We arrived at the table in time to see Phil Ivey and Elior Sion take a flop of . Ivey took the lead with a bet of 1,300 and Sion wasted little time calling. The hit the felt on the turn and Ivey reached for chips. He fired 4,200 on fourth street, but once again saw a call from Sion.
The completed the board and Ivey slowed with a check. Sion dipped into his larger denomination chips, moving 11,000 into the middle. Ivey thought for about 45 seconds before releasing his hand.
After folding, Ivey immediately stood up from the table and made his way to the rail. A fan on the rail stood next to him while another person took a picture. After the photo, Ivey briskly walked back to the table and did not miss a hand.
David Bach checked the turn with the board reading , and Brian Tate bet. Randy Ohel raised, and Bach got out of the way. Tate called, and he check-called another bet on the river.
Phil Ivey has been acting a little out of the norm here in Event #46: $50,000 Poker Players' Championship. He was just seen playing a hand, heading over to the rail for a fan photo, and then getting back into action without missing a beat.
He also recently wandered across the tournament floor a couple of tables over and put his hands on his friend Daniel Negreanu's shoulders while chatting with him a bit. Remember, Ivey and Negreanu laid anyone 1-1 odds if they wanted to bet against either of them winning a gold bracelet this summer. The minimum bet was $5,000, and it is rumoured that they have over $300,000 in action booked.
"Have you slept?" asked Matt Glantz to Ivey, who was seated to the right of Negreanu.
"I don't need sleep," responded Ivey.
Negreanu and Glantz laughed at the statement, but by the look on Ivey's face, he was being serious that he can be just as prepared as anyone without sleeping.
"I'm a tournament f***ing machine," Ivey added, as he began to turn away from the table to head back to his seat. "I've been up all night."
While Table #364, which includes the likes of Matt Glantz, Daniel Negreanu, George Danzer, and David "ODB" Baker, engaged in an in-depth discussion about limit hold'em strategy, three-time bracelet winner Vanessa Selbst took her seat between Negreanu and Scott Seiver. The game had just switched from limit hold'em to stud 8.
Selbst: /
Seiver: /
Selbst played the first hand she was dealt, and we caught up to find her lead out with a bet on fourth street with ace-queen showing. Seiver called to see fifth, where both players checked to sixth.
Seiver fired out a bet on sixth and Selbst thought for a moment. She ultimately opted to release her cards and Seiver picked up the pot. This small hit early brings Selbst's stack to about 148,000 while Seiver is up to 159,000.
Chun Lei Zhou: / — fold
Matt Glantz: / /
Vanessa Selbst: / /
After Zhou brought in, Glantz completed the bet, and Selbst called before Zhou also called to go to fourth street.
On fourth street, Glantz bet, Selbst raised, Zhou folded, and Glantz called. Then on fifth, sixth, and seventh street, Selbst check-called bets on each time.
Glantz showed for a pair of twos and a seven-five low. Selbst showed a pair of sixes and a seven-six low. Glantz had the better low, but Selbst had the best high, and the two chopped up the pot.
Abe Mosseri opened with an early position raise and Paul Volpe made it three bets from the next seat over. The rest of the table folded back to Mosseri and he called to see a flop.
The dealer fanned on the felt and Mosseri checked to the raiser. Volpe continued out and Mosseri stuck around. The on the turn put three hearts on the board and Mosseri once again check-called a bet. The finished the board and Mosseri led into the middle. Volpe called, Mosseri tabled for a queen-high flush, and Volpe mucked his cards.
Mosseri dragged in the pot and now has about 162,000 in chips.
Before play started today, we asked Abe Mosseri, Daniel Negreanu, Matt Glantz, Brock Parker, Jonathan Duhamel, Mike Leah, and Phil Galfond what event they're looking forward to more all year; the $50,000 Poker Players' Championship, or the Main Event.