The Qualifier vs. The Defending Champion
Last night Connor Drinan managed to win his way into this enormous tournament by taking down the $25,000 satellite. Today Drinan's sitting at a table with defending champion Antonio Esfandiari, of whom he just managed to win a decent pot.
The flop read 
when we just picked up the action and Connor Drinan checked from the big blind. Esfandiari bet 31,000 from the cutoff and Drinan made the call.
On the turn the 
hit and Drinan checked again after which Esfandiari bet 57,000. Drinan tanked for a bit and called, and the river was the 
.
Drinan now put together a bet of his own and threw out 120,000.
"Why this one?" Esfandiari seemed to ask the dealer about the river card he did not like. A minute went by and eventually Esfandiari made the call.
Drinan quickly tabled 
for trips and Esfandiari tossed his card high in the air towards the muck. Drinan picked up the pot and Esfandiari slipped down a little further.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
2,850,000
140,000
|
140,000 |
|
||
|
2,770,000
60,000
|
60,000 |
|
||