Daniel Negreanu is well known as one of the nicest players to his fans on the rail. Whenever he's not in a hand, he's always willing to talk with fans, signs autographs, and pose for pictures, and we just saw a perfect example of that. Negreanu noticed a solo female fan watching his table, and asked her how she was doing. She said she was "having the best honeymoon of her life." When Negreanu asked her where her husband was, she said "he's playing but you're here so I'm watching you!" Negreanu was flattered, and when she asked for a hug, he said "Sure! A quick honeymoon hug!" He ran over, gave her a hug, and talked for a few moments before his next hand. Just another fan Negreanu has made happy!
They have announced the payouts of this event. The official number of entrants is 374, down slightly from the 393 players from last year. 40 players will be walking away with padded wallets, and the first payout will be 4,611. However, the big number up top is $216,958. That's what everyone will be chasing. We will post up the rest of the payouts shortly.
Well no more then ten minutes after we posted that Phil Ivey was coming back, he was eliminated just before the break. All the money got in on fifth street, and at showdown, Opponent 2 showed for kings up, and Ivey couldn't beat it. Ivey will have to wait until tomorrow to try and get his first cash of the series.
Phil Ivey was down to his last 2,100 earlier in the level, but he has since battled back, and has worked it back to 6,000. In the first hand, Ivey got three quarters in an omaha hand where his flush scooped the high, and he chopped the low. Later on in the omaha-8 section, he once again got in a big hand, but this time, he scooped it. All the money got in on the turn, with the board showing . Ivey held for two pair, and the dealer put the on the river. Ivey's opponent mucked his hand, unable to beat the bottom two pair, and that got the greatest player in the world some much needed chips.
Seasoned Los Angeles poker pro Bart Hanson got our attention about a hand that was unlike any he had ever seen. He didn't know the up cards, but according to him and the table, the action was check raise called on six street, and on seventh street, the betting was capped. One player showed , which was good enough for the nut low and a six high straight. However, he would only collect a quarter of the pot, as his opponent improbably had !! You would think hand came from the pai gow tables, but sure enough, it was here in the Omaha/Stud 8-or-better event!
Scotty Nguyen opened the action for a raise, and he was called by the next player to act, as well as the small blind. The flop came down , and Nguyen led out again. Both players came along, and the fireworks started when the hit the turn. Scott bet out when the small blind checked, and the other opponent put in a raise. The small blind then three bet it, and both Nguyen and the original raiser called.
The river brought the , and the small blind checked for a third time. Nguyen fired out, and only got a call from the middle position player. Nguyen showed for the nut high, and his opponent showed for a seven low. After that pot, Nguyen is back up to 5,000.