The Best of the Best

A hand that recently went down illustrated the high caliber of play reserved for the WSOP's big buy-in events, with defending Main Event champion Greg Merson, Borgata WPT Poker Open champ Olivier Busquet, and Nick Schulman, the winner of WPT and WSOP events, all playing a pot together.

The action started when a player opened to 900 from under the gun, and the entire six-handed table called for a family pot filled with pros. On the flop, Merson led out for 2,325, and next to act Schulman popped it to 6,400.

This folded the preflop raiser and another player, but Busquet decided on a reraise to 15,000. Merson immediately shipped his last 13,500 or so into the middle, and Schulman then went deep into the tank. After a minute of pondering his options, Schulman elected to fold and save his last 30,000, leaving Busquet and Merson to battle it out.

Merson:
Busquet:

Both players had flopped a good piece, with Merson's top two pair giving him a slim advantage over Busquet's pair and a flush draw.

The on the turn left Merson out in front, but when the fell on the river he grabbed his stack and handed it across the table, offering a "good game everyone" to the table as he departed. Busquet now has more than double the average stack, and is cruising along as the day nears its conclusion.