Kenny points to his 'lucky' PokerStars hat
The crowd is on Kenny Yeh's side now. He just put on his "lucky PokerStars jacket" after doubling through Phil Laak for a second time to take a two-to-one chip lead. Yeh open-shoved with pocket fours; Laak tanked for ages, asked for a count, then called with .
Before the dealer had even burned and turned the first three community cards, Yeh was shouting for the dealer to (once again), "Pair the board!", to the delight of the crowd. The board was all low cards, 2-3-7, and did indeed pair decues on the turn. The river fell a to give Yeh the pot.
"He called me with king-high!" shouted Yeh.
A few hands later, he moved all in again. "Take all the time you want," he told Laak. Laak ultimately folded, giving Yeh another pot and a 3-to-1 chip lead.
"The Unabomber is under attack," quipped MOC Jordan Siegel.
There's one Diamonds bracket match still going -- the entertaining affair between Kenny Yeh and Phil Laak. Yeh just doubled up after raising to 2,500 with , then calling all in after Laak moved all in with .
"Any face card!" Yeh instructed the dealer. He was rewarded with a flop of . Neither player had a club.
"Pair the board!" he instructed again. This time the dealer did not comply, putting the out instead. The river was a safe-enough card to give Yeh the double-up. He's now at a 2-to-1 chip deficit.
Brad Garrett
Annie Duke's appearance on the 2009 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship will not last as many episodes as her appearance on that other NBC program, The Celebrity Apprentice. Duke was never able to get a chip lead against Brad Garrett and finally pushed her short stack all in preflop with . Garrett quickly called with a dominating hand that made a flush on a board of .
The two graced hostess Leeann Tweeden with a post-match interview, with Tweeden asking Garrett a few serious questions about his upcoming Round Two match with Glenn Chorny and Garrett responding in his usual joking manner.
After folding to a series of preflop shoves from David Benyamine, Gus Hansen decided it was time to make a stand with.... . It turned out to be a great call, however, as Benyamine could only produce .
The flop hit both players, but the that fell on the turn cemented the hand for Gus, who moves on to play Huck Seed in the Round of 32.
Things are winding down in the Diamonds bracket after the recent elimination of Antonio Esfandiari. Esfandiari moved in on the flop with an unimproved ace; his opponent, Kenny Tran, flopped two pair and made the quick and easy call. Esfandiari did not improve on the turn and was therefore drawing dead.
Only three matches remain: the back-and-forth battle between David Benyamine and Gus Hansen, the Duke-Garrett match on the feature table, and the curious but entertaining spectacle of Yeh v. Laak.
Greg Raymer
Announcer Jordan Siegel just informed the crowd that Jennifer Harman has eliminated Greg 'Fossilman' Raymer from the tournament. Details of the hand are sparse. All we know is that Raymer moved all in on the river, Harman called tabling a full house, Raymer mucked and a sporting hug ensued.
Harman will face the winner of the Antonio Esfandiari v. Kenny Tran match-up.
It's a tennis match on Table 4 between David Benyamine and Gus Hansen. Hansen had the early lead; then Benyamine doubled and took the lead. Now Hansen has come storming back with a double of his own after his held up all in preflop against Benyamine's .
That put Benyamine back on the short stack; he moved in preflop shortly thereafter with and Hansen called with . The board ran out . Both players played the board and chopped the pot.
I wish we could tell you what's going on at Phil Laak and Kenny Yeh's table. Really I do. There's a lot of noise and commotion coming from their direction, but perhaps for the firs time, Laak's not the one doing most of the talking. Yeh is muttering up a somewhat intelligible, but heavily accented and totally inaudible to us, storm of belligerent words in Laak's direction. His last question did reach us -- he asked host Jordan Siegel what the bad-beat jackpot is here at Caesars.
Short-stacked, Vanessa Selbst moved all in holding the 'computer hand,' , and David Oppenheim made the call with the . The board ran out giving Oppenheim two pair, which was good enough to send Selbst to the rail.
Chad Brown showed up for his first-round Diamonds bracket match against EPT Monte Carlo champion Glen Chorny in a stylish leather fedora. The fedora didn't bring Brown any luck. He moved all in on the turn of a board that read and was called by Chorny. Brown's top pair, needed to improve against Chorny's two pair, . Brown would be sent home if any card other than a seven, a nine or a ten fell on the river. When the river came , Chorny was victorious and Brown was off the set.
button in Safari
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to give Yeh the pot.
, then calling all in after Laak moved all in with 
.
. Neither player had a club.
out instead. The river 
was a safe-enough card to give Yeh the double-up. He's now at a 2-to-1 chip deficit.
that made a flush on a board of 
. 
. It turned out to be a great call, however, as Benyamine could only produce 
.
flop hit both players, but the 
.
. The board ran out 
. Brown would be sent home if any card other than a seven, a nine or a ten fell on the river. When the river came 
, Chorny was victorious and Brown was off the set.
