Jennifer Harman raised to 300 on the button and was called by Joe Cada in the small blind and Erik Seidel in the big blind.
The flop came down and all three players checked. The turn was the and Cada checked. Seidel's bet of 600 forced a fold from Harman, but Cada popped it to 2,150. After a few moments, Seidel made it 6,650 to go and Cada made the call.
The river was the and Cada checked to Seidel who quickly fired 10,000. Cada was clearly frustrated by the situation and tried to find a way to fold, but threw in the 10,000.
Seidel tabled , the nut straight, while Cada flashed .
Dan Harrington raised to 300 under the gun, and Mike Matsow called on the button. The flop came , and Harrington stuck in a bet. Matusow looked down at his hand and shook his head. "Why can't I be like Daniel Negreanu and hit when I play cards like these?" he whined, showing .
"Well, Mike, it's because cards have feelings, and you don't treat your cards very nicely," said Barry Shulman in his wise grandfather voice.
Only a few minutes ago, Daniel Negreanu and Doyle Brunson were discussing the hot run of cards Doyle caught during this week's episodes of the PokerStars.net "Big Game."
"I checked. You had pocket queens NINE TIMES!" Negreanu said.
The two just tangled in their first hand together, Brunson opening for 300 and Negreanu making the call from the big blind. The flop was and Negreanu check-called Brunson's 600 bet. The turn came the and Negreanu checked again. Brunson bet 1,500 and Negreanu folded. Brunson showed pocket kings.
"It's easy to read you, you just always have kings!" Negreanu laughed as Brunson stacked up the pot.
Greg Raymer raised to 250 from the cutoff, and Mike Matusow called on the button. Raymer bet 500 at the flop, and Matusow called. Fossilman made it another 1,000 after the turn, and Matusow called again. The river was the , and Raymer checked. Matusow fired 3,000, and Raymer just called with for a flopped set. He must have sensed that Matusow's had made a bigger set on the river.
Matusow is up to 35,000 while Raymer lost his lead and is back to starting stack.
Annie Duke opened for 275 from the cutoff and Daniel Negreanu called on the button.
The flop came down . Duke check-called Negreanu's 350-chip bet. The turn came the and Duke checked again. Negreanu bet 750 and Duke tanked for about a minute before making the call. Both players checked the on the river.
The action folded around to Antonio Esfandiari on the button. He opened for 275 and Joe Hachem called from the small blind.
Hachem checked the flop over to Esfandiari, who bet 525. Hachem called. Hachem checked again when the fell on the turn and Esfandiari fired out another 1,225. Hachem made the call. Both players checked the on the river.
Hachem turned up for ace-high and it was good enough to take down the pot.
Sammy Farha limped from middle position, Mike Sexton over limped on the button, and Dan Harrington minraised from the small blind. Both players called to see the flop. Harrington bet out 5,000 into a 600-chip pot. Farha and Sexton folded, and the whole table took a moment to tease Harrington about throwing out the wrong color chip. Apparently he intended to bet 500. Either way, the overbet worked to give Action Dan his first pot.
There is one seat still empty at this table. Phil Hellmuth, who has a history of taking fashionably late a little too far, has yet to arrive. (Howard Lederer and Huck Seed are also MIA on other tables.) The eight players who showed up on time to play at this table have been discussing how disgraceful it is that Hellmuth is absent. Mike Matusow is particularly agitated, saying it's disrespectful to ESPN, to poker, and to the other players.
"Don't worry," said Mike Sexton. "You'll be broke before he even gets here."
"I'll be sure to nit it up so I can tell him how I feel," Matusow responded.
But he couldn't wait that long and decided to call Hellmuth instead. He didn't get an answer.
On one of the outer tables, things have been a little more relaxed.
Dan Harrington raised to 300 under the gun, and Sammy Farha called from middle position. Mike Matusow came along on the button, and Mike Sexton was priced in for another 200 in the big blind. The flop fell , and it checked around. It was all checks again after the on the turn. Matusow bet 1,000 on the river. No one called, and he showed as he took the pot.