Craig Welko opened to 6,000 on the button, and Cory Brinkman defended the big blind. Brinkman check-raised all in over a small bet after the 10♦7♠3♣ flop, and Welko quickly called and flipped A♥A♠ into the middle.
He was leading against K♥10♥ and neither the 9♦ nor the 2♥ changed that.
Cory Brinkman shoved for 25,000 under the gun, and Charlie Dawson called on his left.
Cory Brinkman: K♥Q♣ 
Charlie Dawson: A♦J♦
The 4♦4♥K♦ flop kept things interesting as Brinkman improved to a leading pair but Dawson had a diamond draw. He got there on the 7♦, and Brinkman patted the table and stood up. No sooner had he done so than the K♣ arrived to save him.
"Oh!" someone said. "Stand-up trick worked!"
Level: 11
Blinds: 1,500/3,000
Ante: 3,000
Rodney Deaton was in late position and staring at an all-in bet from an opponent in the blinds. The board read QxQx5x, there was about 70,000 in the pot, and Deaton only had 23,000 left. He placed it in the middle.
Rodney Deaton: 4x4x
Opponent: 9x9x
Deaton got up to leave, but the dealer delivered a 4x right away. The Jx confirmed his double on the river.
Devon Sturges checked in the cutoff and called a bet of 9,000 from the player on the button with A♠J♠9♠9♣ on the board. Both players checked the 4♥ river and Sturges showed A♣8♥ for the winning pair of aces.
Bryan Russell was in the hijack and made it 5,500 preflop over a limp. The cutoff called, as did the limper.
On the 2♥K♥5♠, Russell continued for 4,000. The cutoff called and they went heads up to the 4♠. Russell checked. The cutoff bet 11,000. After about 30 seconds, Russell slid in a tower of T5,000 chips to put his opponent at risk, but that player snap-folded.
At another table, Brian Jones went bust.
Life Outside Poker is a podcast for PokerNews hosted by Connor Richards that seeks to pull back the curtain on poker players and allow viewers and listeners to get to know them on a personal level.
In the 33rd episode, Connor talks with comedian and poker commentator Joe Stapleton about growing up in Albany, New York, first seeing Rounders while visiting a college campus, working at MADtv, getting his start in the poker industry and his favorite memories from PokerStars The Big Game.
Stapleton also talked about his friendship with late comedian Norm Macdonald, the European Poker Tour (EPT), doing commentary at the 2025 WSOP and making the "worst mistake I ever made in my entire life" by attempting to make a documentary about a stand-up comedy tour.
Level: 10
Blinds: 1,000/2,000
Ante: 2,000
Down to 15,000, Matthew Lawrence shoved from second position and received a call from the player on his left.
Matthew Lawrence: A♦Q♣
Opponent: 9♦9♣
The 4♠10♠2♣ flop brought little for Lawrence but the Q♥ was exactly what he needed. A 6♦ river was a brick.
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