Raul Mestre came close to eliminating triple crown holder Roland de Wolfe, but ended up putting him back in the game with an above average stack for the first time in a while.
Caught on the river with a pot of over 17,000 already built, Mestre, first to act, was deliberating putting in de Wolfe who had less than that back. The board stood and after a pause the rest went in (it was quiet but it looked like Mestre set in cutoff de Wolfe and he quickly followed with . Mestre shook his head showing and re-counted his 40,000 or so with the expression of someone finding a wasp in their lemon.
Christer Johansson had raised a bet of 2,200 on a flop to 5,800 against the UTG player who had been the initial raiser (the former Irish Open Champion having called on the button). We missed the turn action because of watching the events unfold in the Jeff Williams hand (see below) but on the river UTG had checked and Johansson bet 11,000 - just a little less than half his opponent's stack.
UTG looked in total agony, taking several minutes before eventually calling.
"Ace high," said Johansson softly and his foe turned over triumphantly. Johansson dropped to about 110,000 having previously been at the lofty heights of 160,000.
Nenad Medic and Alex Kravchenko were looking at an flop when arrived; it looked as though Kravchenko had checked and Medic had bet. Kravchenko soon pushed all in, and after a minute or two in the tank Medic called.
Kravchenko: for two pair
Medic: for just a pair of aces
Turn:
River:
Kravchenko doubled to stay in the game on a respectable 50,000 or so. Medic meanwhile is still pretty comfortable on around 65,000.
The board was dealt as far as the turn by the time we go there and found Markus Lehmann checking from the small blind and then calling a bet from his under-the-gun opponent. They saw an on the river and this time Lehmann tanked for some time before betting out 11,200.
The under-the-gun gentleman grinned and took his turn in the tank - around three minutes. Eventually he emerged and folded, leaving Lehmann to collect the pot and up his stack to around 80,000.
Sebastian Ruthenberg raised on the button and Alex Wice moved all in from the small blind and the German instantly called.
Ruthenberg:
Wice:
The flop came and Wice did a little jokey dance, but after an turn, the river was the and Ruthenberg made a bigger straight and did his own little jokey dance to much amusement from the table.
Kevin Stani was facing a 11,000 river bet from the newly chipped up Shander de Vries on a board of . He looked for a moment as though he would call this bet but decided to muck instead.
"You had a good read," said de Vries as Stani motioned to try and get the Dutchman to turn over his cards. Surprisingly, the latter did so showing for a rivered set.
Ben Vinson has climbed over the six figure mark with the elimination of his neighbour, a shortish stack (c.25k) with a tough decision on a flop. Vinson had seen this flop out of the small blind vs. the button (not sure whether he three-bet pre but if I had to guess would say he had, a little) and led out for over 6,000. The button deliberated for a while before committing with the pair'n'draw . The two following deuces couldn't be brickier and Vinson is up over 110,000.
William Reynolds, having dwindled a bit, found himself making a big call on the river which could have seen him drift even further feltwards. He'd bet 2,000 on the turn with the board standing , been raised by his in-position opponent to 7,000 and made the call. The river brought the . Reynolds checked again, his opponent bet 12,000, and after a think he made the call once again. His was rewarded with a muck and his stack jumps over 45,000.
More than a third of our Day 1b players have already boarded what is now being called "the losers' bus" back to the hotels in town, and our remaining 243 players get a short break to work out their Level 9 strategy. Back shortly.
and after a pause the rest went in (it was quiet but it looked like Mestre set in cutoff de Wolfe and he quickly followed with 
. Mestre shook his head showing 
triumphantly. Johansson dropped to about 110,000 having previously been at the lofty heights of 160,000.
flop when arrived; it looked as though Kravchenko had checked and Medic had bet. Kravchenko soon pushed all in, and after a minute or two in the tank Medic called.
for just a pair of aces
on the river and this time Lehmann tanked for some time before betting out 11,200.
and Wice did a little jokey dance, but after an 
and Ruthenberg made a bigger straight and did his own little jokey dance to much amusement from the table.
. He looked for a moment as though he would call this bet but decided to muck instead.
for a rivered set.
. The two following deuces couldn't be brickier and Vinson is up over 110,000.
, been raised by his in-position opponent to 7,000 and made the call. The river brought the 
. Reynolds checked again, his opponent bet 12,000, and after a think he made the call once again. His 
was rewarded with a muck and his stack jumps over 45,000.
