PokerStars Team Pro USA player Chad Brown has been running well today but he just got scooped by the nut-nut. Brown limped into the pot pre-flop after a player limped in from early position. The button then raised to 1,200, with the early-position player and Brown both making the call.
The flop rolled out . The early-position player checked to Brown, who bet about half the pot, 2,000. The button moved all in for 6,400, folding the early-position player. Brown got calling chips into the pot with , two pair with no other draw. His opponent turned up , the nut low draw with the nut flush draw and a pair of 8s. The on the turn immediately gave Brown's opponent the nut-nut and left Brown drawing at a chop. The PokerStars Team Pro didn't improve with the river and fell to 11,800 after paying off his opponent.
Brandon Cantu won this event last year and he's off to a great start here today in his title defense. Cantu's the largest stack in the room that we've spotted thanks to recently sending a player to the rail. He's up to about 45,000 chips and that's a few thousand more than anyone we've spotted. We'll see how he finishes out the night, but with Cantu anything can happen as we all know he loves to play aggressive and gamble with a big stack.
Yueqi "Rich" Zhu had a shorter-stacked opponent all in on a flop of . That opponent went for broke with , two pair with no appreciable draw. Zhu turned up , a pair of jacks and the nut flush draw. The board came small non-club cards, and . Zhu missed his draw and had to pay off the double-up.
"Way to keep the pot small," said another player at the table in jest.
"I don't really want to put my tournament on the line with two pair, but..." Zhu's opponent replied. Zhu said nothing as he slipped to about 12,000.
Phil Hellmuth is still alive in this event with a stack of about 10,000 chips. He recently played a raised three-way pot from the big blind. On a flop of , Hellmuth had first action. He bet 3,300. A player in middle position called and was heads-up with Hellmuth after the cutoff folded.
The turn came the . "How much is out there now?" Hellmuth asked. The dealer replied that he couldn't help Hellmuth in that regard. Hellmuth said nothing further before checking. His opponent checked behind.
"Give me a deuce please," Hellmuth asked before the river came down. It came . "Wow, ask for it and get it," said Hellmuth. He then checked. His opponent also checked.
"Aces and nines," said Hellmuth. He tabled .
"Same hand. And deuces," his opponent replied, showing down .
"I'm more impressed with the king. And the flush draw. Wow, you had some outs," said Hellmuth. It didn't matter. They chopped.
After two players limped from middle position, Mike Matusow raised to 1,650 from the cutoff seat. Only the first limper made the call and off to the flop they went.
The flop came down and both players checked. The turn brought the and both checked again. The river was the and Matusow's opponent fired 2,500. Matusow mucked his hand and dropped back to 6,100.
From early position, Chris Ferguson raised to 900. He was called by one player in middle position and another from the big blind. The three of them saw a flop of and the big blind checked. Ferguson fired 2,000 and the next player call. The big blind also called.
The turn card was the and all three players checked. Each of them checked again after the fell on the river.
The big blind showed the and then Ferguson showed the . The third player mucked his hand and Ferguson was awarded the pot with two pair, queens and sixes. He's now on 17,650.
We came to Chad Brown's table on the turn, . The action was three-handed. The first player, with only about 2,200 in his stack, checked to Brown. Brown eyed that player's stack before betting 2,500 into a pot of about 5,000. The third player tanked for more than a minute before moving all in for a total of 4,500. The first player folded, with Brown then quickly calling.
Brown showed down , a pair of aces and a partial wrap straight draw with a made low. He was up against a set of sevens with a straight draw, but no low draw. The hit the river to give Brown a straight to the nine and a scoop.
After Brown collected the pot to stack up to 21,500, he flagged down a cocktail waitress and ordered a Colombian coffee with a shot of Colombian espresso in it. The waitress tried to sell him on the idea of adding Bailey's to that concoction but Brown demurred. He then asked the waitress what she thought of Will "the Thrill" Failla's hair. The waitress declined to comment.
"I can't even get Juan Valdez's sister to hit on me," joked Failla.
Barry Shulman raised to 1,050 and then Andy Black reraised from the big blind to put Shulman all in. Shulman only had a tiny bit left and made the call. He held the . Black held the .
The flop came down and Black hit two pair. It held up as the turn came the and the river the , eliminating Shulman from the tournament. Black moved up to 27,000 in chips.
![[user75032]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
. The early-position player checked to Brown, who bet about half the pot, 2,000. The button moved all in for 6,400, folding the early-position player. Brown got calling chips into the pot with 
, two pair with no other draw. His opponent turned up 
, the nut low draw with the nut flush draw and a pair of 8s. The 
on the turn immediately gave Brown's opponent the nut-nut and left Brown drawing at a chop. The PokerStars Team Pro didn't improve with the 
river and fell to 11,800 after paying off his opponent.
. That opponent went for broke with 
, two pair with no appreciable draw. Zhu turned up 
, a pair of jacks and the nut flush draw. The board came small non-club cards, 
and 
.
and both players checked. The turn brought the 
and both checked again. The river was the 
and Black hit two pair. It held up as the turn came the