There's an assumption that the big stacks at the end of the day have enjoyed a hitch-free day, but that's not always true, as has been the case for Vanessa Rousso.
On her latest encounter, she faced a bet of what I believe was 3,000 on a flop, her opponent leaving just 4,350 behind. After a brief fondle of her chips, Rousso put her foe all in for his tournament life before showing . Her opponent tabled .
The turn and river were both blanks, and after handing over the necessary chips, Rousso found her stack forced to absorb a minor dent. She remains, however, one of the larger stacks in the room with around 115,000.
Action folded to Michiel Sijpkens on the button and he raised to 1,000. The small blind folded and Eric Blair reraised from the big blind to around 2,500. Sijpkens, who had been among the chip leaders all day, raised to 7,600 only to have Blair make it 17,000 to go.
Sijpkens then announced, "All in," and Blair snap-called for his 69,825. Blair turned over while Sijpkens showed . If Sijpkens could win the pot, he would catapult past the 200,000 chip mark and likely be the Main Event chip leader heading into Day 2; meanwhile, Blair was playing for his tournament life. The significance of the hand was not lost on anyone in the vicinity as a crowd began to gather round.
Blair was clearly nervous but breathed a sigh of relief when the flop came , giving him top set; however, Sijpkens could complete a straight draw with any jack. The dealer burned and turned the . Neither player held a club so it didn't change a thing. The entire table looked on anxiously as the dealer put up the on the river.
Sijpkens took a hit to his stack and he is down to 105,000. On the other hand, Blair took down a 140,000 pot and is one of the larger stacks in the room.
It folded around to the gentleman on the button who raised to 1,000. Jan Sjavik made the call in the big blind and they saw an flop. Sjavik checked and the button gentleman bet 1,200 - but Sjavik went all in and the button folded.
We just came on a hand involving 2000 WSOP Main Event Champion Chris "Jesus" Ferguson. Fifth street had been dealt, leaving a board of . There was about 7,000 in the middle, and Ferguson had fired a bet of 4,500 from his big blind position.
His opponent on the button thought a while. "I just have to see," he said finally, making the call. And Jesus revealed . Ferguson's straight was good as his opponent mucked.
A brief raising war between Anton Wigg (hijack) and one other player (button) culminated in Wigg going all in. HIs opponent folded with a look of some regret on his face.
Wigg has battled his way back up to an impressive 21,500 from the 7,000 we found him with a little before the break.
It's that time in the evening when we trudge around the room looking for big stacks, many of whom will be unknown to your average viewer. Over here in the orange section, however, it is familiar face Vanessa Rousso who seems to be running amok, her stack having increased to the 135,000 mark. Rousso's only competitor is Dan Springfield, his sumptuous 153,000 stack making him the chip leader in the quadrant.
The chasing pack is strong, but still quite a way behind the leaders: Sergey Chernykh has 95,000, Omar McFarlane 105,000, Alex Aram 112,000, and bracelet winner Matt Keikoan 104,000. Also looking confident is Josh Arieh with 75,000.
![[user4144]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
flop, her opponent leaving just 4,350 behind. After a brief fondle of her chips, Rousso put her foe all in for his tournament life before showing 
. Her opponent tabled 
.
turn and 
river were both blanks, and after handing over the necessary chips, Rousso found her stack forced to absorb a minor dent. She remains, however, one of the larger stacks in the room with around 115,000.
on an 
flop. Her opponent held 
turn and 
river Hayden doubled to 28,500.
while Sijpkens showed 
. Neither player held a club so it didn't change a thing. The entire table looked on anxiously as the dealer put up the 
, one player moved all in, and Aaron Gustavson called.
brought the second par for Gustavson and the 
with Selbst's opponent betting 1,000. Selbst raised to 2,600 and was called.
while her opponent showed 
.