Someone Bring Chen Some Stomach Medicine

Big pots are the norm now. Daoxing Chen started one with a preflop button raise to 125,000. Darkhan Botabayev added fuel to the fire by re-raising the small blind to 375,000. Chen asked for a count, stood up, tanked for a few minutes and then called.

The all-club flop {8-Clubs}

drew some whisles and murmuring from the crowd. Botabayev had first action and opted to move all in for 1.4 million. Chen asked for a count again (same as before the flop), stood up a second time, and started fiddling with his own chips. Presumably he was checking how much he would have left if he called and lost.

Two minutes into the tank, Chen briefly sat down, smiled, then stood back up. He asked the dealer to spread the pot. Everyone in the gallery stood expectantly, watching and waiting for Chen to do something -- anything! Chen looked Botabayev up and down, prompting Botabayev to break out into a grin and laugh.

At the five-minute mark, TD Danny McDonagh told Chen he'd have only two more minutes to act. Chen replied that one minute would be enough, so McDonagh immediately put the clock on him. Chen took off his jacket and draped it over the back of his chair and sat back down. McDonagh called twenty seconds.

Finally at the six-minute mark, Chen open-folded {J-Hearts}