Coury Mascagni raised to 40,000 from the button, then Edward Pham three-bet to 105,000 from the big blind. Mascagni responded by shoving all in for approximately 830,000, and Pham was quick with the call.
Mascagni:
Pham:
Mascagni needed help, but the flop came to improve Pham further to a set, and the turn made the river no matter.
"How many times have you had aces?" asked Chris Klodnicki afterwards. "And won with them?" he added.
Indeed, we've seen Pham knock out another opponent with pocket aces already (Joseph Tracy in sixth), and double through Micah Raskin earlier with aces, too.
With the board showing a highly coordinated and a medium-sized pot already developed, Chris Klodnicki pushed out a bet of 50,000 and his lone opponent, Coury Mascagni, made the call. The river then brought the to put a straight on the board, and Klodnicki again bet, this time 125,000. Once more Mascagni called.
Klodnicki showed for an eight-high straight, and Mascagni mucked.
On the very first hand of Level 23, Richard Allen opened for 50,000 from the button, then Coury Mascagni folded his small blind. William Tonking then checked his cards, and without much hesitation declared he was all in for his last 450,000 or so, and Allen didn't wait long to make the call.
Tonking:
Allen:
The flop came , and Tonking was looking for one of the two remaining sixes to save him. But the turn was the and river the , and suddenly they are down to four.
The pace has definitely slowed here during the latter part of Level 22, although there was some action just now in a hand pitting William Tonking against Chris Klodnicki.
In that one Tonking opened to 32,000 from the cutoff and Klodnicki called from the button. The dealer spread the flop , and when Tonking continued for 40,000, Klodnicki stuck around. The turn was the , and this time both players checked.
The river brought the and another check from Tonking. Klodnicki took the opening to bet 75,000, and Tonking thought a short while before folding.
It folded to William Tonking on the button and he min-raised to 32,000, then watched Edward Pham reraise to 81,000 from the big blind. Tonking looked across the table, then announced he was reraising all in, and Pham folded.
Not long after that hand, Pham was raising to 35,000 from the cutoff, and Coury Mascagni called from the small blind. Tonking then reraised to 120,000 from the big blind, getting both Pham and Mascagni to fold.
William Tonking opened for 32,000 from the cutoff and picked up three callers in Chris Klodnicki (button), Edward Pham (small blind), and Richard Allen (big blind).
The quartet saw the flop come , and it checked to Tonking who bet 69,000. Klodnicki raised to 150,000, and Edward Pham called the raise from a seat over before both Allen and Tonking folded.
The turn brought the and a leading bet of 200,000 from Pham. Klodnicki considered for nearly a minute before finally raising his eyebrows and shrugging slightly as he folded his hand.
Pham has now grabbed the chip lead from Klodnicki with about half an hour left in Level 22.
Chris Klodnicki began the hand with a minimum-raise to 32,000 from under the gun, then Edward Pham made it 77,000 from middle position. It folded back around to Joseph Tracy in the big blind and after a pause to consider the situation Tracy four-bet to 171,000. Klodnicki looked things over himself for a short while before folding, then Pham took about a half-minute before calling.
The flop brought three big cards �� �� and Tracy responded by pushing all in for about 430,000. Pham didn't take too long before calling, and Tracy flipped over for a pair of kings. Meanwhile Pham tabled for a set of aces, and after the turn and river, Tracy was on the rail.
Pham is still organizing his chips, but he appears to have around 1.5 million or so, a stack challenging Klodnicki's for the lead with five players remaining.