Playing from late position, Allen Cunningham raised and got a caller in the big blind and the pair saw a flop come . The big blind checked, then called Cunningham's continuation bet, and both watched the turn bring the . Cunningham's opponent checked again, the 2006 WSOP Main Event fourth-place finisher bet 7,000, and the big blind called once more.
The river then brought the and another check from Cunningham's opponent. This time Cunningham bet 14,000, and his opponent relatively quickly check-raised to 54,000.
That sent Cunningham deep into the tank, as to call would mean committing a significant percentage of his remaining stack. After five full minutes, Cunningham found a call, and when his opponent asked him what he had, he replied "I have an ace" while tabling . The big blind also had one — with — and they split the pot.
There was about 75,000 in the middle on a completed board of when we walked up to the table. We saw that Phil Galfond and Tommy Hang were heads up, and it was on Hang, who thought his options over for a bit before firing out 43,000. This bet sent Galfond deep into the tank.
After about a minute, he told Hang "Don't worry I'm not gonna raise." Hang simply smiled and said "I had ruled that out already." Galfond cut out the chips for the call, but kept them in front of his stack as he tanked for another two minutes or so. Eventually, he slid the call in, and Hang showed for the ace high flush.
Galfond said "Well I had ruled that out. My mistake. Nice hand." Galfond dropped to 86,000 after that one, while Hang jumped up to 350,000.
Just before break we saw Thomas Beckstead collecting a huge pot. Beckstead was holding on a board of for a straight flush. He was able to relay the action to us.
Beckstead told us that he opened and got three-bet by a player in position. Beckstead then four-bet and he was flatted by the player in position.
The flop came down and Beckstead continued with a bet for 22,500 which he said was about half the pot. The player flatted again. On the turn, Beckstead checked to the player, who bet out 29,000 which was "small" relative to the pot according to Beckstead. He called the bet. On the river, the players got all the money in. The other player was holding for the nut flush, with a pair of tens on the turn, so Beckstead was only drawing to a three to win the hand. Fortunately for him, he hit his gin card which gave both players a monster hand.
Beckstead moved to 448,000 after the hand which put him close to the top of the chip counts.
On the river, with the board reading , Dick van Luijk put out a bet of 20,000. The only other player in the pot thought for a couple minutes, then raised to 80,000. Van Luijk thought for a minute, then put out a call. His opponent turned over for king high, and Van Luijk showed for a pair of eights, good enough to win the hand.
With this pot, Van Luijk became the first player in the tournament to reach the million-chip mark. He now sits with 1,073,500.
We've reached the dinner break of Day 3, and Dick van Luijk is the new leader after amassing a gigantic stack in Level 13. The Belgian player has been among the leaders since early in the tournament, but he made his presence known in Level 13 by stacking a mountain of chips worth 1.1 million.
The big story of Level 13 was the stacked table at the ESPN stage in the Amazon Room. Phil Ivey began the day there, and he was joined by bracelet winners Michael Mizrachi, Max Steinberg and Tony Gregg. Mizrachi and Ivey went to battle right away, and "The Grinder" then lost a big portion of his stack to Steinberg, who turned a club flush.
Dick van Luijk was the first player to hit the million-chip mark here in the 2013 WSOP Main Event. The Belgian player surged late in Level 12 and went to dinner with a huge lead over the rest of the field. Before he could sneak away, we caught up with him to discuss and his success and why he showed up late to register on Day 1.
What is your background in poker?
I just started playing poker about five years ago when I bought a house here in Las Vegas. I then started to play online tournaments and sometimes in the casinos. I once even qualified for a tournament in the Bahamas for the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. I have played in the WSOP twice before but I never have gone further than Day 1. It’s funny because I have put in so little hours this year playing poker but I think it’s going well.
Can you take us through your experience on Day 1, Day 2, and now Day 3?
It was last minute that I decided to enter the tournament because I was supposed to go to a wedding. I figured that I would never get past Day 1 so I thought that I might as well play. My wife was very upset that I didn’t make the wedding but she is very excited that I am playing and doing well. So I entered the Main Event in the third level because I looked for other tournaments but there wasn’t any running so I decided to play the Main. I ended up with almost 150,000 for that first day.
In the second day I ended with about 430,000. Today was going up and down between 400,000 and 500,000 but then I won a very big pot of about 300,000. That is what pushed me to the top.
Your initial thoughts were that you wouldn’t get past Day 1. At this point what are you hoping to achieve?
I look at it from day to day. I don’t actually know what the schedule is or how many days this tournament is. I understand there is a resting day, though and I am curious as to when that is. This is a lot of poker at one time. It is fun but it is long hours. I am surprised I’ve even got this far but I’m really excited and it is lots of fun.
You became the first player in the tournament to reach the million-chip mark. What are your thoughts on that achievement?
Well it really surprised me to hear that. It’s just for the moment in time. Anything can happen and that can change. There is no guarantee that my success will continue; although it is possible it is never certain.
Is there any player that you are perhaps having difficulty playing against?
Oh yes. There are two players that I don’t like playing against. I don’t know their names but I think they are professional players. They are very aggressive and very hard to tell what they are thinking. It seems as though I lose every pot against them. Although I have a good hand I lose the pot. So I will try to stay away from playing against them. They are very tough and very good.
Earlier today we reported how Sami Rustom had knocked out both David Benyamine and Jeff Shulman. New players keep coming to Rustom's table, and he continues to take on all challengers.
Just now in one of the first hands after the dinner break, Rustom opened for 8,000 from under the gun, then it folded to Matt Affleck who reraised to 14,000. The player behind Affleck then put in another reraise, and it folded back around to Rustom. He paused just a beat, then set out a couple of short stacks of orange (5,000) chips to reraise again, and that was enough to chase the other two players.
Rustom then tabled his hand — — before raking the pot.
. The big blind checked, then called Cunningham's continuation bet, and both watched the turn bring the 
. Cunningham's opponent checked again, the 2006 WSOP Main Event fourth-place finisher bet 7,000, and the big blind called once more.
and another check from Cunningham's opponent. This time Cunningham bet 14,000, and his opponent relatively quickly check-raised to 54,000.
. The big blind also had one — with 
— and they split the pot.
for the ace high flush.
on a board of 
for a straight flush. He was able to relay the action to us.
for the nut flush, with a pair of tens on the turn, so Beckstead was only drawing to a three to win the hand. Fortunately for him, he hit his gin card which gave both players a monster hand.
