By our count, the floor has been called to Table 298 five times so far for Mr. Strange Bird we mentioned earlier. A few of the players at the adjacent tables have been getting irritated, and this latest offense garnered him his first penalty of the day.
There was about 90 seconds left on the level clock before the break when Mr. Strange Bird was dealt his final hand. "You can go ahead and leave," he told his table mates. "This will be the last hand for us." With that, he stood up from his chair with his hand over his cards, and he refused to act until the level wound down. When the clock hit zero, his cards hit the muck, and he wandered off for break.
When he left, the rest of his table called the floor over for a chat. When Mr. Strange Bird returned, there was a nice yellow post-it note stuck to the rail in front of his seat that said, "1 round penalty".
Mr. Strange Bird has just rejoined his table, and now he's got an attractive massage therapist to keep him company for a while. The poor girl.
A player UTG raised, and Pilgrim re-popped making it three bets, only to see the UTG player making it four bets. Pilgrim called, and the players saw a flop.
UTG continued his aggressive ways leading out with a bet. Pilgrim made the call, and the two saw the on the turn, once again prompting a bet from the UTG player, and a call from Pilgrim.
The on the river did not slow down Mr. UTG, and for a third straight round he led out with a bet, Pilgrim made the call and showed down the , which was good against his opponents pocket sevens.
A player in middle position made it two bets preflop, only get raised by Tom "durrrr" Dwan who was on the button. The mid-position player four-bet, and Dwan called.
The flop came down , and the mid position raiser led out for a bet, Dwan raised, and his opponent made the call. The turn was the and Dwan's opponent check-called a bet, leading to the river, to which Dwan's opponent check-called another bet from Dwan.
Dwan flipped over the stone-cold nuts with pocket jacks, and his opponent mucked. Dwan is up to 19,000.
Matt Hawrilenko was heads up with an opponent with a board that ran out . On each street, Hawrilenko was betting and his opponent was calling the whole way.
Hawrilenko tabled for the turned straight, and that little pot bumps him up to 7,700.
We didn't see the preflop action but both Phil Ivey, who was in the cut-off and a player in early position saw a flop. Ivey's opponent bet the flop dark, and Ivey made the call. The turn was the and once again, Ivey called a bet from his opponent. The river brought the and somehow, Ivey's opponent didn't put him in for his last 50 chips.
Ivey's opponent showed pocket eights, and Ivey mucked. he's left with two lonely green chips.
We've got a front row seat for the madness here involving the unknown and very strange player here on Table 298. Just now, we heard the floor called over again for at least the seventh time today. Let's see what's up.
When the floor man approached, the other five players all started talking at him in unison, and they were all telling the same story. Apparently Mr. Strange Bird has been taking about 20-30 seconds for every action, staring down the entire table one player at a time before he folds or bets. The table had finally had enough and called the floor again.
"He says he's playing slow on purpose to ruin our experience. He said that out loud."
Another player piped up, "He said, 'If you both throw me a tournament chip, I'll speed it up a little'"
That comment in particular raised the eyebrows of the floor person, and he and another floorman had a long discussion in between two of the tables. A third floor person came in and joined the discourse and the largest of the three finally had a heart-to-heart with the player.
Their discussion lasted several hands, during which the floor person was occasionally leaning down to fold the player's hand so they could continue to chat. Everything seems to be settled now, and Mr. Strange Bird is back in his chair and quiet as a mouse.
The next time the floor is called, we get the feeling that things won't go quite so smoothly as this player seems to be on the very last nerve of everyone he's been around today.
Wow. Chino Rheem is on a blistering rush. We just witnessed two back-to-back pots pushed in his direction, both coming at the expense of Vanessa Rousso.
Two pots ago, Chino raised, an unknown player reraised, Vanessa Rousso called, the big blind called, and Rheem called the extra bet. Good so far?
The flop came out , and Rheem fired out a bet. Rousso was the only caller this time, and they went heads up the rest of the way. Fourth street was a , and Rheem check-raised this time, both he and Rousso putting in two big bets apiece there. The river seemed harmless enough, and Rheem fired one last bet that Rousso called.
He turned up for the running two pair. Rousso showed an ace as she frustratedly threw her cards into the muck.
One hand later, the two of them were at it again. This time Rousso open-raised, and Chino made it three bets to go. Rousso called to see a flop of . Chino bet, she raised, and he called.
The turn came a and brought capping action. Chino led, Rousso two-bet, and they each put in five bets apiece by the time the river fell an innocuous looking . Chino bet again, and Rousso flat-called this time, showing up for two pair.
You can probably imagine the look on her face when Chino tabled for a rivered set, and that second pot pushes him up to 9,000 after a slow start. He's essentially traded stacks with Rousso; she's down to about 1,500 and can only chuckle at those last two pots.
We just told you about Ivey being down to 50 in chips, and his opponent not putting him in for his last 50 on the river. This could be the mistake of a lifetime, as somehow Ivey has come back from 50 chips to 1500.
All three double-ups were courtesy of Mr. Joe Sebok.
Hand #1: Ivey's > Sebok's
Hand #2: Ivey's > Sebok's
Hand #3: Ivey's > Sebok's ??
We can't confirm, but we'd guess Mr. Sebok may be slightly steaming over Mr. X's fear of putting in 50 more to bust Ivey a few minutes back.
![[user66118]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
flop.
on the turn, once again prompting a bet from the UTG player, and a call from Pilgrim.
on the river did not slow down Mr. UTG, and for a third straight round he led out with a bet, Pilgrim made the call and showed down the 
, which was good against his opponents pocket sevens.
and Dwan's opponent check-called a bet, leading to the 
river, to which Dwan's opponent check-called another bet from Dwan.
. On each street, Hawrilenko was betting and his opponent was calling the whole way.
for the turned straight, and that little pot bumps him up to 7,700.
flop. Ivey's opponent bet the flop dark, and Ivey made the call. The turn was the 
and once again, Ivey called a bet from his opponent. The river brought the 
, and Rheem fired out a bet. Rousso was the only caller this time, and they went heads up the rest of the way. Fourth street was a 
, and Rheem check-raised this time, both he and Rousso putting in two big bets apiece there. The river 
seemed harmless enough, and Rheem fired one last bet that Rousso called.
for the running two pair. Rousso showed an ace as she frustratedly threw her cards into the muck.
. Chino bet, she raised, and he called.
and brought capping action. Chino led, Rousso two-bet, and they each put in five bets apiece by the time the river fell an innocuous looking 
> Sebok's 
> Sebok's 