2025 World Series of Poker
There was a raise to 25,000 in early position and Julien Mariani three-bet to 66,000 on the button. Juliet Hegedus stuck in a four-bet to 200,000 in the small blind which got the original raiser to fold. However, Mariani five-bet shoved all in, potentially creating the largest pot of the tournament thus far. Hegedus mulled it over for a couple of minutes but finally decided to fold.
On the next hand, Hegedus raised to 25,000 on the button and Rene-Charles Angelil three-bet to 125,000 in the small blind. Jeffrey Gilmore four-bet shoved all in for 172,000 in the big blind which got Hegedus to fold but Angelil made the easy call.
Jeffrey Gilmore: 8♠8♥
Rene-Charles Angelil: A♠K♣
It was a coin flip and the 10♥4♠2♥ flop favored Gilmore with the pair of eights. The 6♠ on the turn was also safe but the K♥ on the river gave Angelil a pair of kings to send Gilmore packing.
Richard Buckingham opened to 25,000 and got two callers in the blinds, Nathan Rosinger and Oliver Braddock, in the small and big blinds, respectively.
The flop came A♥J♥2♦ After the blinds checked, Buckingham continued for another 25,000. Rosinger called, but Braddock got out of the way.
Rosinger checked the turn 5♣. Not letting up, Buckingham fired another 50,000, which was enough to make Rosinger fold.
Ryuta Nakai and Jon Vallinas were on a flop of 10♠3♦A♠. With a pot of 130,000 in the middle, Nakai had 90,000 in front of him under the gun. Jon Vallinas then moved all in for 244,000, which sent Nakai deep into the tank.
After a couple of minutes, Nakai called to put Vallinas at risk.
Jon Vallinas: A♣J♥
Ryuta Nakai: K♠9♠
Nakai turned more outs by pairing on the K♥, but the 10♣ river helped him no further. Vallinas raked in his double-up, denting the big stack of Nakai.
Michael Mizrachi opened to 26,000 from the hijack with K♠J♥, Gregory Katayama three-bet to 70,000 from the cutoff with A♣Q♣ and Mizrachi called.
Both players checked the Q♠Q♦Q♥ flop leading to the 10♥ turn. Mizrachi checked, Katayama bet 40,000, Mizrachi check-raised to 80,000 and Katayama called.
On the 4♦ river Mizrachi checked, Katayama shoved for 228,000 and Mizrachi folded.
Esther Taylor raised to 25,000 from the cutoff and only Terence Clee called out of the big blind.
Clee chose to lead out for 35,000 on the 2♠9♦8♣ flop. Taylor took a few moments before flicking in the call.
The 4♣ came on the turn and Clee led out again, this time for 80,000. Taylor swiftly released her cards and relinquished the pot to Clee.
Dai Ishibashi got things moving with a raise under the gun to 25,000. Only Tony Ho chose to call from the small blind.
The dealer spread a J♣5♠K♦ flop, and Ho check-called a bet of 19,000.
Both players then checked the 6♥ turn and moved on to the J♥ river.
Ho checked for a third time, prompting Ishibashi to place a bet of 30,000. Ho made the call before mucking his cards when Ishibashi flipped over K♥9♥.
With the board reading A♥9♥6♥A♦8♦ and roughly 500,000 in the middle, Douglas Lopes checked from middle position to Yuta Mutsuura in the hijack. Mutsuura reached for chips and slid out a hefty bet of 500,000, putting Lopes in a brutal spot with just 603,000 behind.
Faced with a near all-in decision, Lopes sank deep into the tank. After a long pause, a player eventually called the clock. The floor arrived and gave Lopes 30 seconds to act, but before he could make up his mind, his hand was declared dead as the time ran out.
As Lopes released his cards, the table erupted in chatter. All eyes were on Mutsuura, who initially went to muck but was influenced by the buzz from the table and turned over the K♥, teasing a range of potential holdings.
One player chimed in, “I folded nine-six,” adding another twist to the hand and leaving Lopes with plenty to contemplate.
Stephen Dauphinais opened to 24,000 from middle position and Anton Beno three-bet shoved with a covering stack from the big blind. Dauphinas, who started the hand with 179,000, snap-called.
Stephen Dauphinais: K♠Q♠
Anton Beno: A♣K♥
Dauphinas was in rough shape with a dominated king but he took the lead with top pair on the 5♥2♥Q♦ flop. He remained ahead as the rest of the board ran out 4♣6♠ to double up through Beno.
Action was picked up as Matthew Matros was all in from the cutoff against Mikhail Prokopchuk who was on the button.
Matthew Matros: A♣K♠
Mikhail Prokopchuk: K♥K♦
The board ran out Q♣5♦9♦10♥K♣, and Matros was eliminated after the dealer initially attempted to split the pot, not realizing that Prokopchuk had rivered a set. A player at the table jokingly remarked, "You nearly got away with a chop," prompting a chuckle from Matros, who wished everyone luck before making his exit from the tournament