Barry Greenstein raised to 600 under the gun, and Scotty Nguyen called. Sammy Farha also made the call, and Phil Hellmuth couldn't fold his big blind. The flop landed , and Greenstein bet 1,200. Nguyen flatted, and Farha bumped it to 4,200. Barry three-bet to 14,200. Nguyen took his time folding, muttering about his hand. Back on him, Farha shipped it in, and Greenstein called.
Farha:
Greenstein:
If they put their hands together, they'd have a six-card straight flush, but that's not how this game works. Barry turned over just about the worst hand Farha could possibly see. The turn and river didn't make either a straight or flush, and Greenstein's king-high was enough to knock out Farha. With the elimination, Barry is up to 77,000.
Daniel Negreanu opened for 700 from the button, Antonio Esfandiari called from the small blind and Joe Hachem called from the big blind.
The flop was . Esfandiari led out for a min-bet of 300 and only Negreanu called. Both players checked the on the turn. The river was the putting an ace-to-five straight flush on the board. Esfandiari overbet the pot, making it 3,000 to go. Negreanu, however, raised to 9,000 and Esfandiari gave it up.
"That's the first time I've ever folded a straight flush!" Esfandiari said as Negreanu stacked up the pot.
Perhaps he was just hustling before, who knows. But either way, Phil Ivey is making a serious recovery now - in just a couple of hands he's made it almost back up to his starting stack.
Chris Ferguson opened for 550 and Ivey (button), Jennifer Harman (small blind) and Joe Cada (big blind) all made the call.
They saw a flop and it checked around to Ivey who bet 1,700. Harman was the only caller and they were heads up to the turn.
The turn came down the putting three clubs on the board and Harman bet out 3,100. Ivey called, and there was just one card left to be dealt.
River: - by the by another club
Harman checked this time, and Ivey wasted no time in firing 10,000. Harman finally folded, leaving herself on 19,000. Ivey moved on up to 27,000.
Since Table 341 lost both Greg Raymer and Barry Shulman before anyone was eliminated at the feature table, Scotty Nguyen was just moved to even things out at eight players a table. Oh boy. Between the Prince of Poker, the Mouth, and the Poker Brat, things are bound to get even louder. Poor Barry Greenstein and Allen Cunningham are trying to pretend they're anywhere but here.
Joe Hachem, Bertrand Grospellier and Antonio Esfandiari all saw a [9h flop for 500 chips apiece. Grospellier led out for 1,125, Esfandiari flat-called, and Hachem the reraising machine made it 5,500 to go. Grospellier folded and Esfandiari called.
The turn came the . Esfandiari checked and Hachem checked behind. The river fell the and Esfandiari bet 8,400. Hachem tanked for several minutes, furrowing his brow while Esfandiari appeared totally relaxed. Hachem abruptly interrupted his tank by standing up from his chair and leaning over the table a bit before finally deciding to muck his hand.
Esfandiari blew kisses to the audience as he raked in the pot.
Barry Shulman limped from middle position, Mike Matusow completed his small blind, and Allen Cunningham checked his option. The inexpensive flop got a check from Matusow and a 500-chip bet from Cunningham. Shulman raised to 1,500, and after Matusow ducked out, Cunningham called. The turn brought the , and Cunningham checked. Shulman bet 3,000, and Allen check-minraised him. Shulman shoved, and Cunningham snap called.
Shulman:
Cunningham:
Tough luck for Shulman, Cunningham held the case three with a better kicker. The river didn't rescue Shulman, and he followed Raymer out the door.
Chris Ferguson opened for 600 in the cutoff and Phil Ivey called in the big blind to see a flop.
Flop:
Ivey checked and Ferguson bet 900. Ivey now check-raised to 3,000. Ferguson made the call, and they proceeded to the turn.
Turn:
Ivey checked again, and this time the bet from Ferguson was 5,000. Ivey now opted to fold, and dropped down to 14,500, a little under half his starting stack. Ferguson edged up to 35,000.
Greg Raymer is the second person to hit the rail today, and this is one he'll be kicking himself about for awhile.
Mike Matusow limped under the gun, and Mike Sexton called from middle position. Sammy Farha joined from the small blind, as did Greg Raymer from the big. The flop came , and Farha, Raymer, and Matusow all checked. Sexton bet 800, and Farha folded. Then Raymer check-raised to 6,000. As soon as Matusow check-raise three-bet to 15,000, Raymer said he'd intended to raise to 2,000 but had thrown in one T5,000 pink chip and one T1,000 orange chip instead of two orange chips. Tough luck, and after Sexton quickly folded, Raymer was pot committed. He moved all in for some extra loose change, and it was time for showdown.
Raymer:
Matusow:
The turn brought the , giving Raymer two more outs to go with his flush draw, but the river was a blank. Matusow's top two held up to eliminate Fossilman and boost Matusow to 65,000.
As soon as Raymer left, the table started laughing, all certain that he'd raised to 6,000 intentionally.
Erik Seidel may have tweeted, "You can see how all these players became champions," but there is one wild card at the table - our online qualifier, Andrew Barton. Since play started, we believe that not one of the other players has said a word to him. You'd think it might be a bit more friendly, but this is apparently all business.
Meanwhile Phil Ivey was the only player who didn't manage to make it back from break on time. We can only imagine he thought it was going to be 20 minutes instead of 10, or perhaps he felt confident enough with his 19,000 stack that he didn't mind blinding off for a little while - the blinds are still very small, after all. Either way, he's taken his seat again now, and play continues.
![[user140525]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
, and Greenstein bet 1,200. Nguyen flatted, and Farha bumped it to 4,200. Barry three-bet to 14,200. Nguyen took his time folding, muttering about his hand. Back on him, Farha shipped it in, and Greenstein called.
turn and 
river didn't make either a straight or flush, and Greenstein's king-high was enough to knock out Farha. With the elimination, Barry is up to 77,000.
. Esfandiari led out for a min-bet of 300 and only Negreanu called. Both players checked the 
on the turn. The river was the 
putting an ace-to-five straight flush on the board. Esfandiari overbet the pot, making it 3,000 to go. Negreanu, however, raised to 9,000 and Esfandiari gave it up.
flop and it checked around to Ivey who bet 1,700. Harman was the only caller and they were heads up to the turn.
putting three clubs on the board and Harman bet out 3,100. Ivey called, and there was just one card left to be dealt.
- by the by another club
and Esfandiari bet 8,400. Hachem tanked for several minutes, furrowing his brow while Esfandiari appeared totally relaxed. Hachem abruptly interrupted his tank by standing up from his chair and leaning over the table a bit before finally deciding to muck his hand.
flop got a check from Matusow and a 500-chip bet from Cunningham. Shulman raised to 1,500, and after Matusow ducked out, Cunningham called. The turn brought the 
river didn't rescue Shulman, and he followed Raymer out the door.
, and Farha, Raymer, and Matusow all checked. Sexton bet 800, and Farha folded. Then Raymer check-raised to 6,000. As soon as Matusow check-raise three-bet to 15,000, Raymer said he'd intended to raise to 2,000 but had thrown in one T5,000 pink chip and one T1,000 orange chip instead of two orange chips. Tough luck, and after Sexton quickly folded, Raymer was pot committed. He moved all in for some extra loose change, and it was time for showdown.
