$2,500 No-Limit Hold'em (Event #48)

Hand #25: Ben Keeline raised first to act to 95,000, called by big blind Ari Engel. Engel check-called a bet of 85,000 on the     flop, after which the flow of chips to pot stopped. They saw a free    turn and river, Engel showed    for two pair and won the pot.

Hand #26: Wilbern Hoffman took the min-pot with a preflop raise to 135,000.

Hand #27: Hoffman limped in under the gun, Engel did the same on the button, as well as David Baker in the big blind for no further cost. They saw all five community cards for no further cost.

"I got it," said Baker, the board standing       and his    did, in fact, have it. The others mucked.

Hand #28: Pablo Melogno raised in middle position to 130,000 and Hoffman defended his big blind. From then on, it was Melogno doing the calling as Hoffman led all three streets. He bet 200,000 on the     flop, 350,000 on the   turn and 500,000 on the   river. Melogno called all bets, but mucked when Hoffman turned over   .

Hand #29: James Hughes moved all in with no callers.

Wilbern Hoffman	4,180,000	1,280,000
Pablo Melogno	2,600,000	-1,135,000

The remaining eight players are heading on a 60-minute dinner break and will return to the blinds at 60,000/120,000 with a 120,000 big blind ante.

Hand #20: Josh Arieh moved all in preflop in an open spot for around 800,000. A full count was not requested by speedy button caller Ben Keeline.

Arieh:   
Keeline:   

The board:      . Arieh quietly stood and exited from the feature stage, watched by a crowd that has grown steadily in the hour this final table has been running on it.

Ben Keeline	2,550,000	720,000
Josh Arieh	0	-980,000

Hand #12: Pablo Melogno opened to 115,000 in middle position and Ryan Olisar shipped all in for 375,000 from the big blind. Melogno still took a minute before making the call to put Olisar at risk.

Olisar turned over    and was flipping against the    of Melogno. The board ran out       and Olisar held on to earn a double up.

Hand #13: The action folded to Olisar in the small blind and he shoved all in. James Hughes was down to around 500,000 in the big blind and he folded.

Hand #14: Olisar moved all in again on the button this time and both of the blinds folded.

Hand #15: James Hughes pushed all in on the button for 460,000 and picked up the pot.

Hand #16: Ari Engel raised to 115,000 from under the gun and Olisar called from the hijack. The flop came     and Engel check-called a bet of 110,000 from Olisar. Both players checked the   on the turn and Engel led out for 130,000 on the   river. Olisar folded and Engel raked in the pot.

Ryan Olisar	825,000	325,000
James Hughes	585,000	-125,000

Hand #4: Pablo Melogno raised to 110,000 in early position and picked up the blinds and ante.

Hand #5: Ari Engel opened to 125,000 in middle position and Ben Keeline three-bet shoved all in for 1,685,000 on his left. The action folded back to Engel who asked for a count before dipping into the tank. It was over five minutes later and Engel still had a puzzled look on his face. He eventually laid his hand down and Keeline scooped the pot.

Hand #6: Engel made it 110,000 to go this time and Melogno defended from the big blind. The flop fell     and Melogno led out for 80,000. Engel called and the   landed on the turn.

Melogno stuck in another bet of 165,000 and Engel still called. The river was the   and Melogno sized up a bet of 685,000. Engel thought for a couple of minutes again and sent his cards to the muck once more.

Pablo Melogno	2,930,000	480,000
Ari Engel	1,980,000	-580,000
Ben Keeline	1,830,000	480,000

Hand #1: A raise-and-take-it with a bet of 85,000 from Josh Arieh.

Hand #2: Ari Engle opened for 100,000 in the cutoff, but folded to a three-bet to 300,000 from button Ben Keeline.

Hand #3: Keeline raised the next one too, the 80,000 called by small blind Wilbern Hoffman, who check-folded the     flop.

Harald Sammer has popped the final table bubble by busting in 10th in a gargantuan three-way pot vs. Ari Engel and Wilbern Hoffman. Preflop, Hoffman opened for 100,000 and Sammer shoved for 990,000. Engel asked for a count, then announced that he too was all in. Back to Hoffman, who snap-called too.

Sammer:   
Hoffman:   
Engel:    (putting both of the near evenly stacked shorter players at risk)

When the flop of     brought two pair for Sammer, Hoffman, standing, uttered a short Anglo-Saxon expletive. The turn was the innocuous   but the river paired the seven with the  .

"Aces, you won," it was pointed out to Hoffman who was still in the thrall of the flop suckout. He bent double, then picked himself, and his large new stack, up.

Wilbern Hoffman	3,300,000	1,690,000
Ari Engel	2,550,000	-1,150,000
Harald Sammer	0	-1,000,000

Ari Engel is pulling away from the ten-handed field, with over a million chips more than the next-highest stacked player Pablo Melogno. His most recent chunk of change came courtesy of Ryan Olisar, who played a pot out of position that took a turn for the serious on the river. Both players having checked the turn, the board lay      . Olisar checked and Engel bet 180,000. This represented just under a quarter of Olisar's remaining chips, and he thought for a while before making the call. Engel showed    for two pair, the board's nine kicker. Olisar mucked his hand.

Ari Engel	4,300,000	1,170,000
Ryan Olisar	600,000	-600,000

Shortly after his reprieve from the felt, Hughes, who as the shortest player on either table is taking a fair while with his decisions (the floor is now hovering to make sure there's no stalling five-handed), took the plunge under the gun plus one for 440,000. It folded to big blind Josh Arieh, who snapped him off, finding himself in great shape preflop:

Arieh:   
Hughes:   

Hughes was on his feet for the     flop, but when the   arrived on the turn and the   the river he retook his seat.

"That took you three minutes to move in with that hand?" asked a rankled Arieh, more for the time issues than the beat.

"It's a lot of money, someone might bust..." replied Hughes. The dust settled and they returned to play.

Josh Arieh	1,100,000	-250,000
James Hughes	880,000	460,000