Voitto Rintala
Voitto Rintala (sans cat-eye contacts this week) opened the pot with a raise to 400 from middle position. A few seats over, he found action from a lone table mate, and the two went heads-up to the flop.
It came out , and Rintala continued out with a bet of 575. His opponent quickly made the call, and fourth street brought an innocuous looking . Rintala tapped the felt, and he quickly folded to a bet of 1,600. One stab at the pot was all he cared to muster, and he'll fold his way back down to about 33,000 after a positive start to his day.
Either he has shrunk to almost nothing rendering him invisible to the naked eye, or Dario Minieri has just failed to make it in so far. He's on the list for today, though, so we'll keep you posted.
We caught up with Victor Ilyukhin as he bet out 4,000 on the river of the board, eliciting some extreme unhappiness from his opponent Stephan Gerin on the button.
"River is good for you, eh?" he attempted, but Ilyukhin was giving nothing away."Ace-queen or queen-queen," Gerin hypothesized, before muttering, "Sick sick sick," and folding.
Ilyukhin showed him . The woeful Gerin flashed the . "I thought you had ace-queen or queen-queen," he sighed. "Well played."
Over in the next room we are supposed to have one former World Champion, but Mr. Peter Eastgate has yet to make an appearance. Must be good to be the former World Champion.
Great Bulgarian hope Atanas Gueorguiev raised to 350 in early position, and got not much respect in the form of calls from both blinds.
The flop came down and it checked around to Gueorguiev who bet 650. Mr. Small Blind made the call, and they proceeded heads up to the turn.
Both players checked the turn and then the river. Gueorguiev turned over which had stayed good against Mr. Small Blind's , and Gueorguiev took down the pot.
Antoine Saout
A small pot for WSOP final tablist Antoine Saout.
He raised under the gun and picked up a caller in the small blind. Mr. Small Blind checked the flop, though, and laid it down instantly to a continuation bet from Saout. Easy.
Czech serial do-weller (he took down the $2,000 side events at both EPT Vilamoura and EPT Prague) looks set for a good run in this main event.
We caught up with him on the river of a board, betting a roughly pot-sized 4,625 to his opponent's check. Said opponent duly called - but mucked when Kabrhel turned over for two pair. He's up to almost 40,000.
Ms. Portal
A player in early position opened the pot with a raise to 250, and Alexia Portal came along as the only caller. Heads up, the flop brought . The raiser had checked in the dark, and Portal announced a bet of 450. Her opponent quickly called, and the turn came the . Both players passed this time, and the filled out the board.
The early-position player checked again, and a big smile came across Portal's face. "You check?" asked her opponent, holding his cards outstretched and ready for a showdown. Portal had not checked yet though, and she elected to make a closing bet of 900. Her opponent stared at the pot for a long while before splashing in the call.
"You have an ace?" asked Portal. When she saw the headshake across the table, she showed up and took down the pot.
, and Rintala continued out with a bet of 575. His opponent quickly made the call, and fourth street brought an innocuous looking 
. Rintala tapped the felt, and he quickly folded to a bet of 1,600. One stab at the pot was all he cared to muster, and he'll fold his way back down to about 33,000 after a positive start to his day.
board, eliciting some extreme unhappiness from his opponent Stephan Gerin on the button.
. "I thought you had ace-queen or queen-queen," he sighed. "Well played."
and it checked around to Gueorguiev who bet 650. Mr. Small Blind made the call, and they proceeded heads up to the turn.
river. Gueorguiev turned over 
which had stayed good against Mr. Small Blind's 
, and Gueorguiev took down the pot.
for two pair. He's up to almost 40,000.
. Both players passed this time, and the 
filled out the board.
and took down the pot.
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