| Starting the day with less than 3 rounds of blinds, we expected Mitchell Mantin to make moves early and that is precisely what he did. On the second hand of the day Mitch moved his remaining 13,200 in with pocket sixes only to have every player fold. Soon after that Mitch had it all in again pre-flop, this time holding Qd 8c. Jason Song looked Mitch up with a poultry 6c 7s, and after the final board read Kd 5h 9h Qc 6s, Mitch had his first full double up of the day. Two hands later Mitch looked down at Ah 8d and decided it was time to put on his dancing shoes again. Mitch moved all in pre-flop but this time Jason Song had the right lyrics when he found As Ts and quickly called. The board was no help for Mitch when it came Td 3c 2c Qc 4h, and we had out 6th place finisher. Mitch goes home with $4,190 and some good TV time.
Next victim of the day was Brian'Bubba' Essenter. I have no idea why this guy calls himself 'Bubba' since he is a skinny white guy but he should look into shrimp farming after his play on this hand. Brian raised to 10K from the cutoff with Jd 9d and was called by Robert Tyburski in the big blind with Ks Th. When the flop landed Tc Qd 2s, Robert moved all in, only to have Brian call behind him. Brian needed a jack, king or an eight and he decided that it was certainly going to come, but unfortunately for him the turn brought the 3d and the river the 7s, ending his campaign for the day and earning him 5th place glory and $4,889 in cash.
The next big hand of the day came on hand number 29. World renowned tournament reporter Oliver Tse raised to 9K from the button with 6d 6s. Jason Song moved all in behind him with pocket nines and the action was back onto Oliver. Oliver went into the tank for almost 6 minutes and eventually Jason called a clock on him. Tournament director at Caesars Paul Lord came over and counted down Oliver. After a minute had gone by Paul declared Oliver's hand dead and Jason took down a small pot. Only 3 hands later Oliver and Jason were at it again. This time around Oliver limped into the pot from the small blind with Jc 9d. Jason checked the 3d 2d. The flop came Jd Jh 3c and Oliver was about to reap the benefits of the previous time out. Oliver bet out on the flop 5K. Sensing weakness, Jason moved all in. Oliver looked as though Santa had just come to town and jumped out of his chair as he yelled 'CALL!' That pot crippled Jason and he managed to get all in with 6d 6c on the very next hand. Jason thought that he might be getting a complete triple up when Oliver and Robert checked down a final board of 8c Tc 2h 9s 7s, but Robert was holding the Ah Js for the jack high straight. Jason finishes in 4th place and collects $5,587.
After 34 hands three handed, Robert and Steve Crockett locked horns on a huge pot. Robert raised to 10K pre-flop with Jh Qc and Steve re-raised another 20K with As Jc. Oliver got out of the way and Robert called from the button. When the flop came 4h Qh 6c, Steve moved all in for 48,900. It seemed that Steve was going to move in no matter what the flop and unfortunately for him, Robert hit his queen so his little plan failed terribly. Once the turn and river came down as 5c 9h, we were finally heads up. Steve Crockett finishes in 3rd place and wins $7,682.
Heads up battle began with Robert holding a more than 6-1 chip lead. Oliver managed to claw his way back with successive double ups and even managed to garner the chip lead for a hand or two. With the blinds at 3K/6K and a 500 ante, Robert raised from the small blind with Kh Qh to 18K. Oliver looked down at Kd Ts and decided that this was his chance to win it all and moved all in. With his tournament life on the line Robert now had to decide if his king queen was the hand he wanted to go down with. Both Oliver and Robert were relatively even in chips with Robert the slight chip leader. After a few minutes of deliberating Robert finally announced call and Oliver was in trouble. When the final board read 5s 3s 8d 5d 7h we had our winner. Robert Tyburski wins event number 3 and collects $24,444 for his great play. Oliver finishes in second place and collects $14,666.
Robert now joins David Zazzi and Keith Tilston in the semi finals where the 10 winners will play for a chance at $125,000 added money.
This report was brought to you by TV Poker and Rob Huxley.
May the flop be with you. . . Always
| 
