The face of tournament poker has changed. Gone are small fields and consummate professionals conservatively stalking their prey and preparing to make a move. All but gone are those from the school of Dan Harrington–just wait it out and let the other guys eat each other. The era of immediate gratification is upon us, and yes, that is now seeping its way into poker.

In what was expected to be a long drawn out day with 27 players battling it out for the right to be part of the final table of six players, it took only a couple of hours to see the field dwindled to 10.  Players appeared in a rush to exit, as huge pots and huge suckouts were the spice of the day. Any poker player knows, when huge suckouts abound, huge collapses shortly follow as players fall victim to the evil colossus “tilt.”

The first players to go were the multitude of short stacks that limped their way into Day 4, barely holding on to reach the money bubble. Notable players eliminated during this stretch included Allen Cunningham and Maria Ho. Places 27 to 19 all earned a prize of $21,125 for their efforts.

With only 18 players remaining, tournament directors redrew to place the players in two final tables. With most of the short stacks eliminated, play was supposed to slow down significantly. The players had other ideas however as Rodeen Talebi, Philip Stark, Samuel Ngai, and Takashi Shiono took their march to the rail almost immediately. The field was cut to 10 when Jinyun Lin and Sirous Baghchehsaraie were eliminated just before the break.

Due to tournament rules, both tables played five handed until Denny Lee was eliminated as his JJ ran up against the KK of Trong Nguyen. The final nine was then set and all players ushered to one table, where for some reason, the magic number was six.

The final 9, finally, showed a slow in the action as the players were more conservative in their approach. After a lull in the action, John Phan eliminated Layne Flack in what was clearly the most significant hand of the tournament thus far.

After a raise to $110,00 from Phan and a re-raise from Flack to $360,000, Phan deliberated going “all-in” for Flack’s remaining $300,000, counting out his chips to see where he would stand if he loses. He then asked for the “all-in” button from the dealer, a strategy he had used all tournament long, presumably to try to gauge a reaction. The tournament director said that the next time Phan asked for the button he would have to be “all-in.”

Phan eventually decided to push anyway and turned over 77 vs. Flack’s AA. The flop came 7d6c4d, and the 7s on the turn sealed the deal for Phan and his quads. The huge suckout was significant for more than just this tournament, as with the elimination, Phan took over the lead for Cardplayer Player of the Year honors.

Matt Keiokan was the last player eliminated on the day, as he open-pushed from the small blind with 74 and faced a snap call from Zachary Clark holding AK. The big hand held up and the final six was finally set.

Here are the chip counts heading into the final table:

Seat 1: Trong Nguyen — 980,000
Seat 2: Amit Makhija — 3,225,000
Seat 3: Paul Smith — 1,130,000
Seat 4: John Phan — 2,415,000
Seat 5: Zachary Clark — 2,025,000
Seat 6: Kyle Wilson — 1,425,000