The tournament staff has made several announcements concerning the use of cell phones at the PCA. The rule here is that music and video are permitted at the table, but any texting/tweeting/facebooking must be done a few steps away from the table. It's an unpopular rule to say the least, but most of the players have been heeding the warnings, or at least texting inconspicuously enough not to draw attention.
It took more than five hours, but we've finally seen someone get a penalty for cell phone use. The victim? Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier.
The good news is he now has one orbit of free time to get all his texting done.
An under-the-gun player raised to 6,300 and received calls from Chris Moneymaker and both blinds. Four players went to the flop and the small blind immediately moved all in for 27,900. The big blind and original raiser both folded back to Moneymaker, who eventually made the call:
Moneymaker:
Small Blind:
Moneymaker was ahead but needed to dodge a lot of out. The on the turn was one such out and suddenly Moneymaker needed to catch on the river. Unfortunately for him the on the river was no help and the small blind doubled.
The player under the gun raised to 7,500 and Dave Sands called on the button. Faraz Jaka called from the big blind as well and the flop came down .
Action was checked to Sands and he bet 12,700. Jaka popped it to 32,000 and the under-the-gun player folded. Sands came over the top, sliding about 80,000 more in blue T5,000 chips, prompting a quick fold from Jaka.
Sands: Up to about 205,000
Jaka: Slipped to roughly 380,000
Nick Schulman moved all in for around 77,000 from early position with and was called by the small blind, who held . Schulman was in good shape to double after the flop, but the gave his opponent the lead. Suddenly Schulman, the fourth-place finisher in the PCA $100k Super High Roller Event, needed to catch an ace on the river to stay alive. Unfortunately for him, the dealer put out the .
Praz Bansi must have become involved in a big hand as he was recently sitting with just 4,500 in chips. When action folded to him on the button, he moved all in and was called by the player in the big blind.
Bansi:
Big Blind:
Bansi was far ahead and stayed that way as the board ran out . Even though he double to about 15,000, which included the small blind and antes, Bansi is still extremely short.
A player in early position opened the pot with a raise, and Chris Moneymaker three-bet from the big blind. His opponent called, and it was heads up to the flop.
The dealer fanned out , and Moneymaker's 30,000-chip continuation bet was quickly called. The landed on fourth street, and Moneymaker began stacking chips. He eventually settled on 74,500 of them, pushing that bet across the line. His opponent spent several long minutes in the tank; he had about 180,000 chips left. After some time, he reluctantly surrendered.
"You can see one card," Moneymaker said, pushing his cards out into the middle of the table. His opponent plucked the off the table and sunk in his chair with a bit of a frustrated look across his face. "You were supposed to pick the other one," Moneymaker said with a smirk.
Jordan Rich was all in for his last 65,000 or so with and up against the of an opponent. The board ran out and Rich was bounced from the 2011 PokerStars.net Caribbean Adventure.