A tale of two hands this as the first sets up the second...
James Bord opened to 500,000 and Paul Phua wanted to know how much he was playing. "About six million," was the reply. Phua three-bet to 1,500,000 and Bord had a decision. "Anyone got a coin?" he asked. No one did. So he picked up his phone and said. "This side heads, this side tails," and flipped his phone. It landed on the table and he folded. They don't flip coins in the Big One for One Drop, they flip phones!
The very next hand Bord raised it up to 500,000 again and once more Phua three-bet him. It was 1,200,000 total for Bord to continue and again he flipped his phone. "This time I'm all-in," he said. "Call," said Phua.
Bord:
Phua:
It was the ultimate cooler and a board kept Bord's aces in front, he was all-in for 5,620,000.
Action folded to Dan Shak in the small blind and he open-raised to 425,000. Big blind Bob Safai casually made the call.
The flop came and Shak checked. Safai bet 800,000 and Shak called.
With the pairing the board on the turn, Shak checked again. Safai bet 2.4 million and Shak moved all in for a little more than double that. Safai instantly called.
Bob Safai:
Dan Shak:
The on the river couldn't help Shak and after it turned out Safai had him just nearly covered, Shak made his exit from the tournament.
Rick Salomon raised to 425,000 from the hijack, then Cary Katz three-bet to 1,200,000 from the cutoff. Alfred De Carolis was on the button, and he studied Katz's stack for a minute before electing to fold. Paul Newey was in the small blind, and he goes into the tank. After thinking over his options, he moved all in for 2,160,000. Salomon quickly folded, and Katz reluctantly called.
Katz:
Newey:
The flop fell , giving Newey top set and a virtual stranglehold on the hand. The turn was the , giving Katz outs to a straight, but the river was the , a complete blank. Newey won with his set and doubled up.
Anatoly Gurtovoy, Dan Shak and Bob Safai all stuck in 325,000 apiece pre-flop and were greeted with a flop. It wasn't to their liking and everyone checked. On the turn Safai led for 600,000 and Shak was the only caller. The river was checked through and Safai's was the winner. A visibly frustrated Shak mucked his cards and went off for a conflab with Scott Seiver (his coach). He returned to the table and said: "I know you're betting the river if you miss too."
Over on Table 9 Paul Phua raised it up and Andrew Pantling defended from the big blind. The board was checked all the way to the river, at which point Pantling bet 575,000. Phua tank called and mucked when Pantling showed .
"I've found a new hero," said James Bord applauding Pantling's thin value river bet. "Phua you've been replaced temporarily," he joked.