It's been a rough day for Arnaud Mattern. Down to about 22,000, the French pro three-bet shoved with . The initial raiser called with pocket fours, and the race was on. The flop came out ace-high with three hearts, and the pocket fours contained a heart. That would prove to be Mattern's undoing as a fourth heart appeared on the river to send him out the double doors with a frown.
Action folded to the hijack and the player located there decided it was a good time to put in a raise to 4,500. Folds to David "ODB" Baker in the big blind and he reraised up to 14,000. The hijack came along for the ride and the pair watched the flop fall . Both players suspiciously checked as the hit the turn.
Baker took the initiative and bet 14,000, which caused the hijack to quickly fold. Baker shook his head in disappointment and it was obvious he had a big hand. Sure enough, he flashed the for a flopped set.
We walked up to the turn of a board showing , and there was close to 40,000 in the pot already. David Peters was the aggressor, and he made a bet of 17,700. His opponent tanked and called, and Peters fired another 38,400 on the river. This time the call came instantly, but Peters had the goods. He showed up for the nuts, and that pot boosts him all the way up to about 215,000.
Just before the break, Scott Clements was in early position and raised to 4,800 only to have the next player, Seat 1, reraise to 12,500. Action folded to Victor Ramdin on the button and he made the call, as did Clements. The three players then checked the flop as the dealer burned and turned the .
Clements and Seat 1 both checked to Ramdin, who put out a bet of 17,500. Clements made the call and Seat 1 proceeded to check-raise all in for around 70,000! Ramdin quickly called and Clements wisely got out of the way.
Ramdin:
Seat 1:
Ramdin had picked off a semi-bluff but could still lose to a four or non-deuce club. Lucky for him, the river was the and he took down the sizable pot. He is up to 577,000 and looks to be the chip leader.
On the flop of , David Peters check-raised Cynthia May's bet of 4,000 to 12,100. May tanked several minutes before she made the call.
The turn brought the and Peters bet 15,200. The break was already half over and with just five minutes left in it, May decided to tank some more. She tanked all the way through the break while Peters just sat still. Eventually she gave it up and Peters won the pot.
Joseph Cheong shipped his last 40,000 in preflop and was called by Alex Kamberis. Surprisingly, the player in the big blind moved all in over the top for around 100,000. Priced in, Kamberis made the call.
Cheong:
Kamberis:
Big Blind:
Cheong was in bad shape and Kamberis was in an even worse spot. The board help neither player and the big blind took down the large pot. Meanwhile, Kamberis dropped to 240,000 while Cheong was eliminated from the Big Event.
Joe Hachem has a nemesis on his immediate right, and the two men tangled recently in a battle of the blinds. There was 11,500 in the pot when we walked up to see the small blind check the flop. Hachem bet 8,500, and his opponent clicked it back to 17,000 only to see Hachem move all in over the top. The small blind had about 40,000 chips left, and he spent a long few minutes in the tank.
"If you wanna fold and you're curious what I have," Hachem said at one point, "I'll let you pick one card."
After another couple minutes, his opponent folded, and Hachem flashed the on command. "Was it a good fold?" he asked.