Pete Linton's poker career was born in the same fire that produced EPT champion Julian Thew and nose-bleed specialist Sam Trickett. The trio used to all play in the same Nottingham cash games a few years ago before all three saw respective success.
Dejan Divkovic had opened to 600 preflop before Linton made it 1,600 from the button. Divkovic called to see a flop where both players checked. Divkovic led for 2,000 on the turn but Linton called to see the on the river. This time Divkovic was more cautious and he checked.
Linton fired a bet of 3,000 which had Divkovic tanking for several minutes before the latter elected to give up the hand.
Josh Green had 8,500 sitting in front of him on a board of . Nichlas Mattsson raised, going all in for effectively 18,000 or so, and Green tank-called for his tournament life.
Green:
Mattsson:
The suicide king () bricked off on the river, and Green was eliminated.
When we arrived at Table 20, Dan Smith was all in for effectively 30,000 or so on a flop of . Haitao Wu was in the tank, and by the looks of it, Smith had bet 6,600 and Wu raised to 13,500. Smith responded with an all-in wager, and Wu dipped into the tank.
Finally the Brit folded his hand, and Smith dragged in the pot.
"I just wanted to impress her," Smith said with a grin as he motioned towards his masseuse.
Ori Hasson opened to 625 preflop and Kevin Stani made it 2,000 in the seat next to him. It was Antonio Lafosse who then interrupted this party by making it 4,000 in late position, Hasson folded but Stani flicked in the call.
The flop was and Stani checked, Lafosse bet 4,000 again and the Norwegian folded.
Team PokerStars Pro Jonathan Duhamel tells the PokerStars Blog how to beat up on your starting table (right after setting the record straight about 'making Day 2'). Take a look at that here.
Eugene Katchalov was faced with a raise of 700, and opted to three-bet to 1,800 out of the small blind. His opponent called.
Katchalov fired bullets of 2,100, 4,600, and 8,200 as the board came , and the player folded on the river. The Team PokerStars Pro started off slow today, but is back up above the starting stack of 30,000.
Just before the level change, Erik Seidel opened to 700 from the cutoff. Ben Martin three-bet to 2,225 from the small blind, Seidel called, and the flop came . Martin led out for 2,050, Seidel quickly called, and the turn was the .
Martin slowed down, checking to Seidel who tossed out a single blue T5,000 chip. Martin matched the bet with a blue chip of his own.
Both players knuckled when the completed the board, and Martin took the pot down with for jacks and threes.