The lamp hanging above Table 45, located in the far corner of the "Black" section, has just burned out, thus leaving Vicky Coren and her tablemates in semi-darkness. The tournament director came over to take them to a new table, but the players objected, saying they could still see just fine. And so they remain.
Coren at least might well prefer the shadows as providing a more suitable ambience for poker. In her memoir For Richer, For Poorer, she wrote of how she was "drawn to poker by [the game's] sordid romance," including "the dark history, the whispering corners" that characterize the game's long, colorful story.
Coren has done well in that seat today, having built her stack up over 90,000. Perhaps another reason for her to wish to remain in that dark corner.
With a board reading and a lot of chips in the pot, Dan Smith bet 5,000 only to have Dan Kelly move all in for 11,425. Smith tanked for a long time and seemed to be in pain. He held some chips in his hand as if he wanted to call, but then it looked as if he was going to fold.
Back and forth he went before finally making the call. Kelly showed for a pair of sevens, which was no good against Smith's .
"I was kind of hoping you would do that, then I got scared," Smith explained as he stacked his new chips.
A small pot had already developed between Ali Eslami and Olivier Busquet when the flop came . Eslami led from the big blind, then Busquet raised to 5,200 from the hijack seat. Eslami called. The turn brought the and a bet of 11,700, and Busquet made the call.
The river brought the . Eslami bet again -- 18,500 this time -- and Busquet called one more time. Eslami flipped over for the straight, and Busquet mucked.
Eslami is up to 108,000 now, while Busquet is in the danger zone with 6,000.
Joe Cada has emerged with a big stack and the probable chip lead, having pushed up into the 165,000-chip range.
He just added a few more following an all-in confrontation in which he held , Philipp Gruissem had , and the board came , sending Gruissem to the rail.
An under-the-gun player raised only to gave Neil Channing three-bet all in for 13,350. The player in the big blind made the call, UTG moved all in over the top for 50,000, and the big blind got out of the way.
Channing:
UTG:
Channing was behind and couldn't catch as the board ran out .
With 5,000 in the pot and a flop of , action checked to Justin "Boosted J" Smith in the cutoff and he bet 1,600. The big blind then check-raised to 5,600, Matt Hawrilenko called from middle position, and Smith moved all in for 34,500. The big blind folded while Hawrilenko made the call.
Hawrilenko:
Smith:
As it were, Hawrilenko was drawing dead and Smith was assured the double. However, the and were run out for good measure as Boosted J raked in the pot.
There was 9,000 or so in the middle and the board read when Eric "E-Fro" Froehlich's lone opponent checked to him. Froehlich bet 6,100, and his opponent called. He also check-called Froehlich's 12,500 turn bet after the was dealt.
The river brought the . This time both checked, Froehlich's opponent showed for queens, and Froehlich mucked. E-Fro sits with about 38,500 now.