We arrived at the table, just as the player in the hijack was checking his option on a . Ben Lamb was his opponent, and bet out 1,375 from the cutoff, which was called, as the fell on the turn. Another check saw Lamb bet out 3,400, which was eventually called, before the completed the board.
A final check saw Lamb fire out 10,000, which sent his opponent into the tank.
“Kings?” he asked, before mumbling some more to himself. “Eight-nine?” he added. He then made the call and tabled his for a pair, which was enough to take down the pot, as Lamb tossed his cards into the muck.
Dario Minieri entered the pot from the cutoff for 500 and found callers on the button and small blind to see a flop fall.
Minieri tossed in 700 and both players called as the landed on the turn.
Following another check from the small blind, Minieri bet out 4,000 and was met with two quick folds as he raked in the pot to move to over 42,000 in chips.
Both Crawford and O'Donnell were just spotted in the Brasilia Room's Red section, with each hoping to recapture the magic and ride the momentum to the most important final table appearance any poker player can hope for.
We just discovered Jay Rosenkrantz, producer of the new poker film Bet Raise Fold, in the field and with him we also found a bunch of chips. We don't know where he got them from but Rosenkrantz did post a video and a tweet sharing his enthusiasm about his new found wealth:
Also in Pavilion White is American statistician, sabermetrician, psephologist, and writer Nate Silver. Silver is most famously known for predicting the results of the last two presidential elections where in 2008 he only missed one state (Indiana) and in 2012 he hit all 50 states correctly. Silver doesn't have quite as many chips as Rosenkrantz but he is still above starting stack here in level two.
Despite what you see on TV, poker tournaments can be long and boring, especially in the early levels. To give you an idea of just how slow it can be at times, we decided to spend an orbit (nine hands) with 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event champ Jamie Gold.
Hand #1 (Gold was in the big blind): It was easy for Gold to win this hand as he received a walk.
Hand #2 (SB): A player in early position raised to 450 and Gold folded from the small blind.
Hand #3 (button): 1983 WSOP Main Event champ Tom McEvoy limped and the hijack did the same. Gold then folded the button.
Hand #4 (cutoff): McEvoy raised to 500 and Gold called from the cutoff. The small blind came along and three players saw a flop of . Two checks put action on Gold and he bet a single yellow T1,000 chip. The other two players folded and Gold won the pot.
Hand #5 (hijack:): A player in middle position limped and Gold folded.
Hand #6 (middle position): Two early-position players limped and Gold did the same. The big blind checked his option and four players saw a flop of , which they all checked. After the dealer burned and turned the , a player bet 1,000 and the rest of the players, Gold included, threw away their hands.
Hand #7 (middle position): After the under-the-gun player limped, Gold folded from middle position.
Hand #8 (early position): The under-the-gun player folded and Gold did the same.
Maxwell Troy called a button raise of 500 from the small blind before checking a flop. The preflop raiser continued for 500 only to have Troy make it 1,200 to go. Troy's opponent quickly fired out a three-bet of 3,500 and Troy called before both players checked the on the turn.
The river landed the and Troy checked to his opponent who fired out 6,000. Troy called, but then mucked at the sight of his opponent's as he slipped to 17,000 in chips.