Championship Warm Up ($600)

India’s Arjun Agarwal got some of his groove back by eliminating a player in an all-in preflop situation where he held Q♠ Q♣ against his opponent at risk with 7♥ 7♦ .

The subsequent runout produced a bit of a sweat when the first three community cards were: 8♣ 5♠ 4♠ for a gutshot straight draw. However the turn was the T♠ and the river was the 2♦.

Agarwal’s stack gains relevance anew as at nears the 150,000 mark.

Already at the river on a board of 8♠ 6♦ K♦ J♠ 2♥ and a pot size of 33,000, a player in the bb checks to India’s Arjun Agarwal who over bets the pot for 42,500. Huang Bo Hao excruciates in his seat but eventually makes the call as the player in the bb folds.

Agarwal is forced to show Q♠ T♣ for a missed straight draw while Huang proudly tables 3♠ 2♠ for a pair of deuces on the river in one of the sickest hero calls of the tournament thus far. The win gives the Chinese player 236,000 in chips and is once again poised to go atop the leaderboard.

In another hand already at the river with a board of 6♦ Q♥ 2♠ 2♣ 6♠ , former chip leader Huang Bo Hao of China fires 12,000 and gets called by his two Indian opponents in Ankit Ahuja and Arjun Agarwal.

After getting called, Huang insta-mucks while Ahuja shows Q♦ 7♦ for top pair. Agarwal, however, turns over 6♣ 5♠ for a full house on the river.

His pickup nears his stack to the 200,000 mark at a crucial juncture of the competition.

The flop had already been dealt on the board of J♣ 4♠ 5♥ as Indian poker icon Ankit Ahuja leads out for 4,000 from the utg+1 position. Comebacking compatriot Arjun Agarwal check-raises it to 12,500 from the sb. Ahuja 3-bets to 25,000 and Agarwal immediately declares he is all-in. Ahuja makes the call.

Agarwal turns over K♦ J♠ for top pair while Ahuja tables Q♣ Q♠ for an overpair and the lead.

The turn is the 5♠ and the river is the 3♠ as Ahuja’s double-up allows him to surpass the 200.000 chip mark while Agarwal has to grind again as his stack has fallen below the 100,000 mark.