Play has slowed down a bit since returning from the break and 27 players still remain over halfway through the penultimate level of the evening. Updated counts from around the room have been provided below.
While PokerNews is offering live updates from this Main Event, there have been several other side events playing out this past week at the 2021 bestbet Jacksonville Spring Series.
Event #6 got 83 entries for its $260 No-Limit Hold'em Turbo with $50 bounties. The overall prize pool was $14,110, paying out the top 11 places and ending in a heads-up chop between two Bold City residents in Steve Zhang and Joshua Burrows. Zhang got the W and earned the bigger prize of $3,735 while Burrows was declared the runner-up and took home $3,200.
Bryan Bozman also made his third final table of the series, taking third place for $1,880 to follow up his earlier win in Event #4 for $9,906 and fifth-place finish in Event #1 for $17,863 to bring his series earnings to nearly $30,000. He has now made the money in three tournaments for the series, a feat he also accomplished in January's Winter Open.
Le Tieu also made his second final table of the series, finishing in seventh place for $582. He chopped Event #1 four ways, taking third place for $40,000 earlier in the series.
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Steve Zhang | Jacksonville, Florida | $3,735* |
| 2 | Joshua Burrows | Jacksonville, Florida | $3,200* |
| 3 | Bryan Brozman | Charleston, South Carolina | $1,880 |
| 4 | Todd Staples | Anderson, South Carolina | $1,323 |
| 5 | Eric Chastain | Nashville, Tennessee | $966 |
| 6 | Heather Warde | Jacksonville, Florida | $734 |
| 7 | Le Tieu | Jacksonville, Florida | $582 |
| 8 | Michael Selznick | Chattanooga, Tennessee | $481 |
*Denotes heads-up deal.
There was 17,000 in the middle in a heads-up pot between Dom Mosley in the cutoff and Nate Bandy, who was in the big blind. Bandy led out on the flop 
and Mosley called.
Bandy fired another 16,000 on the turn 
and Mosley gathered chips to raise. He counted out 41,000 and put it into one stack before placing it out onto the table.
"Whoa!" said Bandy, quickly sending his cards to the muck. Despite the lost pot, Bandy has chipped up to 279,000 and Mosley has done the same, reaching nearly 200,000 with a little over an hour of play left in the evening.
Action folded around to the player on the button who open-limped. The small blind completed and then Lawrence Brown immediately threw in a 5,000-chip, raising his option. The player on the button folded and the small blind called, taking postflop action heads up.
The flop fell 
and the small blind checked. Brown made a continuation-bet of 8,000 and the small blind called. Action went check-check on the turn 
and the river came 
. Both players checked once more.
Upon checking back, Brown flashed his cards to his right from the five-seat which he occupied so that his opponent in the four-seat could see. The small blind let out a small grimace, resulting in Brown matching the energy with a small fist pump. The small blind then flashed his cards to Brown and tossed them into the air, landing face down on the center of the table.
Level: 13
Blinds: 1,500/3,000
Ante: 3,000
The tournament has reached the final 15-minute break of the evening with 28 players left. All remaining players have two more levels of play left in the night before bagging and tagging their chips.
Scott Misterek limped in under the gun and action folded around to Kelly Joe Andrews, who pumped it up to 11,000 on the button. Nate Bandy defended his big blind and Misterek came along as well, taking postflop action three ways.
The dealer fanned a flop of 
and both Bandy and Misterek checked. Andrews made a continuation-bet of 13,000 and Bandy check-raised to 45,000. Both Misterek and Andrews quickly folded and Bandy took down the pot with his flop check-raise. He now has over 200,000, while Misterek has dipped below six figures and Andrews' has fallen to 113,500.
Jermaine "The Lion" Gerlin opened to 5,000 in the hijack and received a call from the big blind. The flop came 
and the big blind checked to Gerlin, who made a continuation-bet of 5,000. The big blind check-raised to 15,000 and Gerlin took less than 10 seconds to put in a three-bet to 45,000.
The big blind looked up at Gerlin and sent his cards to the muck only a couple of seconds later, earning Gerlin the pot with his flop three-bet and taking him over 200,000 in the process.
The bestbet Jacksonville Spring Series Event #5 was a $360 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em Monster Stack that drew 194 entries to create a $59,170 prize pool, and Billy Cashwell made like his name as he bested the field to claim the $13,784 that was up top.
Twenty-five players made it into the money, and when that number became eight, Stephen Randy of Barnesville OH was the first elimination of the final table, earning $1,718. All remaining players then locked up at least $2,000, with local favorite Kelly Slay finding herself the next out in seventh.
Fourth-place finisher Alan Franco made the final table of this event for the second consecutive series, finishing two rungs higher on the payout ladder than his sixth-place finish in January's Winter Open.
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Billy Cashwell | Stedman, North Carolina | $13,784 |
| 2 | Johnny Ear | Palm Coast, Florida | $9,189 |
| 3 | John Gorsuch | Okeechobee, Florida | $6,669 |
| 4 | Alan Franco | Jacksonville, Florida | $4,919 |
| 5 | Christopher Nguyen | Camden, South Carolina | $3,687 |
| 6 | Mariusz Burnat | Fernandina Beach, Florida | $2,810 |
| 7 | Kelly Slay | Jacksonville, Florida | $2,178 |
| 8 | Stephen Randy | Barnesville, Ohio | $1,718 |
Action folded around to Stephen Strout in the small blind and he completed. Justin Zaki was in the big blind and raised his option, making it 9,000 to go. Strout called.
The flop dropped 
and Strout check-called a continuation-bet of 6,000 from Zaki. Strout checked again on the turn 
and Zaki checked behind, bringing the river 
. Strout put out a bet of 12,000 fairly quickly, sending Zaki into the tank.
Zaki counted out his 1,000-chips and thought about his decision for about 40 seconds, eventually looking back at his cards and then flicking them forward to the muck.
With the pot, Strout is now over a quarter-million. Also on the ascent once more is Nick Raio, who has chipped up to 381,000. Raio said there were no hands of note, and that he had just been flopping sets and otherwise chipping up without showdown.
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