APPT Sydney champion Aaron Benton was on our player list for the day, but we couldn't spot him in the field anywhere. We saw his mate Tony Hachem wandering around the tournament floor, so we peddled for a bit of info.
It seems that Benton is dealing with a bit of food poisoning after a sour dinner last night, and he's still in bed for the time being. We'll wait to see if he shows up later on, but for now we'll mark him as a scratch, and we'll see if he's able to go tomorrow.
Ricky Kroesen raised preflop, and Terrence Chan called on the button. The flop came , and Kroesen bet 600. Chan called. Same story after the on the turn. Kroesen bet 1,000, and Chan called. Repeat on the river. Chan called a bet of 1,600, and quickly mucked when Kroesen showed for two pair. Chan is down to his last 11,000.
Eric Assadourian raised preflop and then called a three-bet from the small blind, Yu-reng Peng. The flop came , and Peng fired out 2,400. Assadourian made the call. The turn was the , and both players checked. Peng again checked after the on the river, and Assadourian checked behind, tabling . Ace-king high was good enough to take down the pot.
JC Tran fired 1,400 on the flop of . John Tech was his only opponent and raised to 3,100. Tran went into the tank and reraised to 8,400. Tech thought for a tiny bit of time before looking at the dealer and announcing that he was all in. Next, Tran went into the tank. He asked the dealer to pull in the 8,400 from each player's stack, revealing that Tech did have Tran covered. Eventually, Tran mucked his hand after several minutes and was left with just about 10,000 chips. Tech showed a set of sixes with the .
John Phan made an opening raise to 600 from the button, and Roger Spets three-bet to 2,000 in the next seat over. When Eric Assadourian folded his big blind, Phan moved all in for 6,550 total. Spets called, and Phan was at risk and flipping a coin for double or nothing:
Showdown
Phan:
Spets:
Board:
That's just no help whatsoever for The Razor, and his day is done early.
JC Tran over-limped in late position, and the small blind completed. But the big blind had other ideas, making it 900 to go. Tran and the other two players called to see a flop four-handed. It came . The small blind checked, and the big blind bet 2,300. The player under the gun moved all in for a total of 4,300. Tran called, as did the big blind, who checked the on the turn. Tran bet 5,000, and the big blind folded, meaning it was time for a showdown. Tran tabled for a flopped set. But the short stack showed for a turned straight with a flush redraw. Tran needed the board to pair, but the on the river didn't do it. After doubling up his opponent, Tran fell below 9,000.
Andriyan Lebedev was the first player into the pot, opening with a hijack raise to 650. In the small blind, Eric Assadourian three-bet to 1,800, and that sent the decision back to Lebedev, He squirmed in his chair and checked his cards several times. And then checked them again.
"Have another look," Assadourian said, chuckling. "Did it change?"
After another moment (and yet another check of his cards), Lebedev made a reraise to 6,300 total, and Assadourian gave him a sideways look. Eventually, he called to see a flop of . When Assadourian checked, Lebedev announced an all in for about 16,000 total. Assadourian had about 19,000 chips left, and the move sent him into the tank for a minute or so.
"You're so nervous," he finally piped up. "That's what's putting me off. I don't know if you're nervous, like, big hand or..." Assadourian trailed off. With a shake of the head, he sent his cards into the muck and he's right back down around his starting stack once again.
A few minutes after the hand, Assadourian was still talking with one of his table mates about the decision. "He was really nervous when he reraised me. He was s****ing his pants."
Tamas Lendvai got all his money in on the turn of a board. He was going to need a miracle on the river to save his from elimination at the hands of . But the river was the unhelpful , sending him to the rail early.
![[user66118]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
, and Kroesen bet 600. Chan called. Same story after the 
on the turn. Kroesen bet 1,000, and Chan called. Repeat on the 
river. Chan called a bet of 1,600, and quickly mucked when Kroesen showed 
, and Peng fired out 2,400. Assadourian made the call. The turn was the 
, and both players checked. Peng again checked after the 
on the river, and Assadourian checked behind, tabling 
. Ace-king high was good enough to take down the pot.
. John Tech was his only opponent and raised to 3,100. Tran went into the tank and reraised to 8,400. Tech thought for a tiny bit of time before looking at the dealer and announcing that he was all in. Next, Tran went into the tank. He asked the dealer to pull in the 8,400 from each player's stack, revealing that Tech did have Tran covered. Eventually, Tran mucked his hand after several minutes and was left with just about 10,000 chips. Tech showed a set of sixes with the 
.
for a flopped set. But the short stack showed 
for a turned straight with a flush redraw. Tran needed the board to pair, but the 
on the river didn't do it. After doubling up his opponent, Tran fell below 9,000.
. When Assadourian checked, Lebedev announced an all in for about 16,000 total. Assadourian had about 19,000 chips left, and the move sent him into the tank for a minute or so.
from elimination at the hands of