Matt Glantz picked up a couple of pots right at the end of the Stud-8 round, and his momentum has continued here as Table 280 has moved over into NLHE.
Just now came a hand in which Josh Arieh opened for 54,000 from the hijack and got three callers -- Glantz (cutoff), Brian Rast (button), and Ben Lamb (big blind).
The flop came . Lamb checked, and Arieh continued with a bet of 130,000. Glantz then raised to 285,000, forcing folds all around, including from Arieh.
Glantz is up to 2.275 million now, while Arieh sits with 1.62 million.
After losing a few to Matt Glantz in that previous hand, Josh Arieh tried again with another preflop raise to 54,000, this time from under the gun. Glantz, sitting to Arieh's left, called the raise, and everyone else got out.
The flop came . Arieh continued for 78,000, and Glantz called. Both then checked the turn.
The river brought the and a check from Arieh. Glantz pushed out a bet of 90,000, and Arieh let his hand go.
Glantz moves up some more, and now has 2.46 million. Arieh now is at 1.35 million.
George Lind moved all in for 17,000 from middle position, Vladimir Shchemelev re-raised on the button, and Jeffrey Lisandro called in the small blind. Lind drew two, Shchemelev patted, and Lisandro drew two. Lisandro check-raised Shchemelev, and Shchemelev called.
Lind drew two more, Shchemelev patted again, and Lisandro drew two as well. Lisandro then check-folded to a bet from Shchemelev.
Lind drew one on the final draw, and Shchemelev patted a third time, tabling . Lind's final card was good enough, because he fanned for the best hand, tripling to 68,000 chips.
A couple of PLO hands involving Ben "Benba" Lamb to report.
In the first, Lamb opened for 50,000 from under the gun and it folded around to the blinds where both Brian Rast (small) and Minh Ly (big) called the raise. The flop came . It checked to Lamb who bet 150,000, and Rast and Ly stepped aside.
Lamb grabbed a few there, but was still sitting on the short stack when another PLO hand arose, this one involving himself and Rast again.
We picked up this one following the flop, when Lamb checked, Rast bet 50,000, Lamb check-raised all in for 361,000, and Rast called.
Lamb:
Rast:
Nut flush draw for Rast, and top set for Lamb. The turn was the and river the , and Lamb survived with a straight.
Benba bumps up to 732,000 after that sequence, while Rast now has 1.56 million.
Matt Glantz and Minh Ly just got into a little friendly banter. After Glantz said something to Ly, Ly responded by asking, "You think I'm the worst player here?"
"No," said Glantz. "I said you speak English the worst," he continued with a smile. "I feel bad for the one that interviews you."
Minh Ly opened the action with a raise to 52,000 from early position, and Scott Seiver called from the button. Matt Glantz called as well from the big blind, and the flop came . It checked to Seiver who bet 90,000, Glantz called, and Ly folded. The turn came the , and both Glantz and Seiver checked.
The river was the , bringing a bet of 155,000 from Glantz. Seiver called, tabling for aces and sixes, and Glantz mucked.
Seiver moves up to 2.48 million, while Glantz slips a bit to 1.96 million.
Last year, the World Series of Poker was taken by storm with the emergence of Russian Vladimir Shchemelev. First, he stormed his way to the final table of the $50,000 Player's Championship en route to a second-place finish behind Michael Mizrachi. Then, he made three more final tables during the 2010 Series.
This year, Shchemelev has been rather quiet. He only has one final table and that came back in Event #3: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Low Split 8 or Better. Unfortunately, his run ended in eighth place for $25,174 -- much farther from the gold he dreams of. Shchemelev also finished in the money in the $2,500 Limit Hold'em / Six Handed event for $4,743. So far, he's locked up nearly $125,000 with this in-the-money finish.
Although we may have lost our defending champion on Day 2, we could see a repeat runner-up performance from Shchemelev -- or better, he could win. Is it the Russian's time? He sure has a lot of ork cut out for him as his stack is short, but anything could happen in these swingy games.
Be sure to stay tuned to PokerNews for coverage on his run.
Scott Seiver raised to 55,000 in the cutoff, Josh Arieh called on the button, and Brian Rast defended his big blind. The dealer fanned , Rast checked, Seiver continued for 115,000, and both Arieh and Rast called.
Time for things to get crazy.
The turn was the , and Rast led for 250,000. Seiver potted (1.27 million), Arieh quickly mucked, and Rast went into the tank. He eventually shrugged, and called all in for 1.05 million chips.
Seiver:
Rast:
"Please hold," Seiver chanted. "Please hold."
The river was the , which paired the board and gave Rast a winning full house. Seiver slapped the table furiously. It took a minute or so for the dealer to verify the counts, and Seiver was frantically typing on his phone the entire time.
"I'm pretty sure that was the biggest flip of my life," he lamented after Rast was shipped a wave of chips.
We later found out what he was typing on his phone:
@Scott_Seiver: Had to fade 13 outs once for 5 million chips where avg is 1.3 with 13 left. Brian Rast is luckier than I am.
. Lamb checked, and Arieh continued with a bet of 130,000. Glantz then raised to 285,000, forcing folds all around, including from Arieh.
. Arieh continued for 78,000, and Glantz called. Both then checked the 
turn.
and a check from Arieh. Glantz pushed out a bet of 90,000, and Arieh let his hand go.
. Lind's final card was good enough, because he fanned 
for the best hand, tripling to 68,000 chips.
. It checked to Lamb who bet 150,000, and Rast and Ly stepped aside.
and river the 
, and Lamb survived with a straight.
. It checked to Seiver who bet 90,000, Glantz called, and Ly folded. The turn came the 
, bringing a bet of 155,000 from Glantz. Seiver called, tabling 
for aces and sixes, and Glantz mucked.
, Rast checked, Seiver continued for 115,000, and both Arieh and Rast called.
, and Rast led for 250,000. Seiver potted (1.27 million), Arieh quickly mucked, and Rast went into the tank. He eventually shrugged, and called all in for 1.05 million chips.
