Elie "Punisher934" Payan Is Punishing The Field On Day 2
Since moving to the final two tables, Elie "Punisher934" Payan has more than tripled his stack by using an aggressive strategy premised on power poker. Sitting to the direct left of Frank Peelen, who previously angered Payan for his perceived stalling during earlier stages of the tournament, may have prompted Payan to punish his opponent with repeated reraises and all-in moves.
We have witnessed at least four hands which saw Payan play back at Peelen, forcing him to muck his hand. The Punisher has not discriminated, however, and has made similar plays against the entire table and he has eliminated multiple opponents in the last hour. With two extreme short stacks still sitting at Table 286, we expect Payan to keep up the pressure and exert his will as he pushes forward to the final table.
With the board reading and a small pot up for grabs, Elie Payan continued his hyper-aggressive play by betting 20,000 in the dark. The turn came and Roland Isrealashvili made the call. After the river came Payan kept pushing with a pot-sized bet of 60,000 and Isrealashvili insta-called.
The Frenchman quietly sighed and said "good call" while Isrealashvili tabled his and two unknown cards for trip eights. While punishing the table has been working for the last few hours, perhaps Payan has pushed it to the limit with his blind betting.
While we were covering the all in of another player at the other table we failed to see Ryan Welch get eliminated.
Luckily Jeff Sarwer was able to give us some insight into what happened. He was able to tell us that he was the one to eliminate Welch while holding , while Welch had . Sarwer held and busted Welch.
Elie Payan and Frank Peelen continued playing their own personal game and this time Peelen was the victor. After pushing for his last 60,000 or so chips, Payan looked to take his nemesis out and called with the .
The Frenchman was in bad shape against Peelen's and when the board rolled out Peelen scored the double-up with his pocket kings.
Juha Vilkki and Jeff Sarwer were spotted engaging in mental warfare during a recent hand. The flop fell and Sarwer, a world renowned chess prodigy earlier in life, fired 27,000 into the middle.
Vilkki, who himself is a highly-skilled online player from Finland, made the call and after Sarwer checked the on the turn, he bet 67,000. Sarwer called and the river fell . This time the Finn fired 75,000 at the chess master and Sarwer went deep into the tank. He began asking Vilkki questions in an attempt to discern some sort of read, eventually asking "will you show if I fold?"
Vilkki just smiled and nodded his head in the affirmative. Evtually Sarwer made the tough laydown and said he folded pocket aces. Vilkki proved to be a man of his word and showed Sarwer his for two pair on the turn. After previously discussing various nuances of PLO play, these two players appear to have developed a respectful rapport, and this hand proved just how complex a game poker can be when it is played by two extremely intelligent individuals.
After the flop came , Jeff Sarwer and Elie Payan checked the action, along with two other players in the hand. The pot contained 40,000 after the four preflop limp-ins and when the turn came Sarwer slid 21,000 into the middle.
Payan made the call and both players checked the on the river. Sarwer looked up and said "set of sixes any good?" and Payan mucked his hand to confirm that they were.
With ten players remaining in the tournament and the prized final table one elimination away, none of the competitors want to make any foolish mistakes and the play has slowed down significantly.
and his opponent tabled 
.
and a small pot up for grabs, Elie Payan continued his hyper-aggressive play by betting 20,000 in the dark. The turn came 
Payan kept pushing with a pot-sized bet of 60,000 and Isrealashvili insta-called.
and two unknown cards for trip eights. While punishing the table has been working for the last few hours, perhaps Payan has pushed it to the limit with his blind betting.
, while Welch had 
. Sarwer held and busted Welch.
.
and when the board rolled out 
on the turn, he bet 67,000. Sarwer called and the river fell 
Sarwer slid 21,000 into the middle.