The action folded to David "Devilfish" Ulliott who raised to 4,000 from the cutoff before the flop; Joseph Ressler called from the small blind, so off they went heads-up to the flop of .
Ressler check-called Ulliott's bet of 5,000, then both players checked the turn of the before Ressler led out for 9,000 after the river . "I'll let you have this one," Ulliott said as he mucked his hand.
Ressler not only has the coolest name that we've ever come across, but he's now sitting on a stack worth more than 310,000 in chips! To quote WWE Hall of Famer Rick Flair: Wooooooooo!
Whether it's real or virtual felt, poker or prop betting, few players like to get their money in against each other as much as Shaun Deeb and Jason Mercier. Deeb finished fourth in the $2,500 10-Game event over the weekend, and Mercier was on hand at the final table to anti-sweat since he has a bracelet bet with Deeb. Mercier was spared, but not before enduring some Miami Heat ribbing from Deeb's rail.
Today their anti-sweating is focused on the board. We caught one recent pot on the turn. The board read , and Deeb had a stack of 20,000 in front of him. Mercier called. The river brought the , and both players checked. "Kings up," said Mercier, tabling for top two. "You have diamonds to go with it," Deeb asked as he mucked his cards. But no, Mercier's other two cards were the and for a flopped straight draw instead.
Deeb started the day third in chips but was down to half his starting stack with around 97,000 after the hand. Mercier was up to 270,000, but true to form, shipped 13,000 back across the felt to Deeb the very next hand.
With around 60,000 in the pot and a board reading , David "Devilfish" Ulliott bet out 30,000 from the small blind. His only opponent, Erick "E-Dog" Lindgren, was on the button and put in a pot-sized raise. The Devilfish looked to the ceiling, shook his head, and flung his cards to the muck.
From under the gun, Jason Mercier limped in before Shaun Deeb raised to 10,000, forcing the others out the way before Mercier called.
"Jeez Shaun, you may as well have bet 6,000," Mercier said.
"Well, 6,000 would have been my other option, but, you know ..." Deeb trailed off before both players checked the flop of .
Mercier then check-called Deeb's bet of the before opening for 39,500 on the river of the . Deeb mumbled something else but then elected to give up his hand.
Josh Arieh and Vanessa Selbst got into some blind-on-blind violence on a board reading . Selbst bet 23,100 from the small blind, and Arieh counted out a call. The river was about as much of a brick as possible - the . Selbst said she was all in, meaning Arieh had to risk his last 33,000 to call. "Oh man," he sighed, but slid his chips forward. Selbst turned over for the nuts, a queen-high straight, and Arieh just kept sliding his chips until they were part of Selbst's giant stack.
"Guess that's going to ruin my image," Selbst laughed to neighbor Jason Senti after she scooped the pot with the nuts.
She is up to 330,000 now, putting the two remaining PokerStars representatives one and two in this stacked field.
Praz Bansi got his last 15,000 or so all in preflop and received a call from a single opponent.
Bansi:
Opponent:
Bansi was behind and looking for some help. The flop provided none, and neither did the turn. Bansi was left drawing to an ace on the river, but it never came as the peeled off. Bansi found his entourage on the rail and quickly exited the Amazon Room.
Over on table 365, the action folded to Markus Ristola who limped in from the small blind; Matt Affleck called from the big blind, then called Ristola's bet of 2,000 after the flop of .
Ristola then led out for 5,000 after the turn of the before both players checked down the river .
"You win," Ristola sighed, mucking his hand after Affleck showed down .
The flop read , and Andre Dyonisio checked to Gregory Brooks, who fired out 12,000. Dyonisio then made what looked to be a min-raise to 24,000, and Brooks quickly called. The turn came the , and Dyonisio counted out a bet of 28,000, and Brooks was put to a decision. He thought for about a minute before he looked to the dealer and said "I raised the pot." Dyonisio winced and then chucked his cards pretty quickly, giving Brooks the pot, and boosting his stack to 290,000.