minutes, Childs made a reluctant call with , finding himself drawing thin against the Day 1 chip leader's .
Standing to sweat the flop, Cavaliere watched the rain down, giving him a full house and a near lock on the hand. The turn card came to leave Childs drawing dead, and the came on the river to make things official.
The play has slowed to a crawl here at the final table, with the following series of hands representing the general vibe during the last level.
First, Jim Boyd came over the top of Joseph Stiers opening raise, making a sizable three-bet and bantering with the young semi-pro thirty years his junior.
"I'll show if ya fold Joe..." Boyd told Stiers. "I only bet big when I got it."
Stiers was convinced by the bluster and flashed an as he folded, saying "I lost my gamble somewhere" softly to himself.
Boyd returned the favor by turning his face up on the felt.
"I hate that hand," offered Boyd, glad to take down a pot without a fight.
A few hands later, the action folded around and Stiers received a walk in the big blind. Squeezing his hole cards, Stiers winced and grinned, showing the table the he had been waiting to wake up with.
The vast majority of hands during this level have been won by open-shoves from the shorties, or three-bets from the big stacks, and nobody appears willing to mix it up without a premium holding.
In a pot that is emblematic of the "raise-and-take" action (or inaction) here at the final table, Brian Cavaliere just took down the blinds and antes with an open-jam.
Putting his last 60,000 or so at risk, Cavaliere watched as the table folded dutifully around, collecting the blinds and antes in the process.
, moving all in over the top for his last 110,000.
to find himself in the classic coin flip situation. The board ran out 
, and despite finding a four-flush on fourth street, the river missed Lackey's hand entirely and he hit the rail in sixth place.
![[user253757]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
by fourth street and Mark Castaldo had a bet of 15,000 pushed in front of his stack.
, finding himself drawing thin against the Day 1 chip leader's 
.
rain down, giving him a full house and a near lock on the hand. The turn card came 
face up on the felt.
he had been waiting to wake up with.
