Following a raise from under the gun, two-time bracelet winner David "Bakes" Baker reraised from a seat over and got two callers in the big blind and the original raiser. The big blind took two cards, the opener took four, and Baker just one. It checked to Baker who bet and only the big blind stuck around.
Baker stood pat through the next two rounds as his opponent took two cards and then one. When checked to Baker bet both times, with his opponent calling the first and flashing a face card on the second as he mucked.
Joe Tehan, Gavin Smith, and Jeremy Ausmus were in a three way pot that had 2,000 in the middle going to the second draw. Everyone drew one card, and all three players checked. Smith was first to act, and he stood pat on the last draw. Tehan took the hint that he was up against a strong hand, and opted to draw two instead of the one he had last time, while Ausmus once again opted for one new card.
It was checked around to Ausmus on the button, and he fired out one more bet. Smith was the only caller, and Ausmus fanned out for a number three. Smith mucked, and Ausmus joked "It was Joe's fault for drawing two instead of one." Tehan replied with a smile, "Well I didn't want to be drawing dead if I drew just one card."
Acid Nilsen — first name pronounced "ay-sid" — raised from late position, Daniel Ospina reraised out of the blinds, and Nilsen called. Ospina drew one and Nilsen two on the first round, then Ospina stood pat as Nilsen continued to draw one on each of the last two rounds.
Ospina bet after each of the first two rounds and Nilsen called both times, then both checked their last opportunity. Ospina showed , and Nilsen shook his head as he showed his .
Players are back from their short dinner break and Level 5 has begun. Late registration closed with the start of this level, although we're noticing a few new faces among those who snuck in at the last minute. More to come.
The end of the dinner break marked the deadline for registration of this event, so we were expecting to see a fresh crop of faces when we returned. Here's who we recently saw take their seats.
A player in late position raised and Phil Ivey called from the small blind, then both drew two cards. Ivey check-called a bet from his opponent, then drew two again while the original raiser stood pat. Once again, Ivey checked and called when his opponent bet.
On the third draw Ivey took one card, then led with a bet which his opponent called. Ivey then tabled for a smooth eight. "Eight-six perfect," exhaled his opponent as he tossed his cards face down toward the dealer.
We walked up to the table after the first draw in a heads up pot involving John D'Agostino. We got there just in time to see D'Agostino check raise his opponent, and he was called. D'Agostino stayed pat, then his opponent drew one card. D'Agostino bet out, then he was called. The same draw action occurred on the final round, and this time, both players checked. D'Agostino rolled over , and his opponent mucked, giving D'Agostino the pot and upping his stack to 19,500.
for a number three. Smith mucked, and Ausmus joked "It was Joe's fault for drawing two instead of one." Tehan replied with a smile, "Well I didn't want to be drawing dead if I drew just one card."
