The eliminations have been coming fast and furious and some of the pots have been monstrous. At one table, Isaac Haxton opened to 11,000 and was met by an all in for around 110,000 from Richard Kirsch. Haxton quickly made the call and tabled against Kirsch's . The board ran out and Haxton slightly had Kirsch covered.
Across the room, Bryn Kenney opened to 12,000 from the hijack and Dan Shak three-bet to 60,000 from the cutoff. Daniel Negreanu was in the big blind and four-bet shoved all in for 322,000. Kenney quickly got out of the way and Shak made the call. Negreanu turned over and Shak was behind with .
The flop came and Negreanu was still in good shape to win the hand. The on the turn gave Shak a flush draw and the on the river completed the flush for him. Shak had Negreanu covered by a couple thousand and took down a huge pot to move into the chip lead.
On a board reading , Cary Katz checked from the small blind and Sam Simmons bet 20,000 into a pot of around 40,000 from the big blind. Katz check-raised to 70,000 and Simmons shipped all in. It was met with a quick call from Katz and the cards were tabled.
Katz held and was in a great position to double up against Simmons' . The river paired the board with the but Katz still held the best hand with a queen-kicker.
Bryn Kenney barely missed out on 2017 Player of the Year honors and the overall GPI lead when Adrian Mateos overtook him in the dying days of the year. The Long-Island-born pro, however, isn’t deterred from chasing big money, big wins and proving to himself and everyone that wants to hear it, that he’s the best in the world.
The Number 10 on poker’s all-time money list puts his money where his mouth is in this interview, and opens up about the Player of the Year race, his results in 2017, what he expects for 2018 and how he accepts anyone willing to challenge his dominance.
With the blinds increasingly getting bigger and time running out to re-enter, the chips are continuing to fly at a rapid pace. Players are trying to build a stack, or re-enter and try again!
Sean Perry raised to 10,000 from the cutoff and Lauren Roberts re-raised to 37,000 from the small blind. Perry moved all in for roughly 85,000 and Roberts quickly made the call.
It was an easy call for Roberts as she tabled and was up against the of Perry. The board ran out and Perry was drawing dead by the river. Roberts climbed over 200,000 for the first time today while Perry hinted that it's unlikely for him to be returning.
Andy Park opened to 12,000 from the hijack and Erik Seidel three-bet to 42,000 out of the small blind. With the action back on Park, he four-bet shoved all in for 271,500 which prompted a snap-call from Seidel.
Andy Park:
Erik Seidel:
It was a massive chip-leading pot early and Park was in prime position to take it down. The board ran out and Park's aces held up to soar to the top of the leaderboard.
Stephen Chidwick opened to 9,000 from the cutoff and Sean Winter three-bet to 34,000 from the small blind. Justin Young folded his big blind and with the action back on Chidwick, he announced all in. Winter called off his last 140,000 and it was a race scenario.
Stephen Chidwick:
Sean Winter:
When the flop fell , Winter was already drawing dead to Chidwick's set of nines. To make things worse, the landed on the turn and Chidwick improved to quads. The on the river was just a formality and Winter headed to the registration desk while Chidwick climbed to nearly 400,000.