Mike Matusow just jumped out of his seat like his pants were on fire. Dashing over like the ace reporter I'm meant to be, I spied 'the Mouth' raking in a huge pot with on a board in a blind on blind battle which had been an unraised pot. The big blind had the misfortune to be holding when all the chips went in on the flop.
"I couldn't believe when he flipped over that hand," admitted Matusow, "in a raised pot I might be able to get away but I was never folding there in an unraised pot."
This at the end of a hand not involving him, but Andy Black and Florian Langmann. Caught from the heads-up flop - - the idiosyncratic Black had fired 5,000, and Langmann was thinking about what to do now. And thinking, and thinking - the only thing moving his chip-twiddling fingers. Eventually, he called.
Turn: Check to Langmann now, who bet 6,000. Insta-called.
River: Now both players checked, and Black opted to show the . This in itself was good, as Langmann mucked with a slight frown - Black's kicker turned out to be a second pair: .
At this point Channing said Hansen-like, "Wow... You two play nicely," before continuing to banter with an alternately taciturn and talkative Black.
David 'Chino' Rheem is out, he was all in on the turn of a board with against Martin Vallo's . The river didn't give Rheem the king he needed, as it was the instead. He'll have to wait until November to take his shot at a bracelet now.
De Wolfe: "Philly!"
Matusow (higher pitch): "Philly!"
De Wolfe (even higher): "Philly!"
Matusow: "Hey Phil, when was the last time you won a 10K event? I was probably still in high school...1989? I was in high school!"
Hellmuth: "When was the last time you won a 10K event Mike?"
Matusow: (pause) Well, I invested 20K in the deuce-to-seven bracelet I won, so technically...
"One time!" demanded Mark Radoja as his was unraveled by Talal Shakerchi's on a flop. The turn dealt out extra outs, but no such luck emerged as the river blanked out with a raggy . "Goddammit!" cursed Radoja dejectedly as he departed.
Daniel Negreanu is your current chip leader with 225,000. Sadly, the details of his rise are sketchy due to him playing at the feature table, which remains rather inaccessible at this present point in time. I can reveal, however, that he hasn't stopped talking since 1pm this afternoon.
Scotty Nguyen has been knocked out of the tournament, his last 3,500 going in with , but the big blind made the call with and caught a six on the flop to eliminate the former WSOP champion.
Meanwhile, Phil Hellmuth has managed to double up, getting all in with on the flop of a board against Brandon Adams' missing . It wasn't all bad for Adams though, he knocked out another player the very next hand with against .
Sadly for the male contingent of the rail, Vanessa Rousso will no longer be delighting us with her presence. She found herself all in and praying for a heart with versus on a board. The river was the wrong color, though, forcing the future Mrs. Brown onto the rail.
Jac Arama just found himself with a decision for his tournament life, at the hands of Peter Neff. After a couple of limpers, Neff in the small blind raised to 3,000 preflop, and everyone dropped out but Jac Arama.
The flop: Neff bet out 3,800 which was called before it had hit the baize by Arama.
Turn: Arama quickly checks. Spot the problem here - it was out of turn, and Neff took his sweet time sizing up his opponent. "Do you have any reds?" he asked, this being the 5,000 chip. No - it turned out the volatile player was down to just 15,000. Neff put him all in, but despite a sigh and a brief think, Arama's cards were destined for the muck.