Aleksejs Ponakovs Eliminated in 3rd Place ($698,800)
One key hand reduced the stack of Aleksejs Ponakovs to a single chip and he was unable to bounce back with a miracle comeback to see his run come to an end in third place.
First, it was Isaac Haxton who got a three-bet through versus Fedor Holz.
Ponakovs then raised the button and Haxton called in the big blind. On a 
flop, Haxton check-called for 80,000 and did so again for 300,000 on the 
turn. After the 
river, Haxton checked the third street in a row with just shy of 1.7 million chips behind.
Ponakovs bet 865,000 and left a single T-5,000 chip behind. That sent Haxton into the tank and he used one time bank before making the call.
Ponakovs tabled the 
for a bluff and Haxton won the pot with the 
for the second pair.
"Good game," Holz exclaimed and Ponakovs joked "I am still in".
"I didn't believe you ... I don't know," Haxton now said in table chat. Holz concluded the proceedings with the "sometimes you gotta go with your gut."
Ponakovs was forced all-in the next hand to survive before he was forced all-in for 10,000 out of the small blind next.
Haxton raised to 180,000 on the button and Holz defended the big blind. The flop came 
and Holz check-folded to a bet worth 400,000.
Aleksejs Ponakovs: 
Isaac Haxton: 
"I had a good hand, too" Holz chimed in and the trio saw the board complete with the 
turn and 
river. Ponakovs became the third place finisher for $698,800.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
3,955,000
1,830,000
|
1,830,000 |
|
||
|
2,940,000
-760,000
|
-760,000 |
|
|
||
|
Busted | |
|
||