"January $100,000" (Day 2): Francisco Finishes What He Started, Eliminates Richard Kirsch In 5th Place ($6,475)

"January $100,000"
$360 No Limit Hold'em | $100,000 GTD
Level 27 (Blinds 25,000/50,000/5,000)
Total Entries: 485
Players Remaining: 4 

Richard Kirsch (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) was looking for back-to-back major tournament wins, but had to settle for a fifth place finish.

There was a hand at the beginning of the level that would basically set the tone for the rest of the tournament, as Richard Kirsch lost an over 1,500,000 chip pot to Francisco Pulido.  That pot meant that Pulido held more than half of the chips in play, and each hand would hold ICM implications for all of the short stacks.  Kirsch was left with just eight big blinds, and would call a button raise from Pulido, out of the big blind.  After the 5♥ 5♣ 2♠ flop, Kirsch announced himself all-in (for just over 200,000), and was called by Pulido.  Kirsch's Q♥ 8♠ was behind the A♠ 7♣ of Francisco, and when the A♦ came on the turn, Richard would be eliminated.  This was Kirsch's second final table in the last two weeks, and third in the past month.