Gavin Smith
After making quad fours against an opponent and bumping his stack to 125,000, Gavin Smith decided to run the next hand as well.
On a flop of , Smith led out for 7,000. His opponent made the call and they both checked the on the turn. The river was the and Smith led out for 25,000, which his opponent called also. Smith turned over for the nut straight and increased his chip stack to 158,000.
A player in early position raised to 4,500 and Tim Frazin and Bernard Lee called. The flop came , the raiser checked and Frazin bet 12K. Lee moved all-in for 44,000 and the early position player got out of the way.
Frazin pondered the situation...and then said, "It's up to the Magic 8-ball." Yes, Frazin has a Magic 8-ball sitting on the table with him and let it decide his move. Frazin said that his tendency is to fold, so he gave the 8-ball a healthy shake and asked, "Should I fold this hand?"
The answer? "OUTLOOK GOOD".
Frazin mucked his face up, and Lee turned over pocket Nines for the set. Whether Frazin would've won the hand in the end is a question whose answer is known only to the Magic 8-Ball.
The small blind raises to 3,600, and Hal Lubarsky calls from the big blind. As we've mentioned before, Lubarsky is legally blind, and only able to play with an assistant who reads the cards and describes the betting for him, whispering into his ear.
The flop comes , the small blind bets 9,600, and Lubarsky calls. The turn card is the , the small blind bets 15,000, Lubarsky moves all in for 35,900, and the small blind calls with for two pair, jacks and fours, with an ace kicker. But Lubarsky shows for quad fours.
The meaningless river card is the , and Lubarsky's quads take the pot, increasing his stack to about 106,000.
Chip Jett
Shortly before the break, a player is all in preflop for 51,600 with against Chip Jett's . The board comes , and Jett's opponent flops a set of tens to win the pot and double up over 100,000 in chips.
Chip Jett takes a hit, but still has a very healthy stack with 242,000.
PokerNews spotted Tom Dwan, known as ‘durrr’ online, hanging around the Rio, sweating some friends. We got to chat with durrr about looking forward to turning 21, his upcoming tourney plans out of the country, and some interesting prop bets he’s a part of.
The Godfather of Norwegian Poker
Thor Hansen won two pots. On the first hand, he turned a nut flush with and won a pot worth 45,000.
On the second hand, Thor Hansen's opponent raised 4,000 and he called. The flop was and both players checked. The turn was the . Hansen's opponent checked and he fired out 4,000. His opponent called. The river was the . His opponent checked. Hansen bet 10,000 and his opponent called. Hansen showed and his opponent mucked.