2025 World Series of Poker
Justin Liberto raised to 26,000 from the small blind and Anderson Almonte shoved for a bit over 200,000 from the big blind. Liberto quickly tossed in a single chip to indicate a call and hands were revealed.
Anderson Almonte: 5♥5♣
Justin Liberto: 8♣8♦
Almonte would need some help with his lower pair, but the 3♠Q♥7♦J♣6♦ runout changed nothing — leaving Liberto best with his eights to end Almonte's Main Event run.
In a preflop confrontation Dan Sepiol was all in for 275,000 from middle position and up against Stephen Dauphinais who covered him from the hijack.
Dan Sepiol: A♠K♦
Stephen Dauphinais: A♥Q♥
Sepiol stayed ahead with the dominating ace on the 3♥2♠9♠2♣J♥ runout to double through Dauphinas.
Jon Kyte kicked off the action from the cutoff with a raise to 22,000 and got a call from Max Pinnola in the big blind.
On the 8♠8♣Q♦ flop, Pinnola check-raised Kyte’s 15,000 continuation bet to 42,000. Kyte called without much hesitation, taking them to the turn.
The 10♣ hit next, and this time Pinnola led out for 60,000. Kyte again made the call.
With the 4♣ on the river, Pinnola ramped up the pressure, firing 115,000 and leaving himself just 151,000 behind. Kyte responded by moving all in, putting Pinnola to the ultimate test for his tournament life.
Pinnola clearly didn’t love the spot. He sighed, stared down the board for a while, and after a couple of minutes slid his cards into the muck, surrendering the sizeable pot.
"Fold jack-nine?" Kyte asked with a grin, but Pinnola wasn’t in the mood to answer, still visibly frustrated as the chips went Kyte's way.
Dan Sepiol shoved from the small blind, covering Stephen Dauphinais who had 163,000 in the big blind. Dauphinais snap-called and was at risk.
Stephen Dauphinais: A♦J♣
Dan Sepiol: A♠9♠
Sepiol connected with his nine on the 9♣10♦5♠ flop, leaving Dauphinais drawing to three outs. Dauphinais picked up a straight draw on the Q♥ turn which came in on the 8♣ river, securing the double up through Sepiol.
Colin Robinson opened to 20,000 in early position and Esther Taylor just flat-called from a couple of seats over. They went heads-up to a flop of K♣7♦5♦ where both players checked through to the 5♣ on the turn and the 10♦ on the river.
Robinson finally made a bet of 27,000 and Taylor snapped him off. Robinson turned over J♥10♥ confidently but Taylor tabled her Q♣Q♦ for a better two pair to scoop the pot.
Mike Matusow raised to 22,000 in the hijack and was called by Kenny Hallaert and Rahul Deevara in the blinds. The flop came Q♦7♣4♥ and the action checked to Matusow who continued with a bet of 30,000. Hallaert just called and Deevara ripped all in for 143,000. Matusow quickly called and Hallaert got out of the way.
Rahul Deevara: Q♠7♠
Mike Matusow: A♣Q♣
Deevara flopped two pair to hold a big lead over Matusow who just had top pair. The 3♠ and 2♥ runout changed nothing and Matusow was forced to pass over half of his stack.