2023 PokerStars Players No-Limit Hold'em Championship
Stephen Chidwick raised to 1,600 and found a call from Mike Watson in the big blind.
Watson checked the ![]()
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flop and called when Chidwick continued for 1,200. Both players then checked the
turn and the action repeated on the
river.
Watson showed ![]()
for ace-high, while Chidwick turned over ![]()
for a pair of queens to take the pot.
Talal Shakerchi raised it up from under the gun and picked up calls from Ema Zajmovic on the button and the big blind. On a flop of ![]()
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, Shakerchi continued with a bet of 4,000. Zajmovic called and the big blind got out of the way.
The turn brought the
and Shakerchi tossed in a bet of 6,500. Zajmovic still called and the
completed the board. Shakerchi fired out a third barrel of 10,000 and Zajmovic ripped all in with the big stack. Shakerchi instantly folded and Zajmovic scooped another pot.
As a predominantly high-stakes cash game player now, Zajmovic was heard saying yesterday that she wonders if she still knows how to play tournaments. By the way she is running up her stack today, it appears that she is still well-equipped to hold her own in the tournament fields.
Taylor Paur raised it up from the hijack and was called by Andrew Lichtenberger in the cutoff along with the big blind. The flop fell ![]()
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and Paur continued with a bet of 3,000 which only Lichtenberger called.
The turn brought the
and Paur fired out another bet of 7,500. Lichtenberger gave it some thought but decided to send his cards to the muck.
David Peters raised to 1,800 from under the gun and was called by Alex Kulev on the button and Laszlo Bujtas in the big blind. The flop came ![]()
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and the action checked to Kulev who bet 1,300. Bujtas stepped aside and Peters called.
The turn was the
and both players checked to the
on the river. Peters checked again and Kulev knuckled it back. Peters tabled ![]()
and Kulev found a lucky river with ![]()
to get half of the pot.
On a three-way turn board of ![]()
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, Leonardo Rizzo led into the group for 7,500, which prompted a fold from Lawrence Greenberg and a call from Florent Benlloch.
The river came out the
and Rizzo bet out again, this time for 12,000. Benlloch paused for a few moments, deep in thought, and then decided to make the call.
Rizzo then flipped over ![]()
for top-two and Benlloch mucked his hand.
"Man I knew you had a jack, that's why I folded," Lawrence commented as the pot was pushed to Rizzo.
Shaun Deeb was out of position in a heads-up pot against Xuan Liu on a board of ![]()
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.
Deeb checked on the turn and Liu bet 7,000. Deeb called. Deeb checked again on the
river and Liu announced "all in" with Deeb covered, sending the American into a deep tank that extended several minutes. Eventually, Deeb folded to maintain his tournament life.
"Good fold," commented table mate Eric Worre.
"I don't think it was," replied Deeb.
"Then why did you fold?" questioned Liu.
"'Cuz the rest of the table is so bad," replied Deeb as he was met with a big laugh from Worre, though no one else at the table seemed to think it was funny.
"Tell us how you really feel," said Liu.
Platinum Pass winner Hannes Jeschka and Weiran Pu had chips in the middle before Matthew Lambrecht moved all in for 25,500. Jeschka folded before Pu made the call, leaving Lambrecht at risk.
Matthew Lambrecht: ![]()
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Weiran Pu: ![]()
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Lambrecht was flipping for his tournament life, but the ![]()
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runout left Pu's pocket pair in the lead. Lambrecht wished the table good luck on his way to the rail.
Joao Vieira raised from under the gun before he was three-bet by Evan Sparling to 8,100 in the big blind.
Action folded back to Vieira who four-bet to 20,000. Sparling tank-folded as the chips went in Vieira's direction.