From the One-Outhouse to the Penthouse, and Back Again

Matt Cooper dominated through much of Day 1c, building one of the biggest stacks in the room and pummeling his opponents into submission.

Cooper rode the momentum into the money here on Day 2, but a recent hand saw him ship about half of his stack across the table to Bryan Choi.

Choi's name may ring a bell as well, what with his deep run to a 9th place finish in the Borgata Winter Poker Open WPT Main Event last January.

The action began when Cooper shoved all in before the flop (this may have been an open-shove or a three-bet), putting his last 382,000 into the middle from early position. The action quickly folded around to Choi, who quickly called off his last 168,000.

Choi:
Cooper:

Cooper had brought a pocket pair to bear with his sevens, but Choi had him crushed with a pair of nines. As the dealer prepared to burn and turn, Philip Neiman mentioned aloud that Cooper would need to spike a one-outer, as he had folded the . Choi perked up at this revelation, saying "hold up one time" while watching the dealer and the deck decide his fate.

Proving that poker is one of the most dramatic games we play, the door card was the and the table let loose a collective gasp with the aforementioned one-outer coming through. Cooper barely had time to crack a smile though, as the and were slid out from underneath his saving seven.