Mike Sandler ever so briefly claimed the chip lead, before Joe McKeehen took it right back from him
In a series of two hands played in quick succession, Joe McKeehen and Mike Sandler just traded their chip stacks back and forth.
First, the two saw a flop of and McKeehen fired out for 32,000. Sandler popped him to 83,000 and McKeehen shipped all in for the rest of his stack. Sandler snapped him off while tabling for a flopped flush, while McKeehen was drawing with the . The turn () and river () failed to bring a fourth club to the board, and with that Sandler regained the chip leadership he owned heading into the day.
Just a deal or two later, the two went toe to toe yet again, after seeing the flop of . We heard Sandler announce himself all in (likely coming over the top of McKeehen's lead out), with the young pro snap-calling and revealing for top two pair.
"Man!" said Sandler in frustration as he tabled for a busted bluff. "Right back to ya."
The turn and river bricked off and McKeehen rebuilt his stack to more than 1.3 million - or right where he started before the two tangled in the first place.
On the last hand before the recent break Joe McKeehen won what might be biggest pot of the tournament thus far - and he did so in improbable fashion.
McKeehen opened for 32,000 and watched as Sandler slid four of the red T25000 chips forward for the three-bet to 100,000.
After a pause to assess his own stack and Sandler's, McKeehen announced himself all in for 674,000 and Sandler quickly made the call looking to put a hammerlock on the tournament.
Sandler:
McKeehen:
The two were flipping coins for heaps, and when the flop fell it appeared that Sandler had called the right side. The turn card came and McKeehen was down to two outs in the deck to avoid elimination.
River:
The 22-year old pro never even flinched at the sight of his saving grace, calmly moving his stacks forward for the dealer to count before dragging in the massive pot. He now holds nearly half of the chips in play looking for his second title in as many Borgata seasonal series.
Moments after dispatching Brian Correro in 5th place, the Broad Street Bully just sent Steve Saklad to the payout desk with a 4th place finish.
McKeehen opened for 24,000 and Attllio Bitondo flatted the bet, only to see Saklad ship his last 180,000 or so into the middle. Looking to isolate, McKeehen moved all in as well, and Bitondo dutifully got out of the way.
Saklad:
McKeehen:
Saklad was in bad shape hunting for aces, but the final board came down to leave him lacking.
Joe McKeehen is on a heater and Brian Correro was his latest victim.
Correro limped into the pot holding and McKeehen raised it up to 32,000. Correro then shoved his last 290,000 into the middle and McKeehen snapped him off with , risking his last 284,000 in the process.
The final board came down and Correro couldn't catch up, shipping the huge pot to McKeehen while lamenting his own "reckless" play.
Correro was left with just an ante or two to work with, and he lost those few chips on the next deal to officially hit the rail.
![[user253757]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
and McKeehen fired out for 32,000. Sandler popped him to 83,000 and McKeehen shipped all in for the rest of his stack. Sandler snapped him off while tabling 
for a flopped flush, while McKeehen was drawing with the 
. The turn (
) and river (
) failed to bring a fourth club to the board, and with that Sandler regained the chip leadership he owned heading into the day.
. We heard Sandler announce himself all in (likely coming over the top of McKeehen's lead out), with the young pro snap-calling and revealing 
for top two pair.
for a busted bluff. "Right back to ya."
it appeared that Sandler had called the right side. The turn card came 
Mike Sandler led out for a 100,000 wager.
with authority.
to leave him lacking.
and McKeehen raised it up to 32,000. Correro then shoved his last 290,000 into the middle and McKeehen snapped him off with 
