Altergott Off to a Good Start

Max Altergott was one of the players to late register at the start of Day 2. Many of those players failed to gain any traction, but not Altergott. He's already more than tripled his starting stack.

In a hand just before the break, Altergott opened for 2,400 from under the gun and was met by an all-in three-bet from France's Laurent Strouk, who was enjoying a massage. Action folded back to Altergott, who wasted little time in making the call.

Altergott:
Strouk:

Altergott was ahead with his black nines — which, as a fun fact, was the hand Phil Hellmuth held when he won the 1989 World Series of Poker Main Event — but was racing against the Frenchman. Fortunately for Altergott, the board ran out a low and he straightened out Strouk.