It took over three minutes for John Racener to make his decision and in hindsight it's probably one he wished he could take back as it resulted in his elimination from todays flight and he'll have to come back tomorrow if he wants to make a deep run in this event.
It all started for Racener when he opened pre-flop to 2,000 and Jordan Cristos three-bet to 4,500 from the hijack. Racener made the call and the two players saw a flop of . Racener check-called a 3,000 bet from Kristos and the dealer put out the on the turn.
Racener check-called again, this time for 11,500. The river was the and Racener checked a third time and Cristos bet again... all in... which was enough to bust Racener if he lost the hand. After the aforementioned tank, Cristos would show for the nuts, a Broadway straight, and Racener quietly pushed his cards into the center of the table and left the room.
Others joining Racener on the rail include Noah Schwartz, Jared Jaffee, and Mohsin Charania.
Matt Waxman ran into Jerry Wong's aces for a 100,000 pot
We heard Jerry Wong announce himself all in and headed over to take a look, with a scan of the scene showing he had shoved for 29,100 after Matt Waxman checked the river.
The board read and the pot contained right around 47,000 at the time. Waxman held about 100,000 behind and could afford to make the call, but the experienced pro took his time to assess the situation from all angles. He shot Wong a couple of looks while tanking, before slowly cutting out a calling stack and moving it into the middle.
Wong quickly tabled his secure in the fact that Waxman's tank was a one-pair affair, and sure enough the latter's hand went promptly into the muck.
Thirteen-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth just took his seat in the $15,000 buy-in WPT World Championship, fashionably late as always. Hellmuth is sandwiched between Brian Lemke and fellow Wisconsinite Joe Kuether, and is directly across from Jeff Gross. Like the name-dropper he is, he immediately mentioned 18-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps.
Hellmuth has nearly $18 million in career live tournament earnings to go along with his collection of gold, but his highest finish in a World Poker Tour event was a third place finish at the WPT World Poker Finals in 2003 for $281,700.
According to the self-proclaimed "Poker Brat," this is the first time he's been in Atlantic City, New Jersey in seven years. The last time he cashed here was also 2003 - he finished third in the U.S. Poker Championships, earning $116,424.
Hellmuth said on Twitter that this is the only event he wants to win as much as a WSOP bracelet:
A pot of 6,000 was already up for grabs when Chris Moorman and Tony Gregg saw the flop fall .
Acting from the hijack, Moorman led out for 3,300, only to see the "End Boss" coolly push out a raise to 9,000 from the cutoff.
The only player with more than $10 million in lifetime earnings on the virtual felt let his time bank tick down from 30 seconds to zero, before silently sliding his cards to the dealer.
Justin Young raised to 1,300 from under the gun, Brandon Steven called on his direct left, and Kevin Song three-bet to 3,600 from the hijack. Both Young and Steven called.
The flop fell , both Young and Steven checked, and Song continued for 7,000. Young folded, and Steven called.
Steven check-called another 15,000 on the turn (), and the river was a third spade - the . Steven checked, Song fired out 21,000, and Steven moved all in for an additional 19,175. Song called, then mucked when Steven showed for a rivered flush.
Song dropped down to 122,000 chips, while Steven chipped up to 136,000.
. Racener check-called a 3,000 bet from Kristos and the dealer put out the 
on the turn.
and Racener checked a third time and Cristos bet again... all in... which was enough to bust Racener if he lost the hand. After the aforementioned tank, Cristos would show 
for the nuts, a Broadway straight, and Racener quietly pushed his cards into the center of the table and left the room.
and the pot contained right around 47,000 at the time. Waxman held about 100,000 behind and could afford to make the call, but the experienced pro took his time to assess the situation from all angles. He shot Wong a couple of looks while tanking, before slowly cutting out a calling stack and moving it into the middle.
secure in the fact that Waxman's tank was a one-pair affair, and sure enough the latter's hand went promptly into the muck.
.
, both Young and Steven checked, and Song continued for 7,000. Young folded, and Steven called.
), and the river was a third spade - the 
for a rivered flush.
