Tournament of Champions

Raul Garza opened the action with a raise to 125,000 with the    and Ryan Messick flat-called in the small blind holding the   . Both players checked the     flop and Messick check-called the   turn for 180,000. On the   river, Messick checked again and a bet worth 350,000 by Garza won the pot uncontested.

"I am pretty sure I beat all your bluffs", Messick said during the final stages of the hand and his instinct were right but he ended up folding anyways.

Benjamin Kaupp	4,000,000	-100,000
Raul Garza	3,600,000	600,000
Robert Cowen	3,500,000	0
Ryan Messick	3,100,000	-400,000

Ryan Messick three-bet jammed successfully against Raul Garza and then raised to 120,000 on the button with the   . Benjamin Kaupp three-bet to 400,000 in the small blind with the    and Garza opted to flat-call in the big blind with   .

That sent Messick into the think tank and he then pushed all-in after a minute consideration. Kaupp got out of the way quickly but Garza asked for a count. The shove was for 1,870,000 and Garza elected to fold, exposing his    in the process.

"I am very happy with that," Messick said with a big smile on the face and then raked in the pot.

Benjamin Kaupp	4,100,000	0
Raul Garza	3,800,000	0
Robert Cowen	3,500,000	0
Ryan Messick	2,700,000	0

Ryan Messick made it 120,000 to go on the button and was called by Raul Garza in the big blind. The     flop was checked and Garza bet the   turn for 100,000, earning a call from

On the   river, Garza bet another 250,000 by Messick and received the call. He flipped over the    and that won the pot.

Benjamin Kaupp	4,800,000	850,000
Raul Garza	4,000,000	-185,000
Robert Cowen	3,100,000	195,000
Ryan Messick	2,200,000	-855,000

Raul Garza raised to 125,000 on the button and then instantly called the shove by Gregory Wish from one seat over for 600,000 in total out of the small blind.

Gregory Wish:   
Raul Garza:   

The dominated ace improved on the     flop and retained the lead throughout the   turn nor the   river for Wish to depart in sixth place for a payday of $37,500.

Raul Garza	3,800,000	0
Gregory Wish	0	0

From under the gun, Benjamin Kaupp raised to 130,000 and Raul Garza made it 360,000 to go from one seat over which Kaupp elected to call. Both players saw a flop of     on which Kaupp check-called a bet worth 200,000.

The   followed on the turn and the action was quickly checked through, which led to the   on the river. Kaupp checked again and so did Garza. The former showed    and Garza chopped it up with the   .

Benjamin Kaupp	3,200,000	100,000
Raul Garza	3,200,000	100,000

Ryan Messick raised to 100,000 in a middle position with the    and Robert Cowen called in the small blind. On the     flop, Cowen check-called 75,000 and the   turn as well as the   river were checked. Cowen tabled his    for nines and fours to win the pot.

Robert Cowen	3,200,000	0
Benjamin Kaupp	3,100,000	200,000
Raul Garza	3,100,000	-200,000
Yuliyan Kolev	1,700,000	-100,000
Ryan Messick	1,300,000	0
Ali Eslami	875,000	0
Gregory Wish	720,000	-150,000

Ali Eslami limped in for 50,000 on the button with    and Ryan Messick raised to 200,000 in the small blind.

Benjamin Kaupp then jammed for 1,420,000 out of the big blind and Eslami instantly folded while Messick called within four seconds.

Benjamin Kaupp:   
Ryan Messick:   

While the     flop provided some equity to crack the aces with a king and back door clubs, nothing changed on the   turn and   river as Kaupp doubled.

Benjamin Kaupp	2,900,000	0
Ryan Messick	1,300,000	0

Yuliyan Kolev raised to 105,000 with the    and Ryan Messick called in the small blind with    for the     flop to appear. Messick check-called for 80,000 and both checked the   on the turn. After the   river, Messick bet 300,000 and "bucket man" Kolev counted his chips before folding.

Two hands later, Kolev opened to 105,000 with    and Messick three-bet to 280,000 in the cutoff with   . What followed was the reluctant call by Kolev and the very same duo headed to the     flop. The Bulgarian checked and subsequently called a bet worth 250,000.

Following the   turn, Kolev checked again and Messick moved all-in for 1,610,000 total to send his opponent into the blender. Kolev found a fold.

Robert Cowen	3,500,000	30,000
Ryan Messick	2,800,000	945,000
Raul Garza	2,700,000	20,000
Yuliyan Kolev	1,900,000	-680,000
Ali Eslami	1,200,000	25,000
Benjamin Kaupp	1,200,000	-165,000
Gregory Wish	870,000	-100,000

The final seven players are now on a short break and the live stream will commence at 5pm local time with 30 minutes left at blinds of 25,000-50,000 and a big blind ante of 50,000. Below are the updated counts.

All PokerNews live updates from now on will be based on the live stream on the PokerGO platform in order to not spoil any of the action.

Robert Cowen	3,470,000	-230,000
Raul Garza	2,680,000	-70,000
Yuliyan Kolev	2,580,000	-20,000
Ryan Messick	1,855,000	55,000
Benjamin Kaupp	1,365,000	-285,000
Ali Eslami	1,175,000	300,000
Gregory Wish	970,000	-25,000

Raul Garza raised to 100,000 from an early position and was called by Yuliyan Kolev on the button and Ryan Messick in the big blind. The flop brought     and all three players checked. Messick also checked the   turn and Garza now bet 125,000, picking up two calls.

They checked again the   on the river and Messick won the pot with the   .

One hand later, Ali Eslami as one of the short stacks opened to 100,000 in the cutoff and Garza called out of the big blind. The     flop was checked to Eslami, who bet 125,000 and Garza snap-folded.

Yuliyan Kolev	3,200,000	200,000
Raul Garza	2,750,000	-650,000
Ryan Messick	1,800,000	295,000
Ali Eslami	875,000	0
Gregory Wish	510,000	-125,000