Raise and take it, raise and take it, raise and take it, raise and take it. You raise you might just take it too.

Since the double-doubles in the first few hands of the level, we have seen very little action and, incredibly, very few flops. Turns and rivers... forget it.

As we near the break one big hand did play out with Ben Sabrin raising to $67k before the flop and Bart Tichelman suddenly pushing all-in for $352,000. Sabrin laid it down and the paint drying continues.

Feeling the pressure of the blinds, a short stacked Giovanni Marcacci just made a big move. Ben Sabrin made it $57,000 to go and Marcacci shoved for just over $100k more.

Sabrin contemplated the call for quite a few minutes.

"Oh god why do I hate math sometimes," Sabrin said, making the crying call.

It was K Q for Marcacci, in tight against Sabrin's 6 6 and the race was on.

The flop was great for Marcacci as the A 5 7 made him a flush draw. The 4 turn was meaningless, but the 2 gave him the flush and he doubled up.

A short-stacked Mark Garner open-shoved for his last $160k and Donald Nicholson obliged with the call.

Garner's A Q was way ahead against Nicholson's A 9 and looked great for the double when the flop came 7 Q 8. The 6 on the turn meant a ten or a five could send Garner to the rail but the 2 gave him the check mark and he doubled to over $300k.

Here's the chip counts as things stand right now:

Donald Nicholson	$1,220,000
Ben Sabrin	$770,000
John Devia	$630,000
Ryan Young	$330,000
Bart Tichelman	$320,000
Giovanni Marcacci	$195,000
Mark Garner	$165,000

 

Yet again, the blinds are up and the action should follow!

With just a few minutes left in this level play has seemingly ground to a halt. The structure has handed these players deep stacks with the average around $500k and the big blind only $16k, making for what is shaping up to be a marathon of a final table.

Most of the hands at this level have been of the raise-and-take-it variety with little action to report.

Only two players have been bounced in the first three hours of poker and no one seems to want to get their money in too quick and be the next one out. Why should they with the blinds being no threat at all.

Mark Garner made a $35,000 pre-flop raise only to see John Devia come over the top from the big blind for $105,000 total.

He made the call and watched Devia pushed out a $150k bet on the A 4 2 flop.

"You caught your ace huh?" Garner asked, before folding. "Nice bet."

Here's the updated chip counts:

Donald Nicholson $1,000,000

Ben Sabrin $800,000

John Devia $500,000

Ryan Young $358,000

Bart Tichelman $270,000

Mark Garner $220,000

Giovanni Marcacci $300,000

Giovanni Marcacci pushed his last $120k in pre-flop behind a John Devia $53,000 raise and needed some help with A Q after Devia made the call with 7 7.

The 8 9 10 flop gave Marcacci any jack as another out and the 8 turn gave him even more possibilities considering any diamond, nine or ten would also make him the best hand.

The A on the river was what did it and Marcacci doubles through Devia.

We're back from break and the price of poker has just gone up again!