Jeff Madsen started the job pre-flop but couldn't finish it off at the river. He raised pre-flop to 1,500 and was called by the button and Dan Frank from the small blind. Madsen continued for 2,700 more on a flop of . Only Frank called.
Both players checked the turn. At the river , Frank led into Madsen for 6,000. Madsen looked pained to flick his cards into the center of the table thirty seconds later. Frank turned up a busted draw, .
"Nice hand," said Madsen. Then he shook his head and added, "Close."
We arrived at David Williams' table in time to see Williams faced with a big decision. The pot was pretty hefty and his opponent was all in for roughly 54,000 on a board.
Williams took his time, eventually making the call. He tabled and saw the bad news when his opponent turned over , leaving Williams drawing to just two outs.
Alas, the landed on the river and Williams won the huge pot to surge to 210,00. He dropped a few chips on the last hand of the level, but is still the chip leader with 195,000.
Action folded over to Daniel Negreanu on the button and he raised to 1,375. Only the player in the big blind made the call.
After a flop of , the big blind checked and Negreanu checked behind. The turn added the to the board and the big blind passed to Negreanu again. He fired 2,200 and the big blind mucked his hand, showing the . Negreanu didn't show and is back up to 39,000 chips.
We walked up to not-really-retired Shaun Deeb's table on the turn of a . Deeb, still enamored of his new hat, had led the betting for 3,050 after one check. The button called before a third player in the hand check-raised to 8,000. Only Deeb called.
The river fell . Deeb's opponent bet 22,000, enough to put Deeb all in. The bet immediately elicited a small sigh from Deeb. He spent two minutes in the tank, mutterings a few words to himself along the way, before pitching his cards in to the dealer.
As always, PokerStars throws an opening party to welcome players to each event. Here's a quick look at the beginning festivities that took place last night at Ultra 88 here at Mohegan Sun.
Daniel Negreanu opened pre-flop from early position to 1,375. A player two seats to his left re-raised to 4,000. Battle was joined when everyone else folded and Negreanu casually called.
A flop of drew a quick check from Negreanu. His opponent eyeballed Negreanu's stack (about 30,000), then bet 3,100. Negreanu called.
Both players checked the turn. Negreanu checked again on the river, then launched into his trademark hand discussion after his opponent fired out for 7,500.
"I definitely wasn't hoping for that card," he said as he launched his hand into the muck. His opponent showed .
"Whoa, you had everything there," Negreanu remarked. "That card cost you money on the river."
An early-position player raised to 1,600 and a middle-position player made it 3,500. Vanessa Selbst popped it to 9,400 in the hijack and was only called by the player in middle position.
The flop came down and it was checked to Selbst. She shoved for 17,450 and was insta-called by her opponent. Selbst needed help with against her opponent's . The turn card was a blank for Selbst, but the river card gave her a straight to win the pot.
We caught up with this multi-way pot on the flop. It was checked to Tom Dwan on the button and he bet 3,000. Jonathan Tare went all in from the small blind for 14,175. It folded back to Dwan and he called all in for about 13,000. The hands were:
Dwan:
Tare:
The turn and river were blanks for Tare and he's down to just 1,300.
Shaun Deeb has been trying to fly under the radar today in "you can't see me if I can't see you" fashion. But his long hair and hat seem to be attracting more attention than they deflect. Daniel Negreanu shouted from a few tables over about Deeb's suave headgear. Jonathan "Dainty" Aguiar, seated between their tables, asked Negreanu if Deeb could play in the Big Game if he wore the hat, and Negreanu said no hats or sunglasses were allowed.
Deeb took the opportunity to needle Negreanu about a hand shown in the WSOP Europe telecast in which Shaun and Daniel have, lets call it differing opinions, about the legality of one of Negreanu's raises. Since Negreanu said no hats were allowed, Deeb asked if string raises were. "Totally cool," said Negreanu. "You can even put your hand over the line, and if they call, say 'Ha, I was just kidding!'"