We've seen some dramatic bubbles through the years. Whether it's huge sums of cash at the line, megastar players falling on the final hurdle or prolonged periods of nervous tension.
This bubble did not have any of those, nevertheless it had almost about everything else. We saw coolers, huge hero calls and a brutal bad beat in a single of probably the most remarkable bubbles in recent memory.
It started over on Table 26 where Liam O'Rourke was cruising along comfortably until disaster struck. It was everyone's worst nightmare - set over set. Joe Reina turned a suite of eights to raised O'Rourke's flopped set of deuces. It was an unfortunate end for O'Rourke, just two places from the money.
While that was unfolding Corey Kempson was deep, deep, deep within the tank in a hand against overnight chip leader Vincent Chua on Table 27. The board read J♦7♥3♦2♥2♠ and Chua had moved all in to position Kempson to without equal test.
The minutes ticked by and a crowd began to gather as, by this stage, we were at the stone-cold bubble and play have been paused at the other tables.
Kempson seemed to be enjoying the attention, rocking back in his chair and talking it up for the audience.
"I'm pretty light," said Kempson to nobody particularly because the pressure mounted.
Another five minutes ticked by before Kempson finally reached for 2 red 500-denomination chips. He held them out in front of himself, paused for dramatic affect for an excellent ten seconds after which dropped them onto the felt. Call!
Chua sheepishly revealed T♠8♠ for a busted straight draw as Kempson slammed his 9♠7♠ down directly to the felt.
"Three streets! At the dry bubble!" yelled Kempson triumphantly as his bubble hero call netted a remarkable double up.
The story of the bubble didn't end there. Attention shifted to Table 28 where Mike Fraser moved all in with A♠A♣ against Michael Chrisanthopoulos who made the decision with A♥Q♥. Fraser was ready to double up however the dealer fanned a 8♦J♠T♦ flop. The aces were in front however the early symptoms were there as Chrisanthopoulos flopped a perilous double-gutter. The turn was a secure 6♦ however the river was the K♣ to provide Chrisanthopoulos a Broadway straight to take the pot!
A very unlucky Fraser was eliminated in brutal fashion as our bubble boy as Chrisanthopoulos claims the tournament chip lead with over 550,000 in chips.
With that, we will all catch our breath as normal tournament play resumes. The exception is that now our 63 remaining players have each padded their back pockets by a minimum $3,100 pay day.
Heath "TassieDevil" Chick is a contract Contributor for the PokerStars Blog.
Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: Australia New Zealand Poker Tour]
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