Koray Aldemir knows what it takes to take down the Main Event, he did it last year. You may not have shared a table with him, but we spent an orbit with the champ to give you a glimpse of the action.
Hand #1 (small blind): Action folded all the way to Aldemir. He raised it up to 9,500 from the small blind. Aaron Steury folded the big.
Hand #2 (button): Erikas Laugzemys raises to 5,500 from middle position. Roberto Bendeck three-bet to 15,000 from the cutoff, forcing Aldemir and everyone else to fold back to Laugzemys, who made the call.
The flop came . Bendeck bet 12,000 when checked to and Laugzemys made the fold.
Hand #3 (cutoff): Action folded to Roberto Bendeck in the hijack who raised it up to 6,000. Aldemir folded, as did the rest of the table.
Hand #4 (hijack): Aldemir folded, as did the rest of the table until DJ Buckley raised the button to 6,000. Jacob Connelly three-bet to 19,000 from the big blind and Buckley folded.
Hand $5 (middle position): Aldemir folded, as did everyone else until Eric Greenwood raised to 6,000 on the button. For the second hand in a row, Jacob Connely three-bet to 19,000. Greenwood called.
The flop was , Connely continued for 17,000 and Greenwood called.
Both players checked the turn. On the river, though, Connely led for 37,000, eliciting a fold from Greenwood.
Hand #6 (utg+2): Aldemir opened to 5,500. For the third hand in a row, Jacob Connely three-bet, this time to 17,000 from his button. Aldemir let it go preflop.
Hand #7 (utg+1): Roberto Bendeck raised to 6,000 from under the gun and the entire table folded.
Hand #8 (utg): Aldemir opened to 5,500 and only found one caller, Erikas Laugzemys on the button.
The flop came out . Aldemir thought for a bit before continuing for 5,000. Laugzemys wanted nothing to do with it and let his cards go.
Hand #9 (big blind): The entire table folded, giving Aldemir a walk in the big blind.
Bonus hand #10 (sb): Roberto Bendeck opened the button to 6,000. Aldemir three-bet from the small blind to 25,000. Bendeck folded to the champ.
Robert James opened to 5,500 from early position and was called by Mike Jacob and Aneris Adomkevicius from middle position and the big blind, respectively.
James continued for 10,000 on the flop and only Adomkevicius called. The turn and river checked through and James took down the pot with his , which was good for a pair of nines.
Hustler Casino Live co-founder Nick "Nitucci" Vertucci was a quick exit on Day 3 after beginning the day with 95,000 chips.
Vertucci, according to brief hand history provided, was all in preflop with against his opponent's . He'd go on to lose the race for all of his chips and was eliminated from the Main Event.
The middle position player moved all in preflop for a little over 35,000 and Justin Allen on the button made the call while the rest of the table got out of the way.
Middle Position:
Justin Allen:
"These are supposed to be the ace crackers right," the middle position laughed nervously as he realized he was lightyears behind Allen.
The board ran out and Allen's aces held to eliminate his opponent and chip him up to 300,000.
The pot was about 43,000. From the small blind, Mark Liedtke bet 36,000. Andrew Benedict was in the big blind and folded after a few moments of thought.
The details of this hand were relayed to PokerNews after the fact by Keith Prahl.
Bryn Kenney opened to 6,000 from middle position. Keith Prahl, in the small blind, made the call.
The rainbow flop hit the table. Then, the dealer fumbled the deck, exposing approximately half the cards remaining in the deck. The floor was called over and ultimately ruled that the deck would be reshuffled and the hand would continue. After the reshuffle, Kenney fired for another 6,000. Prahl put in a raise to 15,000 and Kenney called.
The hit the felt on the turn and Kenney checked over to Prahl, who jammed. Kenney snap called with Prahl covered.
Keith Prahl:
Bryn Kenney:
Prahl was ahead with his set of sixes, and they held through the river, giving him the pot and doubling his stack.
The action was picked up on a board in a heads-up pot. Spencer Champlin check-called Amarender Puri for 8,500.
A paired the board on the river and both players checked to reveal their cards. Champlin showed for two pair with the eights but Puri turned over to take down the pot.