Steven Snyder pushed all in for 21,400 against two opponents on a board of . The player in middle position flatted him, while the player on the button tanked for a couple of minutes before calling off the majority of his stack. A hit the river, and the middle-position player put his active opponent all in. The player laid his hand down, and Snyder announced a straight, turning over . The had proved to be his money card, as the player in middle position revealed that he had turned a lower straight with before mucking his hand.
We found John D'Agostino with a considerably larger stack than the last time we checked in on him. At the tail end of a recent hand, he fired out 8,500 on the end with the board reading . His opponent appeared frustrated as he folded, allowing D'Agostino to drag the pot.
[user253757]
Russell Crane is a Local Boy Looking to Make Good Here on Day 1C
Russell Crane has quietly positioned himself as one of the best players in the game today, amassing more than $1.4 million in live tournament earnings in the last seven years.
Crane is in the house here tonight, competing in this third flight of the Winter Poker Open's first event. Representing his home state in New Jersey's premier casino, Crane has ample motivation to add another seasonal Borgata Poker Open title to his résumé. We'll track his progress into the wee hours of the morning (or until he hits the rail), so check in regularly to root on a hometown hero.
David Lopez looked down to find the , and with a preflop raising war occurring around him, as well as the impending end of the re-entry period, he decided to make his stand.
Eventually three other players made the same decision, and when the cards were tabled Lopez found himself ahead of and , but far behind the .
A flop of maintained the status quo, and the aces remained in front, but like a bolt of lightning from the sky a fell in on the turn. Suddenly Lopez needed to fade the two remaining aces to haul in a huge pot, and when a completed the board on the river, he had hit the Goliath of poker hands with a well-aimed, if not extremely fortunate, shot to the forehead.
Lopez now sits with over 170,000 and he is well out in front of the field midway through Day 1C.
Two hands we recently observed ended in spectacular fashion, and in both cases the best hand ended up being beaten.
First, three players found themselves all-in before the flop, with , and eventually laid bare on the table.
A flop of put the pocket fives out in front with a set, but when the turn came the man holding snowmen vaulted into the lead with a straight. The on the river gave the third player top set, which was enough to scoop a side pot and help him survive, but it the eights claimed the main pot.
When asked for his name, the player responded only with "Joe," and when prompted for a surname, he simply shrugged his shoulders and turned away.
"I'd rather not reveal that information," he said cryptically, attempting to conceal his identity from prying eyes. No matter, everyone is entitled to their privacy, and we moved on without a second thought.
On our way back to the PokerNews live reporting station, we overheard the commotion common to a bad beat in progress, and a bit of investigation revealed that one of the badder beats in poker had just gone down.
After a raising war before the flop, one player snap-called an all-in bet with and watched his opponent roll over a dominated . When the flop brought the case ace on board, the hand appeared to over in an instant, but the presence of a provided the smallest window of hope in the form of a runner-runner straight draw.
Sure enough, a and a completed the board and big slick suddenly materialized into a Broadway straight.
We asked the victor for his name, but once again a player who came from far behind to win the pot refused to give his name.
mnuwwarah
James Woods (Seen Here on Day 1A) is Among the Chip Leaders After Day 1B
To update an earlier PokerNews report, we've learned that it was actually actor James Woods who was awarded the $1,000 prize for the second-biggest stack for Day 1B, not Johnny Lam, as originally reported. Woods spent the whole flight playing at a table outside the main tournament area.
According to a player we talked to, Woods tripled up early on before winning a massive pot against a fellow chip leader when both players had boats. He said Woods did indeed bag over 400,000, as reflected in the MyStack updates.
. The player in middle position flatted him, while the player on the button tanked for a couple of minutes before calling off the majority of his stack. A 
hit the river, and the middle-position player put his active opponent all in. The player laid his hand down, and Snyder announced a straight, turning over 
. The 
before mucking his hand.
maintained the status quo, and the aces remained in front, but like a bolt of lightning from the sky a 
completed the board on the river, he had hit the Goliath of poker hands with a well-aimed, if not extremely fortunate, shot to the forehead.
. Amazingly, nobody held a spade, so Chang's jacks took down the pot.
, 
and 
the man holding snowmen vaulted into the lead with a straight. The 
on the river gave the third player top set, which was enough to scoop a side pot and help him survive, but it the eights claimed the main pot.
. When the flop brought the case ace on board, the hand appeared to over in an instant, but the presence of a 
provided the smallest window of hope in the form of a runner-runner straight draw.
