Hand 124: Merulla Dodges Ducks for the Double

Hand 124: Merulla opened for 600,000 and Paredes slowly counted out the chips for a three-bet to 1.5 million. Merulla tanked for about a minute or so while reaching for a stack of gold T100000 chips, which he riffled for a while as he figured out where he stood.

Eventually that stack went forward for the four-bet to 2.6 million and Paredes quickly moved all in, having Merulla covered. Merulla snap-called and tabled , while Paredes could only muster the for a dominated king-high bluff.

With Paredes' supporters on the rail shouting "quack quack" and "Aflac" to summon one of the deck's three remaining deuces to the board, the dealer burned and turned.

Flop:

No ducks could be found and Merulla's big slick had held through the hardest part of any sweat.

Turn:

Paredes was down to one last card, needing to spike a deuce to claim this WPT Main Event title.

River:

"No ducks!" went the explosion on the rail, as Merulla's supporters cheered their man on. With the win, Merulla took over the chip lead and moved one step close to accomplishing every poker player's dream.