Albert Daher raised preflop from the button, and the big blind called.
The flop was , and both players checked. The turn was the , and a bet of 1,600 from the big blind saw Daher call. The river was the , and the player in the big blind bet again for 4,400. This time, Daher raised to a chunky 25,700.
Dahers opponent stopped riffling her chips and took out an earbud to better focus on the matter at hand. Nearly five minutes passed before she called.
Daher showed his for the nuts, and his opponent mucked her cards.
With around 30,000 in the pot and a completed board showing , Kevin Shields moved all in to put Deepak Bhatti to the test. It was nearly a pot-sized bet for Bhatti to call, who elected to fold and preserve his stack.
It was a good fold, as Shields showed for the rivered king-high flush to move up to 190,000.
Gary Benson opened to 1,200 in middle position and got a couple of callers.
The flop came , and Benson bet about 2,500. Only the big blind called, with a late-position player folding. Both remaining players checked the turn, and the river was the . The big blind bet 3,500, and Benson thought for about 15 seconds before splashing in a call.
The big blind showed for top two, but Benson had for a flush.
Matt Waxman raised to 1,000 from under the gun and got called by three players.
The flop came , and the big blind checked to Waxman, who bet 1,800. The button was the only player to call, and they were heads-up to the turn. The paired the board, and Waxman bet 5,000 this time. His opponent didn't take long to fold, and Waxman scooped the pot.
Verne Mason was in the hijack, and Cheng Xiong was in the cutoff. The players got into a raising war before the flop and ended up getting all the chips into the middle, with Xiong being the player at risk.
Xiong tabled , well ahead of Mason's .
Xiong stood on his feet as the flop came . The turn was the , and Mason picked up a flush draw in addition to his lone overcard for outs. The river was the , and Xiong was in shock as the dealer pushed the pot to Mason and his flush.
"Wait! Let me take a picture. My buddy paid for half of my buy-in and will never believe how I busted." Xiong whipped out his phone and took a photo of the board, wishing the rest of the table luck before he headed home.
Dermot Blain was in the big blind and checked the flop to his opponent, who checked behind. The turn was the , and Blain led out for 1,400. His opponent called. The river cards was the , and Blain bet again for 2,000, which saw his opponent muck his cards.
“Back to the start.” said Blain as his stack returned to pretty much where it started.