button in SafariTorrico Calls Time on Himself; St Lawrence Finds Aces
The blinds were 4,000/8,000, and after the A♠ was exposed during the deal, Andrew Torrico raised to 20,000 from the button. Defending champion James Lauer defended his big blind, then check-called a bet of 25,000 on the A♦8♦4♥ flop.
The 7♣ landed on the turn, and after Lauer checked again, Torrico fired 37,000, leaving himself around 155,000 behind. Lauer responded by moving all in, putting Torrico to the test for his tournament life.
"I'm ahead," Torrico groaned as he slipped deep into the tank.
While he wrestled with the decision for more than five minutes, the soft bubble burst on a neighboring table.
George St. Lawrence found himself in a dream spot three ways all in, holding A♦A♣ against 9♦9♣ and 8♥8♠. The board ran out 10♥K♣K♥7♠10♠, keeping his aces best and boosting him to around 335,000, while the player holding nines departed to set up the soft bubble.
Meanwhile, Torrico was still thinking. Eventually, he called the clock on himself, but failed to act before his 30 seconds expired and his hand was ruled dead.
Lauer immediately tabled 10♣10♠, prompting Torrico to reveal he had folded an ace.
On the very next hand, Nick Steen — the dealer who kick-started his bankroll by hitting a bad beat jackpot — moved all in for 31,000. Lauer made the call.
Lauer tabled 9♠8♠ and found himself flipping against Steen's K♣J♣. Steen paired his king on the K♠10♥4♦3♣5♠ runout to secure the double-up and keep his tournament hopes alive.
