A Snapshot of Table 8 - Main Event Galway
Sometimes it’s fun to just watch a table for a while and see how the table dynamics play out between the pros and the recreational players when the bubble has burst.
Ryan Straub, a Full Tilt qualifier has a decent stack of chips and is clearly enjoying himself. He offered some chewing gum around the table and a few players accepted. “How about some chips?” replied one refusing the gum. “Salt and vinegar?” Straub shot back.
Straub raised from first position. “That gum must be worth a walk surely.” He stated. Lo and behold it was and he picked up the blinds and antes.
Next it was the turn of PokerStars player Renee Xie, shrouded in a grey hoodie, to open Under The Gun for 13,000 only to get called by seat 8 and the blinds. The flop was 
. When the blinds checked Xie continued with the aggression and bet 16,000. No one put up any resistance and she took it down.
The next hand Adrian Tracey, a recreational player from Ireland, was Under The Gun and moved his short stack all-in. Folded round to Xie’s big blind, she took off her hood for the first time we can remember at the table and studied her opponent. A little speech about calling him if she had ace-queen, and Xie let the hand go.
Stephen Ng moved all in and Straub found a hand good enough to call from his superior stack. Ng tabled 
against Straub’s 
. We saw the board run out 
to counterfeit Straub’s pair and keep Ng alive.
Next hand Xie has the button and bet 13,000. Simon Brooks from the UK calls from the big blind and they saw a flop of 
. Check / check. The turn is the 
. Check / check again and the river is . Brooks decided to have a stab and bet 13,000.
Xie riffled her chips in frustration, seemingly unable to put Brooks on a hand, or at least one she could beat. She folded.
The action continues.