Michel 'Abacus' Abecassis may be down to just 1,500, but you can't deny his testicular fortitude. With the board reading , Abecassis led out for 1,000 with before calling an all in for 3,000 more. His opponent showed , which not only held up, but improved on the turn and river.
"I'm sorry," he said in victory. "No you're not," replied a disgruntled Frenchman.
Nottingham based player Pete Linton has seen two thirds of his stack go missing after running kings into aces. "It could have been more," he concluded, his sneaky opponent not only flat calling an opening raise, but also Linton's reraise.
On the J-9-9 flop, Linton bet around half the pot, only for his foe to make the call and then come out firing on the raggy turn. The river made three to the flush, and led to a check from both players.
"He's a solid player, from South Africa, I think," continued Linton. "I was worried about jacks full, it seemed to play out that way, but couldn't quite find a fold on the turn. I almost let it go though."
Meanwhile, fellow running buddy and recent GUKPT winner Sam Trickett has just eliminated a player with A-J versus pocket sevens on an ensuing J-9-3-9-2 board. However, it was only for 2,500, meaning Trickett still has around his starting stack.
Matt "Choppy" Kay was short but doubled up. Player from UTG raised to 350. Choppy called from the button. The flop was Q-9-6. UTG fired out 600. Choppy called. The turn was a jack. UTG bet 1,200. Choppy shoved for his last 2,800. His opponent tanked and eventually called with pocket tens. Choppy showed J-10 suited and was ahead. The river was a queen and Choppy doubled up.
Kenny Wong has been grinding his way back. He had doubled up earlier and then survived an all in against his nemesis Voitto Rintala. Wong was way behind with against Voitto Rintala's . Wong caught a little good fortune and ended up chopping the pot. He was down to 300 and now has almost 1,800.
Freddy Deeb had pocket nines. His opponent held A-J. Deeb flopped a set. Didn't see when it went all in, but Deeb dragged the pot while his opponent walked away from the table. Freddy Deeb is up to 23,000.
As reported, no major pots to sing and dance about, just a smattering of smaller observations:
(1) Charalambos "Bambos" Xanthos found himself virtually all in, his bet of 6,000 on a board leaving himself just a couple of thousand behind. After a lengthy session in the think tank, his foe folded face-up, giving Bambos a stack of 13,000.
(2) On a J-J-T flop, Shane Reihill led for 500 and Nik Persaud made the call. Persaud was the aggressor from there on, however, betting 1,400 on the 8 turn and 2,300 on the 6 river. Reihill made the call. "If you have a jack, you're good," declared Persaud perhaps regretting his presumed value bet. Reihill showed A-J.
(3) Shaun Deeb lost a 4,500 pot against on a board. Deeb wasn't pleased as he chucked his hand into the muck, but he still has over his starting stack.
So far, there has only be one exit. "He gave a little bit to everyone," said former tablemate Barny Boatman.
Meanwhile, Boatman himself has been bumping and grinding, his stack reaching the dizzy heights of 15,000. According to the horse's mouth, he made a squeeze play with pocket fours only for the non-raiser to make the call. On an A-T-7 flop, Boatman bet, his opponent raised, and Boatman raised again. After a brief pause, his opponent folded, and Boatman gleefully showed his paltry pair. "Since then, they've been terrified of me," he added, although that may be due to his lack of sleep more than anything else.
Voitto Rintala (a heavy metal musician from Finland who played bass in bands such as Random Eyes and Renascent) crippled local favorite Kenny "No Bluff" Wong. I caught the end of the hand as Rintala stood up and pumped his fist in the air. The dealer was shipping him the pot. The board read . Rintala had against Wong's . Ouch. Boat over boat. Both players were all in and Wong had Rintala covered. After the hand, Rintala jumped out to the early chip lead with almost 20,000 while Wong slipped to 300.