Joseph Cheong opened from early position with a raise to 40,000. Stephane Albertini called from the next seat over and it folded to Sergii Baranov who three-bet to 120,000 from the cutoff. Both Cheong and Albertini called.
The flop came down and there were two checks to Baranov. He fired out 200,000 and Cheong quickly released his hand. After about fifteen more seconds, Albertini decided to let his hand go as well, awarding Baranov the pot.
Sergii Baranov opened for 40,000 under the gun and cleared the field all the way to Jason Mercier, who three-bet to 116,000 from the big blind. Baranov made the call and then raised to 235,000 when Mercier led out for 87,000 on the flop. Mercier made the call and then checked the turn. Baranov did not slow down and fired out a bet of 275,000. It proved enough as Mercier folded, at which point Sergii Baranov showed .
Christopher Brammer opened with a 40,000 from middle position and Sergii Baranov called from the cutoff. The rest of the table folded and the two were heads up to the flop. Brammer check-called a bet of 57,000 and the turn brought the .
Brammer checked a second time and Baranov moved 105,000 into the middle. Once again Brammer decided to stick around to see the on the river. Brammer checked for a third time and Baranov bet 205,000. Brammer went into the tank for well over two minutes before finally releasing.
"He's just like Santa!" said Baranov as he turned over for nothing but queen-high.
Christopher Brammer opened to 40,000 from early position and Phil Hellmuth called from the small blind. Stephane Girault three-bet all in from the big blind and Brammer moved all in over the top. Hellmuth mucked his cards and the hands were shown:
Girault:
Brammer:
The board fell and Girault was able to double up through his set of jacks.
Sergii Baranov raised to 40,000 from middle position and received a call from Phil Hellmuth in the cutoff. Paul Tedeschi then three-bet to 95,000 from the small blind, two calls ensued, and the flop fell . Tedeschi checked, Baranov bet 131,000, and only Hellmuth called.
When the dealer burned and turned the , Baranov check-called a bet of 100,000 and the was put out on the river. Again Baranov check-called a bet, this time 300,000, but was left shaking his head when Hellmuth said, "Straight," and tabled .
In the second hand back from the break, Phil Hellmuth raised to 60,000 from the cutoff only to have Stephane Girault move all in from the button. The blinds got out of the way, and Hellmuth asked for a count. "I'm pretty sure I'm calling," he said. The 256K price sounded right and Hellmuth did make the call.
Showdown
Girault:
Hellmuth:
Girault woke up with the best possible hand at the right time and he secured a double when the board ran out .