After losing a decent portion of his stack earlier, Brian Rast just won a large pot to push himself back over the starting stack of 30,000. We unfortunately missed the action, but when we arrived at Table 24, the board read . Rast's opponent called a bet of what looked like 5,000 on the river, and Rast turned over for nines full of eights.
His opponent frowned, and turned over for a lesser full house.
Following a raise to 250 from the player in the hi-jack, Pius Heinz called from the cutoff before the button made it 1,100. Both the hi-jack and Heinz called as the dealer spread a flop.
The button continued for 1,400 with only Heinz check-calling as the landed on the turn and Heinz quickly checked.
Pausing for a moment, the button player tossed in a 5,000-denomination chip while announcing a bet of 3,100 which was greeted with a fold from Heinz as he slipped to 17,775 in chips.
With the board reading on the turn, Kevin Pollak tossed out a bet of 1,200, and his opponent across the table called. The river brought the , and Pollak bet out 2,000. His opponent reluctantly called, and Pollak announced, "Ace-ten," before tabling . His opponent sighed and turned over only one card, the , suggesting he'd been outkicked. Pollak raked in the pot, and is building back toward his starting stack.
A player opened to 250 in the cutoff, and all three players behind him called, including Ali Eslami in the big blind. All four players checked on a flop of , and the turn was the . The small blind checked, Eslami fired out 350, and only the player on the button called.
The completed the board, Eslami check-called a bet of 1,000, and then mucked when his opponent showed for trip kings.
Eric Froehlich has been ranked as the best Magic the Gathering player in the world, but today he is hoping to reach the pinnacle in another strategy based card game.
We caught the man known as "E-Fro" involved in an early pot, as he limped in and then called a raise of 300. When the dealer fanned the flop, Froehlich check-called a bet of 550, bringing the to the table on the turn.
Another check by Froehlich prompted a bet of 1,300 by his opponent, and once again the two-time bracelet winner flatted.
Both players tapped the table on the river, and Froehlich rolled over the for a flopped pair of jacks. His opponent mucked, and Froehlich chipped up a bit to begin the day.
Russian pro Ivan Demidov is down to about 8,000 in chips. We don't have the details of how he lost chips, but we'll keep on eye on his table to see how, or if, he rebounds.
Ben Wilinofsky opened from under the gun to 300 only to be three-bet by a player in the hi-jack. The small blind called, as did Wilinofsky before he led for 1,800 on the flop.
The preflop three-bettor made the call as the small blind folded before the dealer dropped the on the turn and Wilinofsky announced a bet of 3,750. His opponent again called, and when the river landed the both players checked.
"Two pair!" declared Wilinofsky tabling his .
His opponent nodded with a sign of defeat and mucked his hand while Wilinofsky moved to just under 46,000 in chips.
With a flop of already on the table, and about 1,000 in the pot waiting to be claimed, Gavin Smith saw his opponent check the action.
The longtime pro tossed a bet of 625 into the middle, and his opponent flatted to see the fall on the turn. Both players tapped the table on fourth street, and again on the river, with Smith mucking to his opponent's .