The completed board read when we came upon the table. Michael Smith checked his action over to Jonathan Little who announced an all in bet for 24,850. Smith went into the tank for a minute before finally tossing out two chips, signifying a call.
Little rolled over for a heart flush which led to Smith kicking his cards into the muck. Little picked up the pot and now has about 68,000 in chips.
We arrived at the table just in time to catch the aftermath of a hand where Tony Gregg was able to scoop up a double. The board of the hand read and Gregg held for the ace-high flush. His opponent, Timo Eckert, held for a king-high flush and was forced to ship double up chips across the table to the recent $100,000 Super High Roller sixth place finisher.
Antoine Saout just ended up all in for his tournament life against Dutch PokerStars Qualifier Theo Arp. Saout, third place finisher in the 2009 WSOP Main Event for $3,479,670, tabled when Arp called his shove and the Dutchman showed .
The board ran out and Saout now has over six figures with just 38 minutes left on Day 1b.
If you want to meet a man with confidence, check out PokerStars PCA qualifier George Ritchot who thinks he's picked up a tell on Daniel Negreanu. The PokerStars Blog has the story.
What do you give the poker professional who has it all? How about a chain of dog hotels. Yes, dog hotels. PokerStars Blog catches up with Andre Akkari who shares bundles of wit and wisdom on subjects ranging from World Cup soccer to pampering pooches in five-star luxury.
If this is your first PCA you probably have a few questions. In which case this cut-out-and-keep guide will prove essential for getting through the first day, answering long asked questions about food, the view from your room and that girl over there on the rail, as the PokerStars Blog reports.
The "lucky beer" is something that has worked for many poker players over the years, but Jason Lavallee just saw his brew get horribly cursed, resulting in his elimination.
The lucky beer is to be consumed during the last level of the day.
First off, Lavallee asked our blogger what the exact terms and conditions of the lucky beer state. There was a hand in progress, which started in the penultimate level, but carried over into the final one and Lavallee decided to wait until the hand was over before opening his adult beverage.
So the final level of the day had begun when Lavallee took a sip of the ale that was supposed to bring him prosperity.
And then the world came crashed down on him.
Lavallee's lucky beer was knocked over.
"I was thinking about ordering another one, and the first hand I played with my new beer I was knocked out," Lavallee said.
On Lavallee's final hand there was an under the gun raise to 1,500 and the EPT London High Roller winner three-bet to 3,800. The player in the small blind put in a cold four-bet, and after the initial raiser folded, Lavallee moved all in. Lavallee was all in for 26,000 holding pocket tens, and his opponent called with ace-king.
"It was an aggressive table," Lavallee said as the board was not kind to his pocket pair. Lavallee was eliminated in the final level of the day but we will see him again this week as he will be playing the $25,000 High Roller.
Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Selbst talks Super High Rollers, overblown egos and demonic possession here at the PCA. And she clears up that supposed spat with Dan Shak. Yes, we did say demonic possession. Read the full interview at the PokerStars Blog.