We found JC Tran looking down at a board of . With over 4,000 chips in the pot already, Tran checked to his opponent. Tran's opponent bet 2,500 and after some studying of the situation, Tran opted to call.
The board completed with the and Tran checked once again. His opponent checked behind and tabled for trip aces. Tran tapped the table and mucked his hand.
This early hit brings Tran's stack down to 25,200.
Only three tables are set up in the blue section for easy viewing and they feature 1995 Main Event Champion Dan Harrington, 2001 Main Event Champion Carlos Mortensen, and 2008 Main Event Champion Peter Eastgate.
A player under the gun raised to 225, UFC Welterweight champ George St-Pierre called from middle position, and a late position player called as well. All three checked the flop.
The turn then brought the , and when it checked to the late position player he fired 350. The UTG player folded, but the UFC one called.
The river brought the . Action was on St-Pierre, who instead of checking or betting surprisingly turned over his hand, showing for an eight-high straight. The table looked around and laughed, and his opponent checked behind, showing for jacks.
No penalty was assessed to St-Pierre for showing his hand with action pending, although the judges watching from the rail may have docked him a point that round.
One of the notable faces in the Brasilia Room in former professional footballer Paulo Rink. Rink may not be as well known for his prowess on the felt compared to the pitch just yet, but he's working on building up his poker record. On the Latin American Poker Tour in 2010, Rink ran deep in the R$2,500 LAPT Brazil Main Event with a 29th-place finish for R$9,750 (USD $5,547). He also made an amazing run in the 2011 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $10,000 Main Event. Out of the field of 1,560, Rink placed 27th for $66,000. He also placed in the money in the 2011 R$2,000 LAPT Florianopolis Main Event.
Rink is a retired Brazilian-born German football (or soccer for us Americans) forward who gave up professional play in 2007.
Atletico Paranaense of the Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A league was the club where Rink got his start before moving to the German team Bayer Leverkusen. He was transferred to the team for the hefty sum of $6 million USD, which up until that point, no one had been transferred from Atletico Paranaense for that sum of money.
Although he spent four years from 1997-2001, scoring 29 goals with Bayer Leverkusen in 88 appearances, Rink played for numerous other clubs. Nuremberg, Energie Cottbus, Olympiakos Nicosia, Vitesse, Jeonbuk, Olympiakos Nicosia, Omonia Nicosia and Atletico-PR were all stints for him following Bayer Leverkusen. Out of that latter group, Rink made the most appearances with Olympiakos Nicosia (21) and scored the most goals with Omonia Nicosia (23).
Outside of club play, Rink earned 13 international caps between 1998 and 2000 with the German national team. Rink was a naturalized German citizen due to his great-grandfather emigrating from Germany to Brazil in 1904, and became the first Brazilian to play for Germany. Although he didn't score any goals with that team, Rink has 98 career goals on his resumé.
It is said that Rink can't even walk the streets of Germany without being mauled by fans. That's not the case quite yet here within the poker world, but all of that could change with a standout performance in the World Series of Poker Main Event.
Below is a video PokerNews' very own Kristy Arnett did with Rink during his deep run at the 2011 PCA Main Event.
Almost two weeks ago Craig McCorkell outlasted 586 players to win Event 36: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout. Today he had plans to be the last man standing again. Granted any bracelet is a huge accomplishment, but nothing has quite the effect as the Main Event. Winning on poker's biggest stage for the highest of stakes is what it all comes down to.
We recently caught up with McCorkell as he raised from the cutoff to 250 preflop. The button made the call and the big blind completed as well. The flop came and the big blind came out firing, betting 1,100. McCorkell made the call and the button released.
The on the turn saw a bet of 2,000 come out of the big blind's stack, and again McCorkell made the call.
A on the river seemed to make the big blind second guess himself, and we saw a check. McCorkell then took a few moments, before throwing out a bet of 5,000. The big blind deposited his cards in the muck and McCorkell took down the pot.
. With over 4,000 chips in the pot already, Tran checked to his opponent. Tran's opponent bet 2,500 and after some studying of the situation, Tran opted to call.
and Tran checked once again. His opponent checked behind and tabled 
for trip aces. Tran tapped the table and mucked his hand.
flop.
, and when it checked to the late position player he fired 350. The UTG player folded, but the UFC one called.
. Action was on St-Pierre, who instead of checking or betting surprisingly turned over his hand, showing 
for an eight-high straight. The table looked around and laughed, and his opponent checked behind, showing 
for jacks.
and the big blind came out firing, betting 1,100. McCorkell made the call and the button released.
on the river seemed to make the big blind second guess himself, and we saw a check. McCorkell then took a few moments, before throwing out a bet of 5,000. The big blind deposited his cards in the muck and McCorkell took down the pot.