The Poker Thread

Gotta Katch 'em All

We caught up with the action to see the player in the small blind, Eugene Katchalov, and David Singer looking down at a flop of . With 3,800 in the pot from preflop action, the small blind led out for 2,300. Katchalov called and Singer got out of the way. The struck the turn and the small blind fired out once again with a single orange t5,000 chip. Katchalov decided to stick around. The river paired the board with the and the small blind slowed down. Katchalov bet 7,500 and the small blind threw away his hand.

"Would you have called a shove?" asked the small blind.

"I'd rather not say," replied Katchalov as he stacked his newly earned chips.

Rast on the Rise

A pot had already developed and the flop had come . Brian Rast was sitting under the gun with 3,425 pushed out in front of him — likely a raise over a post-flop bet by his opponent sitting a couple of seats over — and his opponent was responding by setting out a raise to 9,025.
Rast then made it 15,025 to go, his opponent reraised all in, and Rast called.
Rast turned over for a set of jacks, while his opponent showed for top two. The turn was the and river the , and Rast sends a player railward here near the end of Level 2 while chipping up toward the top of the counts.

Selbst In Control

Earlier this summer Vanessa Selbst became the first woman to win an open event at the World Series of Poker since she did so herself in 2008. Selbst's second bracelet was around her wrist after she crushed the final table of Event 52: $2,500 10-Game Mix - Six-Handed. We recently caught up with this two-time bracelet winner looking down at a board of . Her opponent checked to her with over 16,000 in the pot. Selbst fired out 10,900 and her opponent quickly called. Selbst flipped up the for the nuts and her opponent mucked his hand. Selbst is now sitting on a stack of 69,000 and looks to continue crushing throughout the day.

Mortensen Está Muerto

2001 WSOP Main Event Champion Carlos Mortensen got off to a nice start today, building a stack up over 45,000 in the early going. He'd slipped back a bit though before recently running into Michael Shelton's to find himself on the rail before dinner.

Raymer Sent To The Rail

Greg Raymer opened to 700 from the cutoff seat and Gaeton DiMaria called on the button. Action then folded over the player in the big blind, who squeezed to 2,200 total. Raymer then pushed all in for his last 13,000. DiMaria also pushed all in for about 60,000 and the player in the big called all in for his remaining stack.

Raymer:
DiMaria:
Big Blind:

The board kept the player with pocket queens in front and he nearly tripled up - eliminating Raymer in the process.

Double for Boatman

We don't know exactly how the action went, but from what we were told this is what happened. The board read and Barny Boatman moved all in. Boatman's opponent took a considerable amount of time thinking about calling, so long in fact that the clock was called. Eventually Boatman's opponent made the call and flipped over for a full house twos over aces. Boatman countered by flipping for a superior full house and took down the pot.

Rivered Boat = Lots Mo' Fo' Ho

Maria Ho opened for 700 from middle position and action folded around to the big blind, who made the call. The flop came and Ho's opponent checked - prompting a 750 c-bet from Ho. Her opponent responded by check-raising to 1,850. Ho thought it over and made the call. The turn brought the and Ho's opponent continued his aggression and fired 3,025 into the middle. Undeterred, Ho again called. The completed the board and the player in the big fired one last time for 8,000. Ho paused, and then raised to 19,400 total. Her opponent immediately announced, "Call," and Ho tabled for a rivered tens-full of deuces. Her opponent revealed that he had the for an inferior full house and mucked.

Ho has been on quite a roll this past level - she is up to 90,000.

Farha Thriving

Action folded to Sam Farha who limped from the cutoff. Ryan Lenaghan followed suit on the button. The small blind completed and Vanessa Selbst checked her option out of the big. The flop came and the small blind checked. Selbst took the first stab at the pot with a bet of 800. Farha and Lenaghan both called and the small blind folded. The turned and Selbst slowed down, checking her option to Farha. Farha bet 4,500 and Lenaghan called. This time Selbst opted to muck her cards and we were heads up to fifth street. The board completed by pairing the board with the . Farha bet 7,000 and Lenaghan called. Farha showed the for a turned straight and Lenaghan mucked his hand.

Farha is now sitting pretty with over 100,000 in chips.

Boeree Able to Leap Tall Chip Stacks In a Single Bound

Liv Boeree was moved into the Purple section of the Amazon room just after Level 4 began, swooping in to an empty seat at Table 434. Boeree is sporting a blue Superman shirt today, and began the business of conquering her foes immediately after arriving. With the board showing and 9,500 in the pot already, Boeree watched her opponent check from the blinds, then proceeded to bet 5,100. Her opponent then check-raised all in for 12,000, and faster than a locomotive Boeree called. Boeree's opponent showed for treys plus a flush draw, while Boeree showed for the made straight. The river was the , another player has fallen, and Boeree added more chips to her stack.

Singer In The Rain

Eugene Katchalov opened to 800 only to have David Singer move all in over the top for 4,650 total. It folded back to Katchalov and he moved out a call.

Katchalov:
Singer:

We were off to the races and Katchlov kept his lead on the flop. The on the turn was no help to Singer either and he would need an ace or a ten that wasn't a heart to stay alive. The fell and he was sent to the rail while Katchalov is now flirting with 100,000 in chips.

Easy Game For Moon

2009 Main Event Runner Up Darvin Moon open limped from under the gun, which started a trail of callers from the player directly behind him, the player in the hijack seat, the button and the small blind. The big blind checked his option for a six-way pot. The flop came and both players in the blinds checked to Moon, who fired 1,200 into the middle. One-by-one each of his opponents folded and Moon scooped the pot hassle free.

Moon is up to 75,000.

Dwan's Day Is Done

By the time Tom Dwan moved over into the Purple section, he was already short-stacked, the baggie he was carrying only containing three or four chips, representing a stack of about 7,000.
He played through a couple of orbits, then came a hand in which he raised to 750 from middle position and got two callers in the blinds, including James Calderaro in the small blind. The flop came , and when it checked to Dwan he pushed all in for his last 6,300. Both of his opponents called, then after the turn it was Calderaro shoving his last 6,625 in the middle, getting a fold from his neighbor to the right. Dwan and Calderaro then showed their hands...

Calderaro:
Dwan:

Two pair for Calderaro and a straight draw for Dwan. The river brought the , and just before the end of Level 4, Dwan's day is done.

Grospellier Grossed Out

It was battle of the blinds between the small blind and Bertrand Grospellier in the big blind. The flop read and the small blind bet out 600. ElkY made the call and the dealer landed the on the turn. It was here that the small blind again fired out, this time for 1,700. Grospellier again made the call.
The on the river lead to yet another bet from the small blind, 2,100 this time. Grospellier did the same thing he did before and tossed out a call. The small blind flipped over for a rivered flush and Grospellier threw his cards in the muck in disgust.

Even Eastgate Gets Tired

As we were passing through the tables in the Purple section, a player standing away from his chair stretched and yawned. "It's a long day," he said, as he rubbed his eyes and tried to refocus on two more hours of poker ahead.

From there we moved over to the Blue section, where 2008 Main Event champion Peter Eastgate has been quietly chipping up all day. Just now he was involved in a hand in which a player raised to 900 from the button and he defended his big blind. The pair quickly fell into rapid check-check mode as the dealer dealt the flop, the turn, and the river. "Ace," said Eastgate's opponent, turning over . Eastgate tabled , and the dealer waved the small pot in his direction. Someone pointed out to Eastgate he'd made a straight on the river, and he leaned forward to see the cards, then grinned and shook his head. Not that it likely cost him anything, but he'd missed that made better than a low pair.

Now it was Eastgate rubbing his eyes, trying to refocus.

Greenstein Moving Back Up

Barry Greenstein seems to have been knocked down a little since the last time we saw him. When we caught up with him a few minutes ago we found him battling it out with a big blind player from middle position. We don't know exactly how the action went on the flop, but we know one of the players bet, and the other called. The on the turn saw the big blind check, and Greenstein fire out for 3,000. The big blind made the call and was allowed to see the river. After the was fanned for the river the big blind checked again, and Greenstein placed a bet of 7,000.

After some inner debating the big blind made the call. Greenstein exposed for a pair of aces and the big blind flashed for a weaker pair of queens. Greenstein now sits around 50,000 in chips.

Scotty Sent Packing

We heard the announcer from the main stage say that Scotty Nguyen was all in, so we ran over to investigate. When we got there, we saw that Nguyen got it in with on a flop of . However, Nguyen was up against the of Marc Karam. Nguyen would need a ton of help to survive, but the board ran dry for him, coming and .

Nguyen wished everyone good luck, and as he left the stage, a spectator yelled "Love you Scotty." Nguyen quickly responded "Love you too baby!" as he left the mothership.

Grospellier Gone

Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier got off to a great start in the first couple of levels, but it was all downhill from there. He was short for most of the post dinner break play, and when we walked by his table just now, his seat was empty. We took to twitter, and found out that he minraised on the button with , and that the big blind moved him all in with . Grospellier made the call, but his eights didn't hold. Grospellier's summer at the WSOP is over.

Last Hand Double For Selbst

The ESPN main stage was set to play one last final hand before the table ended for the night. We don't know exactly how the action went, but after a series of raises Vanessa Selbst managed to get all in and at risk literally by the hand of her opponent. Lucky for Selbst she had a dream scenario. Selbst flipped over while her opponent mustered up for second best. The flop blanked out for both players, but the on the turn guaranteed Selbst would be returning to the Main Event, returning with a monster stack.

The Master

When we reached the table, Johnny Chan "The Master" and David "Doc" Sands were heads up with the board reading . Chan checked, and Sands tossed out 3,650. Chan tanked for the better part of two minutes, then called. The completed the board, and Chan checked again. Sands thought for a bit, then fired 5,450. Chan quickly check-raised to 12,000, which befuddled Sands, who tanked for the better part of five minutes. He eventually folded, and Chan raked in the pot.

"Big lay down?" a player asked Sands.

Sands didn't respond - we're not sure if he even heard the gentleman - rather he stared directly at a spot in front of him, and continued to do so as we left.

History Set to Repeat for Mizrachi?

Back in 2010, Michael Mizrachi won the $50,000 Poker Player's Championship, a feat he repeated this year, winning his second Poker Player's Championship title. After winning the event in 2010, he went on to make the final table of the World Series of Poker Main Event in the same year. Could history be repeating itself? It's only early days, but his 155,000-chip stack is a great start.
We aren't sure how Mizrachi acquired most of those chips, but we did just watch him use relentless aggression to take down two hands in a row. One of those hands saw a middle position player open the pot to 1,000. Mizrachi then three-bet to 2,000 from the cutoff. On the flop, Mizrachi's opponent checked and then called a bet of 5,000 from Mizrachi. The turn would see Mizrachi continue his betting, firing out 5,000. His opponent tank-folded and Mizrachi added a few more chips to his monster stack.

Trickett Takes One Down

We caught up with the action just as another player was getting all in preflop against Sam Trickett for about his last 10,000.

Trickett:
Opponent:

Trickett had a massive advantage going to the flop and the board sealed the deal for his opponent as he was eliminated. Trickett is up to 44,000.

...And Loses Some Immediately After

Soon after winning his last large pot, Trickett was involved in a hand where the board read . Trickett was in the small blind and heads up against the big blind. He bet 4,300 into a pot of about 5,000 and the player in the big blind called. The river was the and Trickett led once again. This time his opponent was facing a bet of 9,600. Trickett's opponent responded by moving all in for about 19,000 total. Trickett let out a laugh at the bet and threw his hand to the muck.

Cheong Makes the Double

When we arrived at Joseph Cheong's table, he was involved in a hand with two opponents and it was already on the turn of a board. Cheong was on the button and at this point, the first player to act checked. The next player, from the hijack, also checked and it was on to Cheong who bet 1,775. The next player folded his hand and the hijack moved all in, with Cheong having the player covered by a small amount. Cheong splashed out a call and the two players turned their hands over.

Cheong:
Hijack:

The river bricked off with an and Cheong picked up that pot which saw him almost double up.

Duhamel Done

The 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event champion has been eliminated by 2009 WSOP bracelet winner Anthony Harb. According to the table, Duhamel was all in with agains the of Harb. The board ran out , sending Duhamel to the rail.

Viktor Blom Doubles; Opponent Tortured

Action opened with an early position raise to 700 which received one call. The player in the cutoff three-bet to 2,600 only to have Viktor Blom four-bet to 5,800 from the big blind. The other two players got out of the way rather quickly and action was back to the cutoff. The player in the cutoff five-bet to 12,000 and action was back to Blom. Blom shuffled his chips before moving in 18,400 for a six-bet.

"Can't do that," the dealer said. "Action is capped at four raises."

"What are you talking about?" replied Blom. The entire table protested with cries of "What?" and "This is no-limit". The dealer listened to the words of the table and the hand progressed. Blom's opponent moved all in and Blom let out a sigh and called:

Blom:
Opponent:

The dealer dealt out a great flop for Blom as it came . The dealer was about to deal fourth street but was stopped by an ESPN employee who wanted to hold the action for taping. Blom's opponent made to wait and stare at the board that cracked his kings for about 45 seconds until the camera crews arrived. Once the camera crew was there the dealer continued with the deal and put out the on the turn. This gave Blom trip aces but also gave his opponent a glimmer of hope as any club that did not fill up Blom would give him the win with a flush.

Fortunately for Blom the river was the and he was able to double up. Blom's all in was for roughly 44,000 and he is now sitting pretty around 90,000 in chips.

Cada's Trap

Joe Cada opened to 700 from under the gun, and one opponent in middle position came along for the ride. The dealer spread , and Cada led for 1,000. His opponent called. The turn was the , and Cada slowed down, checking to his opponent, who tossed out two yellow T1,000 chips. Cada called. The fell on the river, and Cada checked again. His opponent quickly checked behind, and Cada sighed before opening up for trip sixes. To add insult to injury, his opponent showed for top-top.

"I should have bet there," Cada rued.

Cheong Doubles Through Adams; Doubles Again Moments Later

Joseph Cheong raised to 1,000 from middle position. Big stack Brandon Adams called from the cutoff and the rest of the table folded. The flop fell and Cheong continued with a 1,475 bet. Adams called and the turned. Cheong fired another bullet making it 3,500 to go. Once again he received a call from Adams. The board completed with a second pair in the form of the . Cheong moved all in for his last 16,500. Adams dipped into his stack and came out with a call. Cheong tabled and Adam looked at his cards one last time, hoping that they would be able to beat the pocket jacks. Alas, they did not, and he meekly pushed them to the muck. Adams' massive lost some but is still sitting at a sizable 115,000. Cheong's double put him at 41,000.

Just moments after that last hand Cheong tweeted that he was able to double up again:

subiime Joseph Cheong

95k. Coolered a poor kid KK vs his AK after he told me he felt like this was my lvl

The 2008 Main Event Champ is Gone in Monster Hand

With around 10,000 in the pot and a flop of , Nghi Van Tran bet 5,100 only to have 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event winner Peter Eastgate raise to 12,500. Tran took a few moments before three-betting to around 21,000, which prompted Eastgate to four bet to 40,000. Tran, who had the bigger stack, thought for well over a minute before moving all in, and Eastgate made a quick call.

Showdown
Eastgate:
Tran:

"I know that's what you have," Tran said. "How can you call me?"

Eastgate seemed happy with his straight and flush draws, but he would be left wanting as the turn and river failed to improve him. "Good game, guys," Eastgate said before collecting his things and exiting the Brasilia Room.

Galfond Gifted A Stack

We caught up with the action on the flop, with Phil Galfond heads up with Surapaneni Ramanadharao. The flop read , and while there was only about 4,000 in the pot preflop, the two were in the middle of a raising war when we arrived. Galfond had a bet of 8,400, but he was the one making a decision, as Ramanadharao had a bet of 16,800 in front of him.

Galfond thought for about 30 seconds before grabbing chips for a raise, and putting out a bet of 32,500. Ramanadharao said "ok let's go" and slid the rest of his stack in, which was bout 65,000. Galfond instantly called, and when the cards were turned over, Galfond was miles ahead.

Galfond:
Ramanadharao:

Galfond had flopped bottom two pair, while Ramanadharao shoved with complete air. He would need runner runner to win the hand, and he caught part of it when the hit the turn. However, the on the river didn't complete his straight, and Ramanadharao headed to the rail. After that pot, Galfond is up to 240,000.

Defending Champ Heinz Out

2011 WSOP Main Event champion Pius Heinz entered Day 3 with a short stack of just 36,300, and within the first half-hour hadn't improved too much on his status before committing his remaining chips before the flop with .

Unfortunately for Heinz, he found himself up against Gioang Nguyen's , and when the board brought no improvement for Heinz, the young German became one of the early Day 3 eliminations.

Cheong Busts Greenstein

We saw that Barry Greenstein was missing from his table and it appeared he had been eliminated. We checked with Joseph Cheong, and he informed us that Greenstein shoved on the button and he had called with . A king-high flop sealed the deal and Cheong dispatched Greenstein here in the first level of Day 3. A quick check of Greenstein's twitter verifies the series of events.

Yang Eliminated

2007 WSOP Main Event champion Jerry Yang's run here in this year's Main Event has ended on Day 3. In his last hand, Yang opened with a raise from middle position, then Armando Fernandez reraised from the button. It folded back to Yang who called, and the flop came . Yang checked, Fernandez bet 25,000, Yang check-raised all in, and Fernandez called immediately:

Yang:
Fernandez:

Yang was ahead with a pair of tens for the moment, but the fell on the turn to give Fernandez a straight. Yang still had a ton of ways to reclaim the lead on the river, but the wasn't one of them, and he hits the rail with about an hour to go before dinner. Meanwhile, Fernandez joins the half-million chip club.

Lamb Eliminated

After losing most of his stack in that jacks versus queens hand, just a few hands later Ben Lamb was open-raising all in for about 29,000 from middle position. It folded to Chris Moorman in the small blind who called the raise, the big blind folded, and the players turned over their hands.

Moorman:
Lamb:

There was a brief pause while the ESPN camera crew found their places, then the dealer burned a card and delivered the flop. Moorman had assumed the lead, while Lamb sat with a stoic look, focusing on the board.

The turn was the and Lamb was down to a couple of outs to save him. The river then brought the , and with about 920 players left, Lamb was standing and shaking the hands of his table mates, his 2012 WSOP Main Event run having ended.

Selbst Catches River; Scores Huge Double Up

We caught up with the action to see three players looking down at a board of and over 70,000 chips already in the pot. The small blind checked and Vanessa Selbst checked as well. The third player fired out a bet of 50,000 and the small blind got out of the way. Action was now on Selbst and she sat riffling chips and staring at the board. Selbst announced that she was all in and her opponent announced a call at lightning speed, tabling for a flopped set. Selbst tabled for a flush draw and a gutshot. When Selbst saw her opponent's hand, she stood up from the table and grabbed her bag.

"I might be the worst of all time," Selbst said. "Good game guys."

The ESPN camera crews rushed over and every person walking by the rail stopped to see what all of the commotion was about.

"Nice call, man," Selbst said to her opponent while she waited to learn her fate.

Finally, the dealer pounded the table and flipped over the river card.

The .

Selbst's opponent shot up from his seat and walked to his supporters on the rail while Selbst let out a heavy sigh and sat back down in her chair. Selbst's opponent sat back down in time to watch a vast majority of his stack moved across the table toward Selbst. The two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner is now sitting on a stack of 540,000.

Double Up Means Survival For Negreanu

We caught up with the action on the turn with a board reading . Daniel Negreanu was heads-up against another player and fired a bet from the big blind. His opponent then moved all in from late position and Negreanu called off his remaining stack to put himself at risk.

Negreanu: for a flopped straight.
Opponent: for a pair of queens.

As it turned out, Negreanu wasn't really at "risk" at all as he had his opponent drawing dead. A meaningless landed on the river and Negreanu doubled through back to 150,000.

Buchman Gets Aces on Last Hand

On the last hand before Eric Buchman's table broke he got involved in decent pot. We picked up the action on the flop of and Buchman check-called 30,000. The turn brought the and both players checked. The river brought the , Buchman bet 45,000 and his opponent called after a few short moments.

Buchman tabled and his opponent reluctantly showed .