The lesson so far from the final table is that best pre-flop hand doesn’t always win, and the latest elimination from the final table is a case in point. We have already seen kings and aces cracked, and now just went down to with Arthur W’s elimination in seventh place.

With the blinds at 8K/16K, the action was opened by Kathy Sawers to 40K. Arthur W, immediately to her left, raised to 100K, and Sawers made the call. Sawers checked to Arthur on the flop, and he moved all in. Sawers snap called, and hands were tabled. Sawers had the top two pair with  over Arthur’s pair of queens with . The runout, and did not change the results of the flop, and Arthur left in seventh place. He will take home $2,280.00 for the final table appearance.

Daniel Hughes has just been eliminated in eighth place. He gave up his bounty chip to Rong Xu, after the chips went in on a flop of . First to act on the flop, Hughes moved all in. Xu asked for the count and eventually made the call.

Xu:

Hughes:

The turn, , and river, , couldn’t save Hughes. His eighth place finished earned him $1,930.00.

Play has resumed on the final table with seven players remaining. There was a brief discussion concerning a possible deal, but unanimity could not be reached so play continues.

Here are the updated chip counts:

Andy D’alessandro, known to many around Playground simply as “Coach,” was the next to leave the final table. After waiting patiently for a good spot, the blinds eventually caught up, and he chose to take his chances with suited connectors when down to less than five big blinds. With the blinds at 5K/10K, the action had been opened by Isham Yamani from late position. It quickly folded to D’alessandro in the big blind who moved all in for his last 44,000. The call was made and hands were tabled.

D’alessandro:

Yamani:

The board provided a bit of a sweat when D’alessandro turned a straight draw, but in the end ace high prevailed and Coach hit the rail in ninth place. He will collect $1,650.00 for the deep run.

The final table has just started, but we already have our first elimination. Benoit Forcier had a healthy stack when the players made their way to the final table, but after back-to-back cooler spots he has been eliminated in tenth place.

The first big pot on the final table was an all in before the flop between Forcier and Arthur W. It was looking good for Forcier, who was holding , against Arthur’s . But a king on the river changed everything and crippled Forcier’s stack. The very next hand would prove to be Forcier’s last when he moved all in from under the gun. The player to his left, Isham Yamani, asked for a count and made the call for 117,500. The action folded around after some hesitation and hands were tabled.

Forcier:

Yamani:

The board, 7s , posed no threat to the Yamani’s aces, and Forcier was the first to leave the final table. Forcier will receive $1,650 for his tenth place finish.