Phil Ivey was recently crippled in a hand, then somehow eliminated an even shorter stack the very next hand. Ivey couldn't beat aces and queens on a board of despite leading the flop and turn. When both players checked the river and Ivey saw his opponent's , he double-checked his own hand.
"Aces and queens?" he asked the dealer. The dealer said yes. Ivey nodded and mucked.
Ivey raised the next hand from middle position, then called a short stack's re-raise. The two players got it in on a flop of . Ivey's was almost a freeroll against his opponent . No low came in as the turn fell and river came . Ivey made treys full of jacks to scoop the pot and send his opponent home early.
David Bach made kings full in a big pot against Jeffrey Lisandro, and after snacking on 20k of Lisandro's chips, Bach was up to 124k while Lisandro was down to 10k. He four-bet all in on the flop against two other players but bricked it all. Brock Parker and the other player chopped Lisandro's money, and he headed for the exit.
As we're sweeping the room looking for players, one seat that we see that is now empty was previously occupied by PokerStars Team Online Pro George Lind. Lind recently won the Player of the Series for the 2010 Spring Championship of Online Poker on PokerStars and was discussing his accomplishment with players at his table.
Lind noted that his prize for winning the Player of the Series included a trophy and entry into the 2010 WCOOP Main Event, the 2011 PCA and the 2011 EPT Grand Final. "Because I'm Supernova Elite, though," said Lind, "I already get into Monte Carlo and the Bahamas. I don't know what they'll do. Probably just give me the cash value."
The players at Lind's table joked that he should be able to get a double stack or play two hands at once at each of those events.
Dario Minieri three-bet preflop and the original raiser called. The flop was full of cards that satisfied the 8/b part of the game, , and both players checked. Check, check again after the on the turn paired the board. The river was the , and the first player checked again. Dario is probably allergic to checking three streets, so he stuck in a bet to preserve his health. It didn't help is tournament life though. His opponent called, and Minieri showed , but his aces were no good. The other player rivered a straight with to scoop the pot since neither had a low. Minieri was under 5,000 after than hand and out a few minutes later.
All the hubbub earlier regarding the ghost registration of Amnon Filippi may not turn out to make much of a difference. Filippi is down to 8,000 chips after being scooped in a recent pot. Filippi bet and then three-bet a flop of , but had to slow down when the turn came . He checked behind his lone opponent, who led out the river. Filippi called.
"Aces and deuces and a seven-six low," said Filippi's opponent. He tabled . Filippi looked at his own hand, shook his head, shook his hands slightly in frustration and then mucked.
Action folded to Huck Seed in the small blind, and he opened with a raise. The big blind called, and the flop came . Seed bet out, and the big blind called. On the turn, Seed bet, and his opponent put Huck all in for his last 100. Seed had for two pair with no low draw. The big blind turned up and needed a jack or queen to eliminate Seed or a valid low to chop the pot. The river fell the , giving Seed Broadway. With the scoop, Huckleberry doubled up to 14,800.
Back from the dinner break, Chau Giang seemed to be looking for something. We eventually realized that he had misplaced his glasses somewhere between Buzio's seafood restaurant (about three miles up the corridor towards the casino) and the Amazon Room.
We'll see how that affects Giang's game during post-dinner play. He played a recent pot from the button for a raise, but folded on a flop of . The two remaining players checked the turn and river.
"No low," said one as he opened .
"Deuces," said the other. He had an almost identical .
"You telling me we chop?" the first asked. "Who knew ace-queens was the nuts. I guess I missed a bet."
Dinner yes, but this tournament hasn't quite produced any winners yet. Players are off on a 60-minute dinner break, after which they'll get to work bursting the money bubble. With 117 headed to grab some Memorial Day barbecue, 36 will come back again only to go away without any cash.
Cards will be back in the air at 8:20 pm Vegas time.
Monkey in the middle was always a frustrating childhood game for me. I'm slow and not terribly athletic, so if I ever wound up as the monkey in the middle, it could have gone on for hours.
Monkey in the middle is a little different in an Omaha Hi/Lo. It's when one player gets caught with a second-bet hand for both halves of the pot against two other players. That's what happened to an all-in player at David Bach's table. Bach tried to three-bet-isolate the all-in player pre-flop, but the big blind came along anyway.
Bach led the flop and the turn. Each time the big blind check-called. On the river , the big blind led out and Bach called. They chopped the side pot, Bach showing for a straight for high and the big blind showing for the nut low. That was bad news for the all in player, who couldn't beat or tie either hand.
![[user75032]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
despite leading the flop and turn. When both players checked the river and Ivey saw his opponent's 
, he double-checked his own hand.
. Ivey's 
was almost a freeroll against his opponent 
and river came 
. Ivey made treys full of jacks to scoop the pot and send his opponent home early.
, and both players checked. Check, check again after the 
, but his aces were no good. The other player rivered a straight with 
to scoop the pot since neither had a low. Minieri was under 5,000 after than hand and out a few minutes later.
river. Filippi called.
. Filippi looked at his own hand, shook his head, shook his hands slightly in frustration and then mucked.
river.
.
turn. Each time the big blind check-called. On the river