Ree Guh Joo has stormed up the chip count leaderboard in dramatic fashion. We caught the action on a flop of with two opponents all in for their tournament lives against Joo.
One player held pocket queens and the other pocket aces, but Joo flipped the for trip fives to the disgust of his opponents.
The turn was the and river the to give Joo an unlikely pot and send his opponents crashing to the rail as he jumps up to 28,000 in chips.
David Saab
With a video camera filming the action, J.C. Tran raised to 250. By the time the action folded to David Saab in the big blind, the camera had moved on to other tables.
Saab asked Tran if it was a camera raise. "Something like that," responded Tran. Saab decided to make the call and then he checked dark. Before the dealer could put a flop down, Tran announced that if Saab was going to check dark, Tran would bet dark and he bet 300. This confused the dealer slightly, but with prompting from Saab, she put down a flop. Saab check-raised to 1,100 but Tran was undeterred and called.
Both players checked the turn. The river came , bringing a bet of 1,600 from Saab. When Tran made the call, Saab quietly pushed both of his cards face-down into the muck. Tran showed for the winner.
"You own me here," said Saab. "I have to bet blind to win."
With 1,300 in the pot on a board of , Wally Wenceslao fired out a bet of 1,500 and sent David "Chino" Rheem into the tank.
"You got it?" questioned Rheem, before thinking some more. "Sorry guys...I have a bad kicker. That's why I'm thinking."
A quick look at Wenceslao didn't provide any reads, and Rheem let it go as Wenceslao flashed for a set! Rheem is still struggling with about 2,600 in chips.
Carter Gill
We caught up with Carter Gill on the turn of a recent pot. With 2,000 chips in the middle and the board showing , action checked to the cutoff, who bet 1,000. The button raised to 4,000. Gill, from the big blind, called the bet before the cutoff folded. Both players checked the river, with Gill turning over for the ace-high flush. His opponent quietly mucked, allowing Gill to rake a large pot.
David Saab limped in from under the gun and two limpers came along for the ride. The player on the button then raised it up to 300 to go. The blinds folded before Saab announced a raise to 1,250. All three players folded and Saab took down the pot.
"Stop squeezing!" chirped Saab.
"What's squeezing?" queried his opponent.
"Well, it's very rude to squeeze. I don't take that!" laughed Saab as he raked in the chips.
Wash in action
Under Macau gaming law, only Macau locals may be employed as dealers by casinos here. This creates a natural shortage of gaming dealers. In addition, since baccarat accounts for 90 percent of the Macau gaming scene and poker is only a recent newcomer, there are virtually no dealers who have any poker experience. As a result, all of the dealers for today's event have only recently been trained. They are performing quite admirably, but most seem to be washing the deck after every hand, significantly adding to the time it takes to play a single hand.
2008 WSOP Main Event final-tablist, and one of the "November Nine," David "Chino" Rheem has just taken a huge dent to his stack after a painful two-outer on the river.
With 650 in the middle preflop, Rheem and his opponent took a flop of . Rheem checked to his opponent, who fired 700 with Rheem flat-calling.
The turn was the and both players checked. The river brought the and Rheem fired out 2,500 before his opponent raised it up big to 7,000 in total.
Rheem thought for a moment saying, "I don't know how you could check the turn with an ace!"
His opponent replied, "I definitely played the hand how I wanted it!"
Rheem made the call and tabled for a set of kings but his opponent flipped for a rivered set of aces! This setback leaves Rheem with only 2,700 in chips.
One player is having difficulty with the time change (it's currently 12:49pm local time). "I'm so jet lagged, I woke up yesterday at 10pm and stayed up all night. I still haven't slept." As a waitress walked past the table, he called out, "Can I get a Red Bull?"
Several players are discussing other Asian tournaents they may play. "I might play a satellite for Korea," remarked one.
"No all-ins yet," a player at a different table glumly said. "What's going on? It's going to be a looooooong day."
David Saab has been trying to get a sense of one of his opponents. "Are you the best player at the table?" he asked. His opponent responded, "I'm probably the worst. Back in '07 I was good. Now I'm just terrible."
On a flop of Carter Gill checked to his opponent in position who fired out a bet of 650. Gill then check-raised to 1,700 and his opponent made the call.
The turn brought the and both players checked. The river was the and Gill fired out 2,600. His opponent quipped "What, do you have aces?" before making the call.
Gill tabled for trips to take it down and jump out to about 14,000 chips.
with two opponents all in for their tournament lives against Joo.
for trip fives to the disgust of his opponents.
and river the 
to give Joo an unlikely pot and send his opponents crashing to the rail as he jumps up to 28,000 in chips.
flop. Saab check-raised to 1,100 but Tran was undeterred and called.
turn. The river came 
, Wally Wenceslao fired out a bet of 1,500 and sent David "Chino" Rheem into the tank.
for a set! Rheem is still struggling with about 2,600 in chips.
river, with Gill turning over 
for the ace-high flush. His opponent quietly mucked, allowing Gill to rake a large pot.
. Rheem checked to his opponent, who fired 700 with Rheem flat-calling.
and both players checked. The river brought the 
and Rheem fired out 2,500 before his opponent raised it up big to 7,000 in total.
for a rivered set of aces! This setback leaves Rheem with only 2,700 in chips.
Carter Gill checked to his opponent in position who fired out a bet of 650. Gill then check-raised to 1,700 and his opponent made the call.
and both players checked. The river was the 
for trips to take it down and jump out to about 14,000 chips.
