When we passed by Table 44, Winfred Yu, the man behind the famed Macau "Big Game," pulled out his phone and showed us a picture.
"Double second hand," Yu said. As he told it, and he had the picture to prove it, the board read when his opponent bluffed the turn by shoving with the . Yu, who held the for a set, made an easy call and had his opponent drawing dead. The meaningless was put out on the river for good measure, and Yu was shipped the double, though he was quick to point out he lost 10,000 to a different opponent shortly thereafter.
David Steicke was one of the new entrants in the AU$100,000 Challenge on Day 2 but he lasted just two hands. Not one to get down about it, he's jumped straight into the Main Event and is hoping for better luck.
Table 30 started with one familiar face in the shape of Simon Deadman before Celina Lin and Casey Kastle joined. Just now, Joseph Cheong joined the table as well, meaning it's the one to avoid if you're buying on or getting moved.
Over on table 32, Will Molson has taken his seat as well.
Andrew Chen opened pocket queens at showdown and gave a look that he thought he was beat after getting tricky but was then relieved to see his opponent muck.
He was in the small blind and three-bet a 600 open up to 1,600. His opponent called and the board ran as he and his opponent checked to the river. Chen led out for 1,800 at that stage and raked in the pot when he found out his was good.
Casey Kastle has joined the same table as Celina Lin and Simon Deadman. He's showing his support for Australia day by wearing an Aussie jersey and traditional cork rimmed hat. He was just in a hand and lost out to Deadman.
Around 2,000 chips had made it into the middle by the time three players saw a flop. All three checked before Kastle led for 1,575 on the turn. Deadman was the only caller to the river where both players checked.
The Seminole Hard Rock Lucky Hearts Poker Open (LHPO) returns to Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida, now through Feb. 11, 2015, held in the resort’s ballrooms. The series will feature 21 main events along with several secondary events and qualifiers. The exciting live poker action culminates with the Seminole Hard Rock WPT Lucky Hearts $3 Million Guaranteed Championship beginning Feb. 5-11, with a $3,500 buy-in and three starting flights. The live streamed Championship final table will be held at the resort’s Paradise Live theater in Seminole Paradise.
The annual series kicks-off on Jan. 22 at 11a.m. ET with a four-day $570 buy-in deep-stack no-limit hold'em event featuring a $1 million guaranteed prize pool with six starting flights.
Super Bowl weekend will bring even more action with the WPTDeepStacks (WPTDS), which will kick off its 2015 tour at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. WPTDS is a one-of-a-kind partnership between the world’s most established poker tour, WPT®, and the world’s fastest growing poker tour, DSPT. The $1,100 buy-in, $300,000 Guarantee WPTDeepStacks-Hollywood will start Jan. 29 at 12 p.m. ET in the resort’s ballrooms.
Other highlight tournaments include a $350 buy-in deep-stack no-limit hold'em, $250,000 guarantee with five starting flights, from Jan. 25-28 and a two-day $150 buy-in no-limit hold’em $150,000 guarantee with eight starting flights from Jan. 28-31.
Satellite events for the Seminole Hard Rock Lucky Hearts Poker Open Championship will be held at the Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood Jan. 22-Feb. 7, 2015.
Registration for all LHPO events will be open Dec. 15, 2015. To participate, players must obtain a free “Wild Card” at the Player’s Club or in The Poker Room at Seminole Paradise, located on State Road 7 (U.S. 441) in Hollywood, Florida. Take I-95, exit Stirling Rd. and travel west to 1 Seminole Way.
For more information and schedule visit www.SHRPO.com.
Daniel Rudd is amongst a group of players who have travelled all the way from the UK to play the Aussie Millions festival, and it's been kind to him so far. Rudd took down event #2, the AU$1,150 NLHE Shootout for AU$51,750 and has continued the good form in to the Main Event.
He's up to around 35,000 after getting two streets of value with top pair. Rudd opened to 500 from under the gun and picked up one caller from the button. Both players checked the flop before Rudd went on to bet 600 and 1,500 on the turn and river. The button called the first bet in normal time but almost beat Rudd into the pot on the river.
The button had obviously expected to win the pot but had to muck upon seeing Rudd's .
"All in and a call Table 25," we heard a dealer yell just minutes into Level 2.
When we arrived at the table, we discovered Aaron Wilson had got his remaining chips all in on the turn with a board reading , and it was apparent why. Wilson, who was in the big blind, had flopped top set with the , and his opponent in the small blind had flopped bottom set with the .
The river was no harm to Wilson, and he doubled to 52,000 while the small blind was crippled.