With the action after the first draw, Daniel Negreanu and another player checked to Layne Flack who moved all in. Negreanu raised and the third player in the hand folded.
Negreanu drew two and Flack drew one.
On the final draw both players drew one.
Negreanu showed and Flack .
"I'll tell you if you need to look," said Negreanu. He turned over the a completing his eight-low meaning Flack was drawing dead. Flack showed a and was eliminated.
Three players limped in before the flop leading to a check from Andrey Zaichenko in the big blind.
The flop was and Jason Mercier checked. Zaichenko also checked. Adam Owen checked, then Jerome Middendorf checked as well bringing the players to the on the turn. All four players checked once more on the turn.
The river was the and after Mercier checked Zaichenko put out a bet of 1,000. Adam Owen folded to Jerome Middendorf who reraised, making it 4,500. Mercier folded, but Zaichenko called. Middendorf showed for a flush and Zaichenko mucked, awarding the pot to Middendorf.
There was already 6,800 in the pot when we approached the table. A flop of was laid out before Calvin Anderson and one other player. Anderson had checked over to his opponent and a bet of 10,000 was out in front of him. Anderson had moved all-in with a covering stack and his opponent was in the tank.
As he thought Anderson started talking.
"You got a flush draw?" he asked. "How big is your flush draw?"
Anderson smiled as he started talking.
"Nines?" he asked. "Tens? Ace eight? Six seven of spades?"
Anderson then shook his head. "Nah, you don't have any of those hands."
Anderson studied his opponent as he flicked chips back and forth in his hands, then smiled again. "You probably shouldn't have gotten involved in this game," Anderson said. "You came here for the mix right? You're probably better at the other games.
"Not many people come for hold'em," he continued. "I'm one of those guys though."
While Anderson was talking another player at the table called the clock. The floor came and started coutning down the clock and the player folded before his time expired.
Anderson showed the .
"What happened preflop," Anthony Zinno asked from across the table. "I missed that whole thing."
"I raised and he three bet," Anderson said.
With that, Anderson took down the pot and showed his prowess for the game of No-Limit Hold'em.
Jerome Middendorf doesn't have a World Series of Poker cash to his name. He has no bracelets, no known live tournament cashes, no circuit rings. But he's holding his own at a table full of sharks today, despite having to ask the rules a few times.
In a recent hand he took on five-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Jason Mercier.
Middendorf limped in from the cutoff before being raised to 1,400 by Mercier. Randy Ohel folded his big blind and with a dead button it was back on Middendorf, who called.
Both players took two cards and Middendorf checked. Mercier bet 2,000 and Middendorf called.
On the second draw Middendorf took two again and Mercier took one. Middendorf checked then Mercier made it 6,300. Middendorf then plopped in a stack of T1,000 chips for a raise.
"He has to make it 12,600," Mercier said, noticing the raise was a little short of a full raise. So Middendorf put in the chips to make it 12,600 total.
Mercier then went into the tank. He counted his chips, looked at his hand, then eventually decided it was time to release. Mercier folded and Middendorf took down the pot.
With his performance today, Middendorf is proving the cliché-old adage that anyone can win.
Joao Simao was all in before the first draw heads-up against another player.
On the first drew, his opponent stood pat and Simao stood pat also. The dealer looked perplexed but, with some guidance from David "ODB" Baker, she burnt a card ready for the second "draw".
Both players stood pat again, and the dealer burnt for the third draw.
Simao's opponent stood pat for a third time and Simao smiled, agonizing over his decision before eventually deciding to draw one.
His opponent showed and Simao looked semi-relieved showing having said he had thrown away a .
He drew a completing a better low than his opponent and doubled up.
There was already over 32,000 in the pot when we arrived at the table. Ryan Hughes was in the tank as his opponent had moved all in for over 10,000. Players had just completed the second draw. Hughes eventually decided to cut out the chips and he called, then drew one.
"F#@$," his opponent said. Then he drew one.
Hughes showed while his opponent held . Hughes turned up a as his final draw and the other player had a good shot to double up, but he paired with an on the third draw and he was eliminated from the tournament.
According to Ian O'Hara who was also on the table, the player had stood pat on the previous street and was trying to execute a bluff that failed.
"If he had more chips maybe," Hughes said.
"I should've called," another player at the table said. "I had a pat ten."