Level 22 (4000/12000/24000)
Entrants: 199
Players remaining: 3
Average chips: 1,326,666
Grant Hinkle opens under-the-gun for 55,000. Hays folds the button and Joyce Thomas (pictured) accidentally raises when trying to call. The floor is called to make a ruling and the raise is determined to be 92,000. Jesse Jones then three-bets from the big blind to 210,000. Hinkle folds and Thomas calls.
The flop comes 9♥8♥4♣. Thomas leads out for 70,000. Jones moves all in and Thomas calls.
Thomas - T♠T♥
Jones - 5♦4♦
Thomas is ahead but at risk. That risk becomes real when the 5♣ is dealt on the turn. Thomas needs a ten, nine, or eight to survive. The 7♠ is the river and Thomas is eliminated in fourth place for $7,462.
Jesse Jones - 1,410,000
Joyce Thomas - out
Joyce came in on Day 2 as the short stack with just 15,500 in chips--dead last among the field. At one point in the day, she was down to just 3,500 (three big blinds) before turning it around to make the final table. Congratulations on an epic run!