Ali Ayub’s stack is yo-yo-ing all over the place. He entered the final two tables as one of the chip leaders, lost a big pot and, down to his last 235k chips, he moved all-in from early position with Ah Jh – Ronan Sweeney making the call with 8h 8s.
The board ran out 7s 2s 3c 6d… Jd just in time, as he was packing up his coat.
“My turn for the river,” he said, getting some joshing from his tablemates, given they’d heard him complaining about his luck earlier.
Next up, he found another double – playing out an unraised pot with Leo Lombardozzi in the blinds, and calling 25k, 125k and an all-in shove from Lombardozzi over the Qc Td 6h 5d 5s board.
Lombardozzi sheepishly turned over 34, having turned the open-ender and bluffed the river. Ayub meanwhile had made a good call with Kd Ts (second pair) to move over a million chips.
“I’m back in it, Mr Jackson,” he offered to on-looking friend Paul Jackson. Indeed you are, Mr Ayub.