An Orbit with Ben Hamnett
Ben Hamnett recently exploded onto the poker scene last month when he won the WPT Borgata Poker Open $3,300 Championship Event in Atlantic City for $818,847. Now the young pro from Pennsylvania has traveled across the Atlantic to take his shot at an EPT title.
We recently spent an orbit with Hamnett, who had a stack of 27,000, at the tail end of Level 1 to give you a glimpse into his style of play.
Hand #1 (Big Blind): The player in the cutoff raised to 300, the button called, and Hamnett came along from the big blind. The 
flop saw Hamnett lead out for 550, only the button call, and then the 
turn, which both players checked. When the 
peeled off on the river, Hamnett check-folded to a bet of 1,550.
Hand #2 (Small Blind): The cutoff raised to 300, the button called, and Hamnett folded from the small blind.
Hand #3 (Button): An early-position player opened for 300 and Hamentt folded the button.
Hand #4 (Cutoff): A middle-position player raised to 350 and Hamnett folded his cutoff.
Hand #5 (Hijack): The under-the-gun player opened for 250 and Hamnett folded from the hijack,
Hand #6 (Middel Position): An early-position player opened for 325 and Hamnett folded.
Hand #7 (Middle Position): Action folded to Hamnett in middle position and he raised to 250. Dario Alioto made the call from the cutoff and it was heads-up action to the 
flop. Hamnett led out for 425, Alioto called, and the 
turned. This time Hamnett checked, and ended up folding when Alioto bet 825. Alioto then flashed the .
Hand #8 (UTG +2): Action folded to Hamnett and he did the same.
Hand #9 (UTG +1): The under-the-gun player raised to 425 and Hamnett folded.
Hand #10 (UTG): Hamentt was first to act and folded.
It wasn't a very exciting orbit, but then again it was still the first level. By the end of it, Hamnett's stack had dipped to 25,300.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
25,300 |
.
on the river. Desferet called and his opponent immediately mucked while the Brit showed 
.
and the action went check-check, prompting the dealer to finish the board with the 
. It was checked to Alvarado for a third time and he fired 1,200. His opponent folded and Alvarado took down the pot.
.
on fourth street. Benyamine checked a second time and his opponent continued for 525. Benyamine slid out a check-raise to 1,725 and his opponent came back over the top for 4,500 total. Benyamine called and the 
and three players checked. The board finished with the 
and there were two more checks to Moneymaker. He flung out 650 and Kaiser called. The third player in the hand got rid of his cards and Moneymaker showed 
for a pair of fives. Kaiser tabled 
for kings and took down the pot.