Jason Young just informed us that he's had a nice little heater to run his stack up to 40,000 chips after being as low as 8,000 at one point. Since, things have gone the other way.
He raised to 725 and got two callers. The three of them took a flop of and Young fired 1,625. Only one player called.
The turn was a and Young fired 2,575. His opponent raised to 6,000 and Young called. The river blanked off and Young check-called 5,000 from his opponent. Young held two pair with , but his opponent had turned a straight with the .
Calling the floor has been a running theme throughout the first part of this day. Chau Giang just requested a floor after the dealer at his table called Giang for a string.
"I've been playing poker for thirty years and that's never been called a string," Giang complained. With the hand already concluded, the dealer wasn't sure if Giang really wanted a floor. He replied that he did, so he could know for the future if his action was allowed.
We didn't see the betting motion that was called a string, but the dealer responded that Giang made two betting motions, apparently by backhandedly tossing chips across the betting line with both of his hands but not at the same time.
A floor was called but by the time he arrived at the table, Giang seemed unwilling to press the point.
Jonathan Aguiar got a chunk of his stack in the middle on a flop. His opponent checked the turn, and Aguiar bet 3,850. The other player made a fatal error, moving all in. Aguiar snap-called, tabling for top set. His opponent had flopped two pair and turned a flush draw with . The river was a black eight, and Aguair doubled to 38,000. His opponent was left crippled with 3,500.
Dan Frank raised to 950 from middle position and the cutoff seat called. Eric Siegel called from the big blind as well and the flop came down .
Siegel checked and Frank checked as well. The cutoff fired 1,325 and Siegel made the call. Frank folded.
The turn was the and Siegel checked. HIs opponent fired 3,475 and Siegel called.
The river completed the board with the and Siegel checked. His opponent checked behind after a moment of thought, then revealed the . Siegel bested him with the and raked in the chips to bump himself up to 37,000.
Kyle Zartman raised 5,000 on the button on a board. One of his opponents moved all in, earning a quick fold from the second player to act. It was back to Kyle, who needed to call 9,400 more. He didn't look happy about the spot but made the call anyway. The at-risk player didn't even have to sweat a river, though. As soon as the guy showed for a wheel and the nut flush draw, Zartman tossed his hand into the muck. The meaningless river was the , and Zartman counted out the chips he owed, dropping to under 15,000.
While watching a hand at a different table, we saw Barry Greenstein drift out of the tournament. Victor Ramdin (sitting in the seat to the left of the one formerly occupied by the Bear) charged us a dollar to tell us that Greenstein ran into Tony Vo's .
The board ran out and Greenstein was sent to the rail.
The under-the-gun player raised to 1,000 and was called by Daniel Negreanu in middle position. The player on the button called as well and the three of them saw the flop roll out .
It was checked to the player on the button and he bet 1,000. Negreanu was the lone caller, leading to the turn card. Both players checked, delivering the on the river. Negreanu bet 1,500 and really frustrated his opponent with the bet. After a few minutes of mumbling, his opponent called.
Negreanu tabled and it was good, upping his stack to about 40,000.
Ronnie Bardah rode a little roller coaster recently after his aces got cracked by a short stack's in all-in preflop action. The board ran out and the player made broadway.
That pot cost him about 7,000 chips, but he then was able to win some back from Team PokerStars Pro Angel Guillen a short while later.
A player limped and then Guillen raised to 1,400. Bardah called on the button as did the limper. The flop came down and action checked around.
The turn was the and the first player checked. Guillen fired 2,200 and Bardah called. The other player folded.
The river completed the board with the and Guillen checked. Bardah fired 3,200 and got a call from Guillen. Bardah tabled the and Guillen mucked, moving Bardah back up to 37,000 and change.
We haven't called NAPT Venetian runner-up Sam Stein's name much today. His initial stack of 30,000 chips has shrunk to about 10,000, which is starting to look small with blinds at 200 and 400.
Stein tried raising his button to 925 in a recent hand and was called by the big blind. Both players checked the flop. Stein called 1,500 from the big blind on the turn, then both players checked when a third club, , hit the river. The big blind's top pair, , was good enough to win the pot.