Filip Vanherck opened for a raise and got shoved on by a short stack. He called with , seeing he was against . He flopped a pair on the flop, and it stayed best through the turn and river.
Athanasios Polychronopoulos has had a roller coaster of a day and we are only 90 minutes into it. Early on he lost a big pot with versus pocket eights. Just now we saw him back in action, opening from the cutoff and the big blind, Omar Mehmood, defended.
Mehmood then led the flop for 23,000. Polychronopoulos raised to 75,000 and called all in after Mehmood shoved. Polychronopoulos was at risk for his last 223,000 and showed for nines while Mehmood revealed for sevens. Neither the turn nor the river changed anything, and Mehmood tapped the table with a "nice hand."
We arrived to the table and John Racener and Jesse Martin had all their chips in the middle after Maurice Hawkins folded what he said was . Martin was in good shape to double up with against Racener's .
The flop changed nothing as it came , but the on the turn moved Racener into the lead. The river was the and a dejected Martin walked off, almost exiting the room before realizing he needed to collect his winnings.
In addition to Racener, Hawkins, and Dwyte Pilgrim, Table 440 also has Chris Klodnicki seated there making it one of the toughest table left in the field.
Robert Paddock shoved his short stack of 56,000 under the gun and went to a flop with after the smooth call from an opponent a few seats over with . He flopped a gutshot on the flop. The on the turn was no good for Paddock, but the on the river was the card he needed, giving him the double up with a straight.
Shortly before the blinds went up, Curt Kohlberg opened for 18,000 and was reraised by the big stack at the table Chris Wa to 40,000. It was folded around to Kohlberg who moved all in for a total of 318,000.
Wa went into the tank while Kohlberg sat frozen, his eyes looking straight down at the center of the table. Wa counted out a call and then took a peek at the tournament clock. Muttering to himself, Wa took a peek at his cards once, and then a second time before folding. Kohlberg exhaled as Wa said to him "big laydown."
"Thank you," said Kohlberg, as he started stacking chips.