The mood has lightened considerably since we moved over here to the main arena, and everyone's here having a good time.
There is a group of about a dozen spectators meandering around the table, and nobody seems to mind them just sort of milling about on and off the stage. Shaun Deeb is here serving as a go-between cocktail server for the players, occasionally setting a bottle of water or a Red Bull down on the side tables. He's also holding a scrolling marquis that says, at the moment, "This needs to be on PokerNews". The last message said, "What about Bob?" in honor of emcee and floorman Bob Smith.
The mood is good, and the spirits light, but things are getting a little boring in here. The players just asked to change the game for a little while. "How about a round of PLO?" Frank Kassela suggested. "Shake it up a bit."
Right now, the conversation has switched to the $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. tournament which all three of our finalists are also registered in. That event is bagging up for the night on the other side of the room, and our three players are extremely curious to know how many chips they've been whittled down to while they sit over here playing for a bracelet.
"I don't think we've made it past fifth street since then," Frank Kassela said, talking about the elimination of Vladimir Shchemelev.
He's right. We don't remember a pot going past fifth in the last half hour. Not even one. There's just not much going on right now, and most of these three-handed pots are ending before fourth street, for that matter.
We're finding ways to kill time now, including ordering copious amounts of coffee from the cocktail server and writing senseless haikus:
When you're playing razz
You want to make the worst hand
Oh my god, Shaun Deeb
There's a hand developing now... so we'll quit. Plus Kassela is taking over the stand-up comedy: "I wonder how much I finished with," he said, still talking about the other tournament he's in. "That's the tighest I've ever played a H.O.R.S.E. tournament."
Melville Lewis brought-in and Maxwell Troy completed for 60,000. Lewis called, and also called a bet on fourth street before raising all in on fifth with Troy calling.
Lewis: /
Troy: /
Lewis caught another on sixth followed by a on seventh while Troy found a and then a to see eliminate Lewis in 3rd place for a $85,284 payday.
Frank Kassela had the bring-in with a , and he defended when Maxwell Troy completed.
Kassela: (X)(X)/
Troy: (X)(X)/
Troy was betting the whole way, getting us deeper into a pot than we've been since heads-up play began. "Looks like we're finally going to play a big pot," Kassela said on fourth street. He called Troy's bets on fourth and fifth, but he could not call on sixth after catching an open pair.
That's the most chips we've seen pushed in either direction in an hour, and that one moves Kassela back down under one million chips.
Frank Kassela brought it in with a nine showing, and once again he defended to a completion from Maxwell Troy and his up four.
Kassela: (X)(X)/
Troy: (X)(X)/
Kassela fired bets on fourth, fifth, and sixth streets, and Troy called the first two of those. Just like Kassela in the last hand, though, he paired up on sixth and decided a fold was in order.
![[user66118]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
board, and Troy raised with his 
. Lewis mucked immediately.
/ 
to see eliminate Lewis in 3rd place for a $85,284 payday.
