We didn't catch the action until the river with about 200,000 in the pot and a board reading . Eugene Katchalov had bet 175,000, but was contemplating a raise from Mikhail Smirnov, who made it 400,000 to go.
Katchalov thought for about 90 seconds before tossing a call, but smiled and laughed when Smirnov rolled over for a rivered two pair.
Daniel Negreanu has rushed his stack up to over 3.5 million in chips after taking two pots back to back. Here they are.
On the first hand, action folded to Negreanu in the cutoff seat and he raised to 18,000. Chamath Palihapitiya three-bet to 60,000 from the small blind and Negreanu made the call to see the flop.
The flop came down and Palihapitiya bet 55,000. Negreanu raised to 135,000 and Palihapitiya made the call to see the land on the turn. Palihapitiya checked and Negreanu bet 210,000. Palihapitiya called.
On the river, Palihapitiya checked and Negreanu decided on a bet of 440,000. Palihapitiya quickly gave it up and Negreanu won the pot.
On the next hand, Robert Bright raised from early position to 18,000 and Negreanu reraised in the hijack seat to 60,000. Action folded to Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi in the big blind and he called. Bright folded.
The flop was and Mizrachi checked. Negreanu checked behind and the turn was the . Mizrachi bet 125,000 and Negreanu made the call.
The river was the and Mizrachi fired 150,000. After some thinking out loud while in the tank, Negreanu made the call. Mizrachi simply tapped the table to signify Negreanu made a good call. Negreanu responded by showing the . Mizrachi mucked his hand and the table congratulated Negreanu on making an excellent call.
Frederic Banjout tossed out eight yellow T1,000 chips, limping in from the cutoff, and when he did, two of the chips rolled in front of Andrew Robl, who was on the button. He tanked for a bit, then raised to 30,000.
"It seems like the chips want to come to me," he told Banjout.
The blinds released, and the dealer fanned . Banjout led out for 125,000, and Robl tank-called.
The turn was a third spade - the - and Banjout led out again - this time for 200,000. Robl tank-called, and the completed the board. Banjout checked for the first time, and Robl fired 425,000. Banjout quickly folded, and Robl raked in the pot.
With about 120,000 in the pot and a flop of , Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier bet 66,000 from the big blind, Talal Shakerchi called from middle position, Noah Schwartz came along from the hijack, and Gus Hansen raised to 333,000 from the cutoff.
From there, Paul Newey folded the button, Grospellier and Shakerchi called, and Schwartz got out of the way, bringing about the turn. Both Grospellier and Shakerchi checked to Hansen, who thought for about a minute before doing the same.
When the peeled off on the river, Grospellier led out for 666,000, Shakerchi called, and Hansen got out of the way. Grospellier proudly rolled over for a set, but it was no good against Shakerchi's set.
As Shakerchi was stacking the pot, Jason Mercier told Grospellier, "You bet 666 into 666."
On a flop of , Paul Phua checked from the small blind and Bob Bright did the same from the big. Phil Hellmuth took the opportunity to bet 120,000, but Paul Phua decided to keep the pressure on with a check-raise to 420,000.
Bright got out of the way, Hellmuth called, and the dealer burned and turned the . Phua wasted little time in firing out 1 million, which caused Hellmuth to shoot back in his chair and throw his arms up in the air. "Wow," Hellmuth said before folding. "You win buddy. Round 1."
Justin Smith, Brian Rast, and Sam Trickett - who have a combined $11 million in career tournament earnings - saw a flop of . Smith led out for 40,000, and both Rast and Trickett called.
The turn was the , and the action checked to Trickett, who tossed out 92,000. Smith called, and so did Rast.
The completed the board, and the action checked to Trickett again. He tanked, then fired 430,000. Smith quickly folded, and Rast went into the tank. He cut out four lavender T100,000 chips, one green T25,000 chip, and one orange T5,000 chip, and placed the six chips on his stack. After another minute or so, he folded however, and Trickett pulled in the pot.
Brandon Steven raised to 22,000 from middle position and Erik Seidel flat-called in the cutoff seat. Vivek Rajkumar three-bet on the button to 82,000 and the blinds folded back to Steven. He gave it up and then Seidel gave back with a back-raise to 250,000. After some tanking, Rajkumar slid in more chips for a reraise to 550,000.
It was now Seidel's turn to tank and he thought for a bit. After a minute or two, Seidel made it 900,000 to go with a six-bet. Rajkumar wasn;t about to be frazzled and studied intently on the hand. Another two or three minutes passed before Rajkumar moved all in. With a tad over 1.8 million behind, Seidel gave it up and Rajkumar scooped the pot.