We missed the preflop action but it looked like there was around 15,000 in the pot with the play three-handed on a flop that was checked around. On the turn, Scott Clements led for 11,000 from the small blind and Andrey Zaichenko made it 40,000 from under the gun. Phil Hellmuth folded as the next to act and Clemenets called the raise. When the hit the river, Clements quickly fired out 54,000 and Zaichenko went into the tank. Eventually, he made the call and Clements turned over for a straight. Zaichenko flipped up for the same hand as the players chopped the huge pot.
The official number of entrants for the 2011 $50,000 Poker Player's Championship is 128, generating a total prizepool of $6,144,000. The winner will receive a whopping $1,720,328 to go along with a shiny gold bracelet and the David "Chip" Reese Memorial trophy.
Daniel Negreanu: (X)(X) / / (X)
Joe Cassidy: (X)(X) / / (X)
Daniel Negreanu brought in with the and Joe Cassidy completed. Negreanu called. Negreanu picked up an ace and the lead on fourth street. He bet out and Cassidy called.
On fifth street, Negreanu bet and Cassidy called and then on sixth, Negreanu checked and Cassidy bet. Negreanu made the call. On seventh street, both players checked.
"I just have a pair," said Cassidy. "Fours."
Negreanu shook his head and said, "Threes," before tossing his hand into the muck.
It's been a frustrating day for Negreanu and he's down to 23,000 in chips.
Jason Lester raised to 2,000 from middle position and Phil Galfond defended his big blind with a call. The flop came down and Galfond check-raised Lester's 3,000-chip bet to 8,700. Lester thought for a bit and made the call.
The turn was the and this time Galfond led out for 16,500. Lester again made the call. The river was the and Galfond bet 34,500. Lester thought... and thought... and thought some more. He collected the chips to call and just couldn't get himself to throw them in. Then he took the chip protecting his cards off and was about to throw his cards away before putting them back down. His tank took us almost all of the way to the break when he finally let go of his hand.
Lester preserves his stack of 155,000 while Galfond chips up to 235,000.
To say Ben "Benba" Lamb is good at PLO would be an understatement. He has over $1 million in earnings in PLO events at the 2011 World Series of Poker, including a bracelet in the $10,000 PLO Championship event.
He just took a pot off of Ali Eslami in PLO, where David "ODB" Baker limped from under the gun, Lamb raised to 2,700 from the cutoff, and Eslami called on the button. Baker called as well, and the flop came down . The action checked to Eslami who fired 10,000, and only Lamb called.
Both players checked after the turned, and after the hit the river, Lamb led for 12,000. Ali folded, and Benba raked in the pot.
Anton Allemann: (X)(X) / / (X)
David Benyamine: (X)(X) / / (X)
Anton Allemann brought in with the up and David Benyamine completed. Action folded back to Allemann and he called to see fourth street. On fourth, Benyamine was up first and bet. Allemann called. On fifth, Allemann took the lead with queen high and bet. Benyamine raised and Allemann called.
On sixth street, Allemann checked, Beyamine bet and Allemann called. On seventh, both players checked, even despite a lot of action on previous streets.
Benyamine tabled the for just a pair of nines. Allemann mucked as he was unable to produce a better hand and Benaymine won the pot.
Smirnov brought it in, Buchanan completed, and Seiver put in a raise. Smirnov and Buchanan called. Seiver bet out on fourth street, Smirnov called, and Buchanan raised. Seiver and Smirnov both called.
Smirnov and Seiver check-called a bet from Buchanan on fifth, and on sixth Seiver checked again. Smirnov bet, Buchanan raised, Seiver re-raised, and both Smirnov and Buchanan called.
On seventh, Seiver led, and Smirnov and Buchanan just called. Seiver opened up for an ace-high flush, and scooped the pot.
Buchanan flashed for a set of nines before mucking.