Steve Billirakis and Michael Mizrachi started off with very similar hands, all the way through fifth street. Billirakis, with an open ace, had the betting lead and bet every street. Mizrachi called all the way to sixth street, where Billirakis caught open aces. That show of strength was too much for Mizrachi to continue to call. He showed his two hole cards, prompting Billirakis to do the same.
Once again Vladimir Schmelev and Micahel Mizrachi have tangled and again "The Grinder" has come out ahead. Brandon Adams was the bring-in with the and Men Nguyen called with the . Schmelev completed with the before Mizrachi raised the . Schmelev was the lone caller and again on fourth, before raising the bet on fifth. Mizrachi responded with a three-bet and Schmelev gave it up.
Schmelev: (X-X) /
Mizrachi: (X-X) /
"Aces up..." stated Mizrachi as he raked in the chips to move up to 520,000.
It's been an up-and-down series of hands for Michael Mizrachi. He's back on the downswing after being losing a big pot to Men Nguyen. Nguyen brought it in on third, then raised after Mizrachi completed. The two players were heads-up to fourth street, where Mizrachi's ace was the high hand. Mizrachi bet and again Nguyen raised. Mizrachi called.
Mizrachi retained the lead the rest of the way. He checked and called a bet on fifth street. He checked again on sixth street, a street where Nguyen tanked for about a minute before checking behind.
Down the river, Mizrachi checked for a third street in a row. Nguyen bet, then showed in the hole for trip 5s after Mizrachi called. Mizrachi flashed two red nines as he mucked.
Joe Cassidy has found a much needed double up through Men Nguyen. Nikolay Evdakov was the bring-in with the before Brandon Adams completed with the . Nguyen made the call with the before Cassidy raised his . Evdakov and Adams folded as Nguyen called once again. On fourth, Nguyen checked and then called the bet, before Cassidy's last chips were all in on fifth. The boards ran out as follows:
Nguyen: / /
Cassidy: / /
Nguyen needed to improve his pair and straight draw on the river but he squeezed out an ace as Cassidy's queens held up. He doubles to around 300,000.
Since we came back from the last break, it seems that every time Men Nguyen is in a pot he is tanking on multiple streets. He recently played a pot against Steve Billirakis, calling bets from Billirakis on fourth street and fifth street.
On sixth street, Billirakis checked. Nguyen took about 60 seconds before checking behind. Billirakis led into Nguyen on the river, prompting what we can only describe as an epic tank. (This is limit poker, after all.) Nguyen tanked for three full minutes, prompting Michael Mizrachi to shake his head in disgust. Joe Cassidy finally called for a clock, and after another 40 seconds Nguyen folded.
Steve Billirakis brought in with the with Vladimir Schmelev and Michael Mizrachi making the call before Brandon Adams completed. Men Nguyen made the call, with Schmelev and Mizrachi coming along to fourth street.
Adams led out with a bet on fourth but it didn't reduce the field as all three opponents made the call. On fifth, Adams paired his king and bet again. This time Nguyen was the lone caller. Another bet went in on sixth before things got interesting on the river. Adams fired a bet before Nguyen raised. Adams put in a third bet and Nguyen went into the tank again. He eventually splashed the pot with a call.
Things quickly got out of hand on third street in a pot between Vladimir Schmelev and Joe Cassidy. Brandon Adams was the player to complete. He was raised by Men Nguyen, re-raised by Schmelev and four-bet by Joe Cassidy. Only Schmelev called Cassidy's raise.
Cassidy kept the lead for the whole hand. He bet every street, with Schmelev calling every time. At the river, Schmelev squeezed his down cards and then mucked to Cassidy's last bet.
Schmelev has exactly 90,000 chips after the hand. Cassidy is up to 480,000.