Now We're Playing the Game

In the last deal before the break, we watched a raising war escalate between Tony Sinishtaj and Igor Skochilo, and at the rate towers of pink T10000 chips were being pushed around, a showdown of premium holdings appeared to be inevitable. Some wars stay cold, however, and that was the case here today.

The action started when Sinishtaj made a reraise to 28,500 (action before that was undetermined), only to see Skochilo push a big bet of 108,500 into the middle. This four-bet left Skochilo with about 200,000 behind, and Sinishtaj easily had that covered with just elevated tower of pinks.

So in they went, all of them, for a massive five-bet shove to effectively put Skochilo at risk if he called.

The tank was long and hard, as Skochilo agonized over the spot he has suddenly found himself in. Eventually, after minutes had passed away and the break had begun, Skochilo reluctantly released his hand into the muck: .

Skochilo laid down a monster and showed as much, while Sinishtaj expressed mild surprise at his opponent's discipline, showing him the as a professional courtesy.

The sight of big slick - rather than the aces of kings he must have read Sinishtaj to be sitting on - obviously pained Skochilo, and he stayed behind for a few minutes into the break, discussing the dynamics of what may prove to be the pivotal play of the tournament for both men.

"That was a terrible hand..." said Skochilo, not in regards to Sinishtaj's cards but his own laydown. "I thought those were five-thousands for some reason."

Apparently, with the tournament chip set being used today skipping the T5000 chips (going from orange T1000 chips to pink T10000 with nothing in between), Skochilo had calculated his original four-bet to be 58,500 rather than the 108,500 he actually reraised to. Now knowing that he he had just put one-third of his chips into the middle with a premium pocket pair, before ultimately folding to a pressure play, Skochilo's frustration was evident, while Sinishtaj simply remarked that his play worked as it should have considering his extremely tight table image.

Bravo, boys... bravo.