Kurganov's Belief in Hearts Doesn't Deliver Salvation

It's been a rough day for Igor Kurganov. He was the defending champ in the $25,000 Challenge, but he fired two bullets in that event before jumping into the Main. Unfortunately for him, his luck didn't change.

In a recent hand, Brendan Hurtig opened for 1,400 from the hijack, the mall blind called, and Kurganov came along from the big. Two checks on the flop saw Hurtig bet 1,600, the small blind folded, and Kurganov sprung to life with an all-in check-raise to 11,600. Hurtig snap-called and the cards were turned up.

Kurganov:
Hurtig:

"Hearts," Kurganov said in reference to his backdoor flush draw. "Believe in the hearts." Kurganov seemed optimistic, but his heart hopes died when the blanked on the turn. Kurganov waited patiently to see if his open-ended straight draw would come in, but it did not as the peeled off on the river.