A player in the cutoff raised to 1,800 and Daniel Negreanu called from the button. The blinds folded and it was heads up to the flop which came down . Both players checked and the hit the turn.
This time the cutoff bet 2,500 and Negreanu made the call. When the appeared on the river, the cutoff checked and Negreanu thought for a solid two minutes before sliding in a stack of about 33,000. The cutoff only had 12,000 left and called with . Negreanu showed for a turned set and eliminated his foe. With that, Negreanu is up to 55,000.
With about 23,000 in the pot and a board reading , both Seat 3 and the cutoff checked to Faraz Jaka on the button. Jaka grabbed his entire stack, roughly 30,000, and pushed it forward. Seat 3 folded relatively quickly but the cutoff seemed to smell something fishy. He grabbed some chips as if he was going to make the call but then suddenly flicked his hand in the muck.
Jaka smiled, looked back at his cards and showed the . "Gutsy, gutsy bluff there," one of Jaka's tablemates stated. "That is just sick. Aren't you afraid someone is just gonna insta-call you?"
Daniel Negreanu checked the turn on a board reading and then called his opponent's 6,100 bet. When the hit the river, Negreanu checked and faced a bet of 17,500. "King-queen?" Negreanu asked after taking for a couple minutes. Eventually he mucked and dropped to 45,000.
Phil Laak raised to 2,600 and the hijack seat made the call. Herbie Montalbano called from the small blind as well. The flop came down and Montalbano moved all in for 15,400. Laak called and the hijack seat also called.
The turn brought the and both players checked. The river completed the board with the and both players checked again. Laak showed the for a straight while the hijack tabled the for a missed straight draw. Montalbano only showed the and mucked his hand, hitting the rail.
Phil Laak raised from middle position to 2,500 and Yann Dion three-bet to 7,000 from the hijack seat. Laak called and the flop came down . Laak checked and Dion fired 7,500 to take the pot from Laak.
We got to Nick Binger's table when there was already around 100,000 in the pot and a board reading . We could tell right away that this was the type of hand that even Jimmy Fricke would get excited about.
Max Katz was first to act and bet a modest 15,000 which Binger called. Katz showed and Binger mucked. It was a huge pot that saw Katz vault to 198,000, which looks to be good enough for the chip lead.
Jason Senti has tried to pick up some chips here in the last level of the night, but he's still somewhat short with just 23,000 chips.
Senti raised to 2,400 and then Brett Richey three-bet to 8,100. Senti couldn't stand the heat and then folded.
A few hands later, Senti opened another pot with a raise to 2,400. This time he was called in two spots, the cutoff seat and the big blind. After the flop came down , action checked to the cutoff and he fired 2,700. The big blind and Senti both folded.
Senti was able to maneuver his way all the way to the November Nine this year without ever having much of a chip stack. It looks like he may be working some more short-stack magic going into Day 2 here in Los Angeles.
Yann Dion raised to 2,200 from middle position and then Danny Suied came back at him with a three-bet to 6,200 from the cutoff. Brett Richey put in a four-bet to 14,500 and that was good enough to get folds from everyone and win the pot.
On the next hand, action folded to Richey in the cutoff seat and he raised to 2,000. The player on the button made the call and the flop came down . Richey bet 3,300 and was called.
The turn brought the to pair the board and both players checked. The put another pair on board on the river and Richey fired 5,600. That was good enough to win him the pot. Richey's up to about 60,000 now.
The lady in the cutoff raised to 3,100 only to have the button reraise to 8,100. Daniel Negreanu was in the small blind and must have liked his hand as he raised to 18,100. The cutoff folded and the button lined up some chips, raising 20,000 on top. Negreanu insta-mucked and the button showed .
. Both players checked and the 
hit the turn.
appeared on the river, the cutoff checked and Negreanu thought for a solid two minutes before sliding in a stack of about 33,000. The cutoff only had 12,000 left and called with 
. Negreanu showed 
for a turned set and eliminated his foe. With that, Negreanu is up to 55,000.
, both Seat 3 and the cutoff checked to Faraz Jaka on the button. Jaka grabbed his entire stack, roughly 30,000, and pushed it forward. Seat 3 folded relatively quickly but the cutoff seemed to smell something fishy. He grabbed some chips as if he was going to make the call but then suddenly flicked his hand in the muck.
. "Gutsy, gutsy bluff there," one of Jaka's tablemates stated. "That is just sick. Aren't you afraid someone is just gonna insta-call you?"
and then called his opponent's 6,100 bet. When the 
hit the river, Negreanu checked and faced a bet of 17,500. "King-queen?" Negreanu asked after taking for a couple minutes. Eventually he mucked and dropped to 45,000.
and both players checked. The river completed the board with the 
and both players checked again. Laak showed the 
for a straight while the hijack tabled the 
for a missed straight draw. Montalbano only showed the 
and mucked his hand, hitting the rail.
. We could tell right away that this was the type of hand that even Jimmy Fricke would get excited about.
to pair the board and both players checked. The 
put another pair on board on the river and Richey fired 5,600. That was good enough to win him the pot. Richey's up to about 60,000 now.