Team PokerStars Pro Luca Pagano had raised preflop and then called Michel Dattani's three-bet to see a flop. The Italian proceeded to check-call bets of 2,800 on the flop and then another 6,500 on the turn. The river was the and Pagano checked a third time before the diminutive Portuguese player set him all in.
Pagano recounted his stack before eventually making a reluctant fold.
“He has won at least 30k from me. He just wins every pot I play with him,” said Jon Spinks during the dinner break.
Spinks was talking about the Italian Mario Adinolfi, and funnily enough the pair of them were embroiled in a pot no sooner had the dinner break ended.
Adinolfi opened from the cutoff and Spinks defended the big blind. The action checked through to the turn on the board of , Spinks led for 1,850 and Adinolfi made the call. The river card was the and Spinks tried again. This time it was 2,250, and Adinolfi called quite quickly. Spinks turned over .
“An eight?” Said Adinolfi in his deep Italian drawl before turning over .
You’re right Jon, he does win every pot you play in with him.
Manfred Sierke opened the pot for 1,200, Jamie Burland called in the cutoff as did the big blind. The dealer sprung from the pack and it was left to Burland to bet first. The former UKIPT champion made it 1,450 to play and only Sierke made the call. The turn card was the , Sierke checked, Burland fired his second barrel worth 2,325 and Sierke surrendered his hand.
Then...
Jan Collado made it 1,000 from early position, Mike Watson called on the button as did Konstantin Puchkov in the big blind. The action checked through to the turn on a board of and Puchkov took the pot with a 3,000 bet.
When Mario Adinolfi is hitting the deck he is a hard man to beat. Just ask Patrick Fortin who has been losing pots to him all day, and just lost the last of his chips to him.
Fortin opened to 1,300 from under the gun and Adinolfi defended his big bind to see a flop appear. Adinolfi led out for 2,000 and called when his Canadian opponent shoved for his last 12,275.
Fortin:
Adinolfi: .
The board ran out to make the Italian two-pair. He's up to around 95,000 now.
Eric Sfez had bet 27,200 on the river of a dangerous looking board against Pratik Ghatge. The latter tanked then folded after several minutes of contemplation. Sfez giggled to himself and flipped for what we call here in England, "absolute gubbins" (it means 'nothing').
The No limit variant of holdem poker can trick you into thinking that everything is going well until every good comes crashing down around you. McLean Karr feels like that after busting to Davide Suriano.
That action folded to the Italian on the button and he raised to 1,100. Karr was in the small blind and three-bet to 3,250. Suriano re-opened the betting with a four-bet to 8,200 but Karr wasn't to be pushed around and threw in a pile of 5k chips. Suriano announced he was all in for his 67,000 and Karr committed the rest of his 58,600 stack.
Suriano:
Karr:
The board ran out to eliminate Karr.
"Tired to give him the option of folding!" said Karr as he got up from his seat.
It was a one-sided encounter as the Red Spades of Team PokerStars routed the Professionals of Full Tilt in the grudge match captained by Daniel Negreanu and Gus Hansen. PokerStars Blog has some words and some wonderful photos about the event.