Layne Flack opened to 6,000 from early position, leaving around 20,000 behind, and Matt Stout three-bet on his left. David Peters put in a cold-four bet, the action folded back to Stout who five-bet shoved for 115,000 effective, and Peters called.
Stout:
Peters:
The flop changed nothing, nor did the on the turn, but the spiked on the river. Peters gave the slightest grimace before grabbing his bag and exiting, and Stout offered his condolences to his fellow online grinder.
Tony Gregg has earned the coolest nickname in poker by becoming the man waiting at the end of poker's biggest games. Since 2008 the mild mannered Gregg has terrorized final tables at poker's elite events all over the world. And like the famed end bosses of video game lore before him, Gregg does not go down easy - if at all.
Gregg is currently crushing a table full of pros, and he now holds nearly three times the average stack at the moment, pushing closer to the coveted 500,000-chip plateau while the average sits at 176,000.
A recent hand saw Gregg check the flop to prompt a feeler bet of 10,000 from the cutoff and a call by Cathy Dever on the button. Gregg sat still for a few seconds before reaching decisively for a stack of baby blues and making the raise. It looked to be about 48,000 or so, but we couldn't even count it before both opponents surrendered to the End Boss.
Mike Leah checked to David Daggett on a board of , and the Club WPT winner fired out four gray T5,000 chips. Leah tank-called the 20,000-chip bet, and the river was the .
Leah checked once more, and Daggett plopped 40,000 in front of him, putting Leah all in.
Roughly two minutes passed before Leah started goading Daggett for information. Daggett refused to entertain the one-sided conversation, sitting silently and stroking his white beard under his black cowboy hat. Eventually, Leah gave up on both the conversation and the hand, flicking his cards into the muck.
Daggett finally acknowledged Leah, albeit silently, showing him and the rest of the table for a flopped set of fives.
Athanasios Polychronopoulos' signature smile was nowhere to be seen during a recent staredown with Chris Klodnicki
We passed by Athanasios Polychronopoulos' table recently to find the accomplished pro staring straight ahead with an intense expression - not looking directly at Chris Klodnicki from across the table, but not avoiding his own staredown.
Polychronopoulos is usually a gregarious fellow on the felt, smiling and talking his way through tournaments while making friends along the way, as he did with professional football player Miles Austin in the next seat over this evening. So when we saw the two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner with such an intense expression etched on his face, we stopped in our tracks to see the cause.
And we're glad we did... Chris Klodnicki though, not so much.
The board read when we caught the action, and a pot with at least 65,000 was already at stake. Polychronopoulos was in the big blind and had a bet of 50,000 already assembled and moved forward. From watching earlier hands at the table, it's likely Klodnicki had tanked for a long while to force Polychronopoulos' previously mentioned stare.
Finally, Klodnicki made the call, with Polychronopoulos insta-tabling his for a rivered wheel straight. His eyes never left Klodnicki's direction as the pot was pushed his way though, showing that when the game gets going, even the nice guys have to flash a mean mug here and there.
Imagine Wong's surprise when he came back from dinner and found none other than Phil Hellmuth being moved to his table. Wong raced over to the PokerNews Live Reporting team, a glazed look on his face as he told us of this. The excitement and nervousness on his face was obvious.
We walked over to Wong's table. It's not an easy one. In addition to Hellmuth there is Justin Young, Amit Makhija, Christina Lindley, Byron Kaverman, and Kevin Choe. "He's a professional. He's a professional," Wong said to us, nodding at the players at the table. "This is very exciting. My heart is beating so fast."
Wong stood, unable to remain still, as a hand went down where Justin Young five-bet shoved with . He'll have to calm down if he's going to contend with these sharks, but he's already been proving that he could do that for over 12 levels. It could be Wong teaching the pros a thing or two before all is said and done.
Maurice "Mo" Hawkins is one of the more entertaining players in the room today - and that's saying a lot, what with the brash and boisterous Will "The Thrill" Failia and Phil Hellmuth holding court in their inimitable way.
Hawkins is known for his active play and aggressive style, and with the trio of table-talkers all sitting together, the scene resembles a home game more than the WPT World Championship.
"This is a $300 tournament to me," said Hawkins during a recent pass by the table. "This isn't serious... it's fun."
While that bit of boasting may or may not be true (he is playing for more than million dollars after all), Hawkins is showing his serious side on the felt. He doubled through two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner John "World" Hennigan recently, making eights full over sixes full to push his stack up over 250,000. A few blind steals later have propelled Hawkins over 280,000 just before dinner break, giving him one of the largest stacks in play midway through the evening.
After unknown action on a flop of , there was a three-way all in involving Harry "ugotabanana" Kaczka, Daniel Brits, and Harrison Gimbel. Gimbel had both players covered, and crushed.
Kaczka:
Brits:
Gimbel:
The turn and river bricked , respectively, and both Kaczka and Brits hit the rail. Before leaving, Brits took a nice photo with 2012 WSOP Main Event champ Greg Merson.
It was Brits who claimed every chip in play though, putting on a performance to remember for South Africa's burgeoning poker community - one which owes much its current vigor to Raymond Rahme, member of the 2007 World Series of Poker Final Table. While Rahme has receded from the game somewhat in recent years, emerging stars like Brits and Chamani are ready and willing to take up the mantle.
Both were in the house here today trying to reach another WPT final table in this World Championship event, and while Chamani went bust earlier in the day, a recent hand saw Brits chip up in style.
The final board read and Brits led out for a 25,000 bet, with Harrison Gimbel tanking a bit before making the call. Brits rolled over bullets though, and his was good for the winner.
A short-stacked Matt Salsberg moved all in for the last of his stack with and was up against Roland Israelashvili and his .
The screenwriter/poker player would flop good when it came but he was unable to hit any of the straight draws or a seven as the turn came and the river and that would be the end of the day and tournament for him.
Salsberg is still the record holder for most cashes earned by a World Poker Tour ("WPT") Player of the Year winner with six. This is also the current record for most cashes in a single WPT season, although he shares that record with three others (Abraham Gray, Barry Greenstein, and Lee Markholt).
We caught the tail end of a collision between World Series of Poker bracelet winners, and after consulting with a fellow member of the esteemed press corps, we can fill you in on the identity of the tournament's new hero.
Matt Waxman opened to 4,000 to start the action and Matt Glantz flatted from the button. Athanasios Polychronopoulos then three-bet to 14,000 from the small blind, with both of his fellow pros coming along to take the flop three ways.
Waxman led out for 18,700 to fold Glantz, but Polychronopoulos stuck around to take the on the turn. Polychronopoulos siezed the initiative with a 40,000 wager on fourth street, prompting a tank-call from Waxman. The river card came to
complete the board and Waxman made a 41,500 wager after deliberating for a long moment.
A long tank later saw Polychronopoulos look Waxman up, with the latter tabling for a busted bluff. Polychronopoulos - who his friends know as "Tommy" - tabled for bottom pair (and a huge pair when you really think about it).
![[user101598]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
flop changed nothing, nor did the 
on the turn, but the 
spiked on the river. Peters gave the slightest grimace before grabbing his bag and exiting, and Stout offered his condolences to his fellow online grinder.
flop to prompt a feeler bet of 10,000 from the cutoff and a call by Cathy Dever on the button. Gregg sat still for a few seconds before reaching decisively for a stack of baby blues and making the raise. It looked to be about 48,000 or so, but we couldn't even count it before both opponents surrendered to the End Boss.
, and the Club WPT winner fired out four gray T5,000 chips. Leah tank-called the 20,000-chip bet, and the river was the 
.
for a flopped set of fives.
when we caught the action, and a pot with at least 65,000 was already at stake. Polychronopoulos was in the big blind and had a bet of 50,000 already assembled and moved forward. From watching earlier hands at the table, it's likely Klodnicki had tanked for a long while to force Polychronopoulos' previously mentioned stare.
for a rivered wheel straight. His eyes never left Klodnicki's direction as the pot was pushed his way though, showing that when the game gets going, even the nice guys have to flash a mean mug here and there.
. He'll have to calm down if he's going to contend with these sharks, but he's already been proving that he could do that for over 12 levels. It could be Wong teaching the pros a thing or two before all is said and done.
, 
but he was unable to hit any of the straight draws or a seven as the turn came 
and the river 
for bottom pair (and a huge pair when you really think about it).
