Jeremy Ausmus opened to 1,800 in early position and Jamie Gold called out of the small blind.
Gold checked on the flop of 2♦10♠7♦ and Ausmus continued for 2,000. Gold check-raised to 8,000 and Ausmus called.
Gold sized down to 6,500 on the 10♥ turn and Ausmus called. Gold then bet 16,000 on the 7♥ and engaged in some of his trademark table talk as Ausmus sat in the tank.
"I started with diamonds but I might have made something," Gold told him. "Definitely have two diamonds in my hand."
"I have a big hand," Ausmus said. "I can't fold."
Ausmus called and mucked as the 2006 Main Event champion showed J♦10♦ for tens full of sevens.
"Everyone sees a few clips from 2006 and thinks I'm bluffing," Gold said. "I get good cards like everyone else."
Millionaire Maker final tablist Maxime Parys was all in against the always rambunctious Steven Buckner.
Maxime Parys: 10♦10♣
Steve Buckner: 10♠10♥
The two players had the same hand but the 2♠K♠3♠ flop had "Cuz" freerolling with a flush draw. "Oh, I've got the spade draw!" he cheered. "How 'bout putting a spade out there?"
The dealer then put down the J♠ turn to have Parys drawing dead. "Spade, right there! Goodnight!" roared Buckner as the tournament room burst into spontaneous applause. "You're all playing for second!"
The 4♥ river didn't change anything and Buckner wished his opponent well as he hit the rail.
A larger pot emerged between Nacho Barbero on the button and Christian Roberts in the big blind. They were on the Q♠7♣6♦Q♣10♣ river on which Roberts had checked and Barbero bet 25,500.
The check-shove of Roberts followed and Barbero was outright disgusted, then bemoaned the situation and mulled it over. Nearly one minute later, he called it off and Roberts tabled the Q♦10♦ for a full house.
Barbero briefly flashed his cards for what appeared to be a flopped set and inferior full house.
"You run so bad against me," Roberts declared while Barbero quickly left the crime scene.
Nazar Buhaiov opened to 1,200 in early position and the button called before Nolan King three-bet to 4,200 in the small blind. Jean-Pierre van der Spuy cold-called in the big blind and both other players called.
King continued for 7,500 on the flop of 2♣5♥10♠ and only Van der Spuy called. King then bet all in with a stack of 49,000 on the Q♥ turn and Van der Spuy called off with a stack of 37,500.
"I need to hit something," said King.
"So do I," replied van der Spuy.
Jean-Pierre van der Spuy: A♥4♥
Nolan King: K♠9♠
Neither player had a pair and Van der Spuy was ahead with ace-high to be in front of King's king-high before the A♠ river improved him to a pair of aces for a double.
"Us two guys all in on the turn and neither of us have jack shit," laughed Van der Spuy. "I love poker!"
Shaun Deeb opened to 900 in middle position and Matthew Stumpf three-bet to 3,000 in the hijack. Deeb called.
Deeb checked on the 8♦6♥Q♠ flop and Stumpf continued for 2,500. Deeb called. Deeb checked again on the 10♣ turn and Stumpf sized up to 11,000. Deeb again called.
Deeb checked once more on the 5♥ river and Stumpf fired a third barrel of 25,000. Deeb called after some deliberation.
Stumpf could only show king-high with K♦J♦ and Deeb showed the winner with Q♣J♣ for a pair of queens.
"Boston Rob" Mariano has taken his seat on Day 1c the WSOP Paradise Main Event. Mariano — a five-time contestant on Survivor and one-time winner — also has a few poker accolades, including two rings on the RunGood Poker Series.
The PokerNews team spent an orbit with Mariano, who started with 54,300 while eight players were seated at Table 21.
Big Blind: Konstantinos Nanos raised to 1,000 and Michael Acevedo came along from the small blind before Mariano called. The flop was 4♦2♦7♣ and action checked to Nanos for a bet of 1,900. That was enough to fold out Acevedo and Mariano.
Small Blind: Mariano folded to a 1,000 raise from Luis Dono.
Button: Mariano folded to a 1,000 raise from Sosia Jiang.
Cutoff: Mariano folded to a 1,000 bet from Acevedo.
Late Position: Acevedo raised to 1,000 and Mariano called before Hermilo Fernandez and Dono came along from the blinds. The flop was 9♦Q♦K♠ and all four players checked to see 7♣ on the turn. Fernandez tossed out 2,400 and Dono folded before Acevedo called. Mariano got out of the way and Fernandez eventually took the pot with a flopped straight.
Middle Position: Mariano tossed in a 1,000 chip and it seemed like he intended to raise, but it was considered a call. Fernandez came along and Dono called from the small blind. Arturo Segura called from the big blind and the flop was 7♠A♦5♣. Dono checked and a bet of 700 from Segura pushed Mariano out of the pot. Fernandez raised to 3,000 and took it down.
Early Position: Mariano opened with 1,100 and Nanos raised to 3,500 from two seats over. Mariano called and the flop was 3♠2♦3♣. Mariano check-called a bet of 1,900 to see Q♦ on the turn. Mariano checked again and called when Nanos tried for 8,900. The river was A♠ and Mariano check-called a bet of 13,800. Nanos showed A♦10♦ for a pair of aces and took the pot while Mariano mucked the losing hand.
In a four-way pot on a flop of 7♠5♦6♣, 2023 WSOP Main Event final tablist Adam Walton bet 900 on the button and only Sirzat Hissou called in the small blind.
Hissou checked on the J♥ turn and Walton sized up to 2,500. Hissou called. Hissou checked again on the 7♥ river and Walton eyed his chips before pushing out a stack of yellow T-5,000 chips to put Hissou all in for his remaining 10,000.
"Ace-eight?" Walton asked.
"Better," replied Hissou.
Hissou eventually called and Walton showed the goods with 9♥8♠ for a flopped straight as his opponent hit the rail.
Andrei Shapovalov raised to 700 from late position before Jan Strazisar made it 2,600 from the next seat over in the cutoff. The button and blinds ducked out of the way and action was heads up.
The flop was 2♣3♣3♠ and Shapovalov check-called a bet of 1,700.
The turn was 2♥ and Shapovalov check-called again, this time for 3,000. The river was 5♠.
Shapovalov checked once again on the river and tossed it in the muck when Strazisar fired 10,000.
