The next player to go was Nicholas Pupillo, who started the day second in chips. Hale, a poker pro from Kalamazoo, Michigan, was eliminated in ninth place for $12,828. Hale needed either an ace or jack on the river to keep his tournament hopes alive, but it wasn’t in the cards as the blanked. He didn’t do it on the flop, and the turn was equally as useless.

It was a flip, but Hale needed to improve to stay alive.