After a flop of hit the table, Asher Conniff flatted a bet of 13,000 to see the drop on the turn. His opponent tossed out another wager of 24,000 on fourth street, and once again Conniff smooth-called, bringing the on the river.
Conniff's opponent went for the gusto now, shoving about 70,000 into the pot, only to see the man in the New York Knicks beanie beat him to the pot as he tabled for the second-nut flush.
With the win, Conniff pushed to nearly 300,000 chips, putting himself in solid position for a deep run during tomorrow's second day of play.
And to Mrs. Conniff, if you're still out there, we're sorry for the previous error with the spelling of your son's name... it's been a long night.
In the game of tournament poker reporting, the time it takes to rush back and type is usually enough to see things change quickly back on the floor, and that was the case recently as Dan Heimiller doubled his stack mere minutes after we recorded his count.
According to Heimiller, he busted two short stacks in short order push over 140,000 in chips.
First, he took up against with the owner of big slick at risk. When the flop brought a to the table, and no aces arrived on the turn or river, Heimiller notched the knockout.
Shortly thereafter, the owner of a World Series of Poker bracelet won a coin flip when his held up over an opponent's . With the wins, Heimiller put himself in position to return for tomorrow's Day 2, as he looks to record a cash of $7,000 or more to push over the $4 million mark in lifetime earnings.
Stopping by for a quick round of chip counts, we were pulled into a conversation with Amanda Musumeci and Allard Broedelet regarding a recent hand the two highly skilled players recently contested.
According to the talkative two, Broedelet - a proud native of the Netherlands who now resides in New York - opened for 6,000 under the gun to start the action. Musumeci three-bet to 13,800 and Broedelet flatted to see the flop fall . Musumeci then fired out a c-bet of 8,500 and once more Broedelet smooth-called, bringing the to the table on the turn.
Musumeci threw another bet into the middle, this time for 15,000, only to see Broedelet move all in for about 15,000 more.
According to Musumeci, she was "O.I." at that point ("over it" being the latest addition to poker's acronym heavy vernacular), but she was also pot committed as well, and she called with her .
Broedelet did not hold a straight or a flush as Musumeci anticipated, but his put him on top nonetheless, and drawing to the case queen, Musumeci watched the river brick off. Despite the loss, she remains in good spirits, laughing it up with her tablemates and flashing her signature smile as she told the story.
Calls of "seat open!" are ringing through the room, as an epidemic of eliminations has swept through the Borgata.
In the last few minutes we've rushed around to record the grisly details, as straights have felled sets, and overpairs have overcome their undermanned counterparts.
We're not sure whether players are simply getting reckless as a result of fatigue, or the cards are colluding to create collisions, but here on Day 1c, stacks are being seized seemingly every few seconds.
Cotton Snuffer - A.K.A. "Heisenberg" - was one of the recent victims, after his fell to an opponent's on a flop. Snuffer raised before the flop, and responded to the other player's 10,000 flop bet with an all-in shove suspecting he was on a move, but in a rare experience for this series' top earner so far, he held the second-best hand when it was all said and done.
Just 17 tables remain here in Event 9, as the killing fields continue to claim additional casualties.
We heard the excited yell of Stephen Burns as he hit his card, followed by the rest of the table yelling out in shock when another card came to silence him.
According to Brian Kurrus, the new owner of Burns' previously healthy stack, the drama began when Burns opened for 4,000, and then called Kurrus' reraise of 10,500.
The flop came and Burns checked to the aggressor, only to raise all in when Kurrus made it 10,500 to play. Holding , Kurrus was more than happy to oblige, and he happily called the additional 42,000 or so. Burns tabled for top pair-top kicker, but he was outmatched by Kurrus and his cowboys.
Turn:
The arrival of an ace on board prompted Burns' vocal celebration, but before he could blink, the fell in on the river. Burns circled the table for a moment, clapping his hands in frustration, before immediately regaining his composure and laughing the beat off.
"Sick man, a suck and a resuck..." he told us, before offering Kurrus a sincere "nice hand."
He returned to the scene of his near miss here tonight, sitting down to compete in this third and final starting flight, and just like last night, he's run up another stack.
Kuey currently sits with a little over 100,000, good enough to put him closer to the leaders than those who lack stacks, and after showing his stuff the night before, we expect to see him returning yet again for Day 2 tomorrow.
Most of the time in poker, the chips get moved around when one player finds a pair while another holds two big cards.
The standard scene played out once again, as James Mendenhall took his up against for stacks.
The flop removed most of the drama when it came , but as is usually the case, there were still outs to fade. Needing to dodge the the deck's tens, Mendenhall watched the dealer deliver bricks on the turn and river to keep his set of sixes out in front.
Stephen Burns proudly sports his Detroit Lions gear while playing poker, and despite his favorite team's unparalleled run of futility in terms of Super Bowl success on the field, Burns seems to be a lion on the felt.
Burns just doubled through an opponent after his held up over . The final board rolled out and the cowboys were best.