Pierre Calamusa had an all-in wager in front of him in middle position when we got to his table. The board read and Calamusa had put in about 350,000 effective, which looked to be over the size of the pot. Opponent Nir Levy was deep in the tank on the button and the supervisor had begun his one-minute clock countdown.
"Show me if I fold?" he asked.
Calamusa shook his head.
With two seconds left until his hand would be declared dead, Levy mucked. Calamusa immediately rolled over. Levy knuckled the table in salute.
Alex Foxen opened under the gun plus one for 18,000 and Viliyan Petleshkov three-bet all in from the button for 119,000. Big blind Ji Zhang shoved over the top for 293,000 and Foxen folded.
Viliyan Petleshkov:
Ji Zhang:
The flop () and turn () proved no harm to Petleshkov but the on the river made Zhang a set and Petleshkov hit the rail.
Boris Kolev raised to 20,000 early and got three-bet to 62,000 by Serhii Popovych. Kolev shoved after thinking awhile and got snapped off for about 220,000.
Kolev:
Popovych:
The flop made for a short sweat and the officially ended any hopes Kolev had on the turn.
A couple hands after shoving while just waking up on the table, Aleksandr Orlov pulled the same stunt again. This time, the dealer again had to wake him and he raised to 20,000. Big blind Jason Wheeler called.
Wheeler checked on and Orlov pushed for 71,000. Wheeler called with and found out soon enough that he was trailing: for Orlov.
The on the turn sealed it for Orlov and the on the river was there just for good measures.
Dermot Blain was really laughing now, though he apologized to Wheeler as the latter had just lost a sizable pot.
"No, no, it's good," Wheeler said with somewhat of a wry smile.
Kalidou Sow was in middle position and bet 150,000, roughly the size of the pot, on a completed board of . Walter Oaquim made the call from the button after some thought, and Sow showed him for deuces full.
Three players were staring at a board of and Mikita Badzakouski bet 45,000 from the big blind. The cutoff called but the small blind, Dmitry Ponomarev made it 115,000. Both players called and the river was a . Ponomarev moved in for about 115,000 and Badziakouski called, seeing a heads-up showdown.
"I have a set," Badziakouski announced. Ponomarev had a better one: beat .
Aleksandr Orlov was seated under the gun but wasn't doing much when the dealer was done pitching cards. Staring from behind reflective shades and with his AirPods in, people wondered if he was maybe just not paying attention.
The dealer eventually asked him to make a move, and that's when the table found out Orlov was asleep. He woke up with a start, glanced at his cards, and moved in for 80,000.
The table was in stitches and Dermot Blain, sitting right behind him, shrugged when he folded, later telling the table he had ace-jack.
"I hope I don't find ace-queen here," one player said, convinced Orlov must've had a big hand when he woke up and instantly shoved.
The action folded around and Orlov won the pot.
"Show it!" the players said.
Orlov showed the while he raked in the pot and started stacking.
"Waking up with aces!" one player jokingly said.
Orlov was the big blind the next hand, we're unsure if he stayed awake for that one.