We arrived at table #19 where there seemed to be some serious action.  With a little more than half the average, Steven Tran was all-in for 374,000 chips.  Jonathan James Rothman had shoved on top and the action was on François Gagné.  Gagné seemed really undecided about what to do.  With barely one level left before the bags come out, players with decent stacks are often a little more cautious about when and where they gamble their chips.  After tanking a bit, Gagné made a hard fold and showed his hand: .  A quick survey of the faces around the table confirmed that everyone thought that was a really tight fold.

Gagné’s fold was the last action, so the dealer instructed Tran and Rothman to table their hands.

Rothman:

Tran:

The board was revealed: and Rothman’s cowboys held their ground.  And Gagné had mad a great fold.

Tran was left with 23,000 chips after this hand.  In the next hand he was all-in with and faced Steve Pouliot holding .  The board was of no help at all for Tran, and that was it for him.

So Tran heads to the rail in 28th position, claiming a prize of $680 for his trouble.

The tournament is about to go into hand-per-hand action as the timer dwindles down on the last level of the evening.