We arrived to see Hac Dang sitting in middle position and calling a bet of 1,250 from a player in the small blind. After Dang called, a player in late position folded and the two remaining players saw the 
come on the turn.
Dang's opponent bet 2,800 into the pot and Dang tanked for a number of minutes before finally deciding to fold. Dang is now down to 21,700 chips. Mind you, that still leaves him with over a hundred big blinds - plenty of room to make some moves.
Vladimir Shchemelev raised to 700 from middle position. He was welcomed with two callers before the flop came down 
. Shchemelev bet 1,000 after the flop and only one of the players called.
Fourth street brought the 
and both players checked to see the 
fall on the river. Shchemelev check-raised a bet of 1,600 from his opponent to a nice-and-juicy 11,000. His opponent tossed his hand into the muck and Shchemelev scooped the pot to move to 45,000 in chips.
I embrace controversy, it makes the game interesting, so when I heard the floor called over to Table 26, my blood instantly picked up pace.
On this occasion, the ruling involved Robert Williamson III. With the board reading 
, Williamson III bet 2,700 and his opponent threw in the call.
Encouraged by the dealer, Williamson III revealed 
, only for his opponent to claim that he'd announced "raise." Although two players confirmed this, neither the dealer nor Williamson III had heard the declaration, so the floor was called.
After a brief debate, the final decision was that said player was not allowed to raise, and also had to leave his call in the middle, which considering he had 
for the busted flush draw, was not an ideal situation. Nevertheless, Williamson picked up the pot.
Whilst the dealer confessed, "I take full responsibility that I probably made a mistake," we asked the tournament director for clarification on the ruling, before being told: "If cards are exposed, it cuts off the action."
It was an interesting scenario that left us with numerous questions as to the best possible solution: Should he be entitled to raise if two people heard him? Should he be given the option to fold?... and so on.
Perhaps the most intriguing question, however, is that if he was given the option to raise, would he still do so knowing he was up against a set, and if so, how much would he raise, and would Williamson make the call if he were, say, to move all in? I guess we'll never know.
There was a raise to 800 from a gentleman in mid position, which both Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier (cutoff) and Kido Pham (button) called. The player in the small blind called too and all four saw an 
flop.
It checked around to Pham who bet 3,125. The small blind called, the original raiser and ElkY both got out of the way, and it was turn time.
The turn was the 
and the small blind check-called 6,050 from Pham. He checked again on the 
river and this time Pham bet 15,275. The small blind tanked up for a long, long time, and eventually he made the call - only to be faced with Pham's 
for a full house. He mucked.
Pham increased his stack to 56,300.
With the board reading 
, Rafe Furst was faced with a bet of 10,000 chips effectively putting him all in.
Furst made the call with for a pair of aces, and his opponent, Ryan Aiken, rolled over 
for a set of threes sending Furst packing.
A player in the cutoff had raised to 525 with Phil Galfond making the call as well as the player in the big blind. All three players checked the flop of 
as well as the 
on the turn.
Action was checked to Galfond after the 
came on the river. He bet 1,025 with only the player in the cutoff calling.
Galfond showed 
for the straight and his opponent mucked. Galfond is now up to 53,000.
John "Tex" Barch won his first bracelet here at the 2010 World Series of Poker, taking down Event #20: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha for $256,919. He is no stranger to Main Event success either, finishing 3rd in 2005 for $2,500,000.
Barch is off to a nice start today after opening to 625 from early position and receiving one caller from the small blind.
The flop fell 
and Barch's opponent check called an 1,100-chip bet.
The 
turned and the action went check-call again - this time the bet was 2,700.
What do you know, after the 
rivered the action went check-call. Barch's bet was 4,000 this time, and he tabled 
after the call.
His opponent mucked, and Barch is now up to 35,500 chips.
Blair Rodman opened for 600 in late position and got calls from the players on the button and the small blind to see a flop. The small blind checked to Rodman who bet 1,025. The button folded, the small blind called, and they saw a turn.
Both players checked the turn, and indeed they checked the river too. The small blind turned over for two pair, and Rodman mucked and dropped to 21,500.
After a quiet opening level, Irish pro Owen Robinson has sparked into action and built his stack up to above average. One key hand saw him call a preflop raise with 
on the button, leading to a 
(X) flop. The initial aggressor bet, and Robinson made the call.
The turn came an off-suit jack to give Robinson two pair, but he trod cautiously, just flat calling a second consecutive bet.
The river was the "money card," Robinson filling up with another jack. His opponent checked, before flat-calling a bet of 8,000 with an inferior . Consequently, Robinson is now up to 50,000 and playing with increasing confidence.
We caught up with Johnny Lodden betting 10,000 on the river of a 
board. His opponent called and turned over 
- but Lodden's humble 
had managed to make a flush, and he moved up to 60,000.
