Megan Milburn's quest for back-to-back final tables at a Borgata seasonal Poker Open Ladies event has come to an end, and according to the perpetually smiling young player, she had cracked by .
Milburn shrugged the loss off with aplomb, heading over to the main poker room to check out the action after being eliminated.
On her way to enjoy the recent break, Olga Petrovskaya was kind enough to stop by the PokerNews Live Reporting desk to update us on her progress. And we're glad she did, as her stack is now one of the largest in play with just 37 players between her and the title.
According to the Russian native and Brooklyn resident, her run was propelled by a key hand in which her connected perfectly with the flop. The action on the hand began when a player holding the button opened to 3,600 (the blinds were set at 600/1,200 when this hand went down).
Petrovskaya elected to flat from the big blind looking to trap, and after flopping her set she led out for 7,000. The opponent called to see the turn come , and this time Petrovskaya shipped her whole stack forward to put the pressure play on any potential flush draws. Sure enough, her opponent flashed the , but could not call off for her tournament life with just one card to come.
Later on, Petrovskaya woke up with the and her big slick held up over a dominated . The player with the weaker ace shipped about 35,000 into the pot preflop, only to ship her whole stack to Petrovskaya when she failed to catch a queen.
Nancy Martin's last hand of the evening just took place, and although the action on that confrontation was standard, what happened a few minutes prior really had her steamed.
Apparently, the players in the eight and nine seats were both involved in a pot, along with professional Svetlana Gromenkova. The nine seat was short-stacked and all in, with Gromenkova and Diane Shamshoum in the eight seat both calling to put her at risk.
Both Gromenkova and Shamshoum made the standard check on the flop, looking to double-team the all-in nine seat, but when the turn came down and Gromenkova knuckled for a second time, Shamshoum broke protocol. She grabbed a handful of the gold T5000 chips and placed them forward, effectively forcing Gromenkova out of the hand. While this scenario is not uncommon when a player makes a strong hand against an all-in player with another hand standing in the way, what happened next was far from conventional.
After Gromenkova got out of the way, Shamshoum announced that she hadn't even looked at her hand, while tabling to prove her point. She held no pair and no draw, and although the at-risk nine seat held just ace-high herself, the pot was shipped her way upon showdown.
Martin and Gromenkova immediately called for the floor to protest the suspected act of collusion, claiming that one neighbor had conspired to keep the other in the game. Gromenkova claimed to have held at least one pair - which would have been sufficient to dispatch the short-stack and claim the pot.
"All of those chips should be mine..." she said during the dispute, retaining her composure like a seasoned vet should. "That is not right."
The situation apparently stemmed back to an earlier spat between players at the table, wherein the nine seat had been called out for taking too long by Martin, with the clock being called multiple times. Attempting to stick up for her tablemate, Shamshoum had admittedly tried to send her the pot - a clear violation of poker ethics and the rules of the game - but no official ruling on the situation was made.
Play rolled on, with Martin still upset over the trickery, and proving that poker can be the cruelest of games, the last of her stack was lost to her nemesis Shamshoum just a deal or two later.
She was racing against Katya Grishakova's , who took the lead with a pair of queens on a flop of . The turn and river bricked , respectively, and Hubbard was eliminated.
After a few raises in a blind vs. blind confrontation, Alida Veliu was all in and at risk with . She was racing against Svetlana Gromenkova's , and Gromenkova flopped trips on . Neither the turn () or the river () was a deuce, and Veliu was eliminated.
Erica Davis raised to 25,000 in early position, Sarah Wasch three-bet shoved from middle position, and Davis tank-called, putting herself at risk.
Davis:
Wasch:
The flop changed nothing, and Davis still had two overs, but it was all over for her when the spiked onto the felt. A meaningless completed the board, and Davis exited on the bubble.
Gina Saladino raised to 45,000 in middle position, Svetlana Gromenkova three-bet to 85,000 on her left, and Valerie Novak moved all in for 87,000 on the button. Saladino tank-folded, and Gromenkova called.
Gina Saladino was all in for her last big blind or two with against Svetlana Gromenkov's . The latter ran down a straight on , and Saladino was eliminated.