Chen and Paik Clash
Albert Paik and James Chen have played together plenty. The last time the two clashed in a high roller tournament was just two months ago. The pair played a huge pot that saw Paik's pocket aces cracked by the pocket kings of Chen; a hand that saw Paik eliminated and Chen shoot to the top of the chip counts, where he would go on to triumph for a $512,411 payday.
So it's fair to say the two have a little bit of history... We caught the pair picking up right where they left off the last time, with Paik raising to 1,500 from the cutoff and Chen re-raising from the button to the tune of 4,500. Small blind Ivan Leow looked briefly interested but decided against it and big blind Hongjun Zhao also folded and the action was back on Paik, who made the call.
The flop came down 
and both players checked, with the dealer burning and turning the 
. Paik took a stab for 4,500, and after thinking it over Chen slid out the call to keep the action heads-up to the 
river.
Paik thought long and hard before deciding the right amount to bet was 7,000 and Chen did not take long to make the call. Paik turned over 
for a missed gutterball, meaning Chen's 
was good for a decent sized pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
83,000
24,000
|
24,000 |
|
||
|
24,450
-25,550
|
-25,550 |
, and Moss check-called a 5,500 bet. The turn was the 
which got checks from both, resulting in the 
on the river. Moss now led out for 6,500, and Yu made the call.
flop. Rabotkin checked to the raiser and Zhou made a 2,500 c-bet which was quickly called.
and that got checks from both, leading to the 
river. Rabotkin quickly checked a third time and Zhou sprung back into betting action, leading for 15,000 into the 10,400 pot. Rabotkin calmly and deliberately thought things through before pushing out a raise to 95,000 - enough to cover Zhou. 
for an unlikely straight, but Rabotkin had one too with his 
for a floppped second pair which improved by the river. The two chopped it up.
flop out there and Chen checked from the big blind position. Wang put out what was presumably a c-bet worth 2,000, and Chen came along to see the 
turn. He'd check it again, and Wang didn't slow down, leading for 3,500 this time. Chen called once more.
completed the board and when Chen checked a third time Wang fired 11,500. Chen spent around a minute and a half thinking things over, all the while holding calling chips. He'd ultimately toss them in, but would muck his hand when Wang showed 
