Steve O'Dwyer was all in on the flop with the against Bryn Kenney's . After the landed on the turn and the hit the river, O'Dwyer was awarded the double and improved to 770,000 in chips.
Mike "Timex" McDonald opened with a standard raise from the hijack only to have Ankush Mandavia three-bet to what appeared to be 87,000 from the button. The blinds both folded, McDonald called, and the flop came down .
McDonald check-called a bet of 75,000 and then both players checked the turn. When the completed the board on the river, McDonald checked for a third time and Mandavia bet 160,000. McDonald thought for a bit before making the call, but mucked just as soon as Mandavia rolled over the for the nuts.
Isaac Haxton obtained a "lucky quarter" from Joe McKeehen after a recent tournament in Las Vegas, and today its proving to be very helpful.
Haxton explained on Twitter that after a redraw McKeehen left a quarter on the table and the former took it with him, as the luck of the WSOP Main Event champion could turn out to be helpful.
Yesterday Haxton forgot to bring the lucky quarter, as he left it in his hotel room, and this resulted in him not being as fortunate as he would've liked to be. Haxton had to re-enter this event, but today things are a bit different.
Just now it was McKeehen who raised from the button to 28,000 and Haxton three-bet from the big blind to 88,000. McKeehen tanked for a while before making it 213,000, and Haxton moved all in. McKeehen called right away for 557,000 total and the showdown went as following with more than a million chips in the middle.
McKeehen:
Haxton:
The board ran out and Haxton caught a set to double up. Haxton referenced to the lucky coin as being helpful, and he's now sitting on a very healthy stack as the tournament gets closer and closer to the money.
We missed the early action in what turned out to be Byron Kaverman's exit hand, but we do know he bluffed the river on a board reading . It happened when Mustapha Kanit checked and Kaverman shoved all in for his last 120,000.
Kanit called with the for a flush, which bested the missed Royal Flush draw of the reigning GPI Player of the Year.
A short-stacked Paul Newey shoved all in under the gun for 140,000 and Anton Astapau called from the small blund.
Newey:
Astapau:
Newey got it in good, but Astapau pulled ahead on the flop. Neither the turn nor river helped Newey, and he grabbed his bag and made a beeline for the exit.
Action folded to Dan Shak on the button and he raised to 26,000. Nick Petrangelo pushed back with a three-bet to 80,000 from the big blind, and Shak shoved all in for right around 460,000. Petrangelo snap-called and Shak discovered the bad news.
Shak:
Petrangelo:
Shak was in need of some help, but the flop provided none.
The turn gave Shak a gutshot to a non-club six, which meant he needed either a boxcar or a non-club ace on the river to survive.
The dealer burned one last time and put out the . Petrangelo improved to trips and sent Shak to the rail.
Heavy is the crown, they say, but Joe McKeehen doesn't seem to be feeling much burden being the world champion of poker.
After taking down the 2015 World Series of Poker Main Event, McKeehen remains the same relaxed, laid back guy he was before banking a life-changing score of $7,683,346. In fact, life-changing might not be the right word for it. As McKeehen tells is, things aren't much different for him nowadays, and it might be more accurate to call it a career-changing score.
"I'm playing some of these bigger tournaments now, that's about it," McKeehen said of life after winning the Main Event.
McKeehen fired his first $100,000 buy-in in December when he played the World Poker Tour Alpha8 at Bellagio in Las Vegas, a tournament eventually won by Fedor Holz.
"I was definitely a little nervous," McKeehen admitted. "But once the cards get in the air, it's poker. You're just playing poker against good players. It's cool to test yourself against the best in the world."
Outside of the high caliber of poker skill required to compete against the players he's encountered in his recent high-rolling ventures, McKeehen noted another thing that stood out to him.
"I've had an absolute blast playing these things," he said. "These dudes all know each other, they're friends. They're very funny."
McKeehen airballed that Alpha8, but he's off to a great start in his second crack on the elite super high roller circuit. Here in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure's $100,000 Super High Roller, the world champ is crushing, battling for the chip lead with less than half of the 58 player field remaining. Battling some of the world's best is suiting McKeehen so far, as he sent notable elites Erik Seidel and Justin Bonomo to the rail on Day 2.
Always known as a solid East Coast grinder who was a regular at places like Borgata, McKeehen now finds himself with the bankroll and poker chops to tackle the high-roller circuit. But don't count on seeing McKeehen join the likes of Steve O'Dwyer, Holz, Mike McDonald, and others who appear almost universally at the biggest buy-in tournaments in the world.
"Maybe if I have a little success in this, but I'm laying low for the most part," McKeehen said when asked if he'll appear at more of these events in the near future.
The closeness of the PCA, which is a shorter flight away than many domestic destinations for those in the Eastern United States, appeals to McKeehen, and he plans to play a full schedule while he's here, including the $50,000 and $25,000 buy-in high roller events and possibly some $10,000 and $5,000 ones in addition to the $5,300 Main Event.
His usual work grinding the East Coast circuit no longer holds appeal for McKeehen, who finds himself with a dilemma. He seeks bigger buy-in events that populate the European Poker Tour, but is turned off by the rigors of traveling incessantly to get to them.
"That's Europe, that's far away," he said with a laugh when asked about playing more EPTs. "I'm not too keen on traveling, so I don't know that I'll do a lot."
When not saddling up for $100,000 buy-ins, McKeehen is willing to play a different game for slightly smaller stakes. In a recent interview with Sarah Herring, McKeehen talked a little bit about Hearthstone, a game that's captured the interest of more than a few poker players.
After Mike McDonald opened with a raise from early position, Ankush Mandavia, acting from the hijack seat, called, and then Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Selbst reraised out of the big blind to 68,000, but Mandavia fought back with a four-bet to 140,000.
After a bit of tanking, Selbst announced that she was all in for around 600,000-650,000. Mandavia quickly called, and the look on Selbst's face said everything we needed to know — she knew she had run into a monster.
Mandavia tabled the , and Selbst's was in a world of hurt.
"Nice hand," she said.
The board ran out , and Selbst was eliminated. Mandavia collected the pot and moved into the chip lead with around 2.15 million.
flop with the 
against Bryn Kenney's 
. After the 
landed on the turn and the 
hit the river, O'Dwyer was awarded the double and improved to 770,000 in chips.
.
turn. When the 
completed the board on the river, McDonald checked for a third time and Mandavia bet 160,000. McDonald thought for a bit before making the call, but mucked just as soon as Mandavia rolled over the 
flop. Neither the 
turn nor 
flop provided none. 
out on the flop. 
was in trouble.
and Katz was knocked out.
, and Selbst's 
was in a world of hurt.
, and Selbst was eliminated. Mandavia collected the pot and moved into the chip lead with around 2.15 million.