Franciscus Dekkers
It looked as though Franciscus Dekkers had raised it up from the cut-off and been called by Vladislav Bakalov in the small blind. Either way, the two players reached the turn of a board where Bakalov's leading bet of 1,400 was raised to 3,400 by Dekkers. Bakalov called.
On the river, Bakalov checked, and Dekkers moved all in for 6,275.
As Bakalov procrastinated, I couldn't help but notice their opposing postures, Dekkers upright with his arms folded whilst Bakalov sat sideways in his chair, his hand riffling through his chips as if he didn't have a care in the world.
Well, he does now, because after asking for a count of the pot (10,400 - although I was under the impression the chips could only be spread), Bakalov made the call, only to be shown a triumphant .
Nicholas Van der Marel raised to a very small 475 in early position and got himself called by Wilfried Brunelle in the cutoff.
A flop:
Van der Marel bet 525, and again Brunelle called.
A turn:
Not giving up just yet, Van der Marel bet another 1,100; once more, Brunelle called.
The river:
Van der Marel paused, riffling chips, before checking. An expressionless Brunelle bet 3,000, and after another moment's thought Van der Marel gave it up. He's still a big stack, though, with around 32,000.
Daniel Perfeito checked to Johan Percivall on the river of a board, and Percivall bet 5,000. Perfeito thought about it for some time before quietly announcing that he was all in. An almost instantaneous fold from Percivall, and the pot belonged to Perfeito.
Emmanuel Rosetta raised to a pot-sized 700 from the cutoff -- only for big blind Salvatore Cundari to reraise to an absolutely whopping 5,200. An unsurprising fold from Rosetta.
Another player who seems to have excelled in recent levels is PokerStars' John Duthie. Every time I trundle over to his table, he seems to be involved in the pot somehow, and most frequently locking horns with Kristian Svensson.
My latest trip was no exception, Duthie betting 4,000 onto a board and giving his foe a menacing look that my teachers used to give me if I chatted during class. Nevertheless, it worked (if that was the desired effect), and Svensson released his hand.
Whilst Duthie jumps to 25,250, Svensson is struggling with 9,625.