Three Great Live Reported Hands: Negreanu's Near Miss and a Chino Moment

Mo Nuwwarah

Feb 22, 2019 4 min read

Three Great Live Reported Hands: Negreanu's Near Miss and a Chino Moment 0001

Three-Way Ship in Vienna
Robert Scott Shows His Hands
Chino Rheem Keeps it Light at the Final Table

This is Volume 8 of an ongoing series in which PokerNews will look back on some of the most memorable hands recorded in the long history of live reporting on this site. To read more about the concept and which hands make the cut, check out Volume 1.

Three-Way Ship in Vienna

Original title:	Luca Cainelli Eliminated in 5th Place (€140,000)
Date:	10-31-2010
Reporter:	Lee Davy
Tournament	2010 PokerStars EPT Vienna Main Event
Players involved:	Daniel Negreanu, Luca Cainelli, Martin Hruby

Back in the 2010 PokerStars European Poker Tour Vienna Main Event, PokerStars' own Daniel Negreanu looked to be a massive favorite to capture his first EPT crown. Five-handed, he held the chip lead with double the stack of second-place Luca Cainelli. However, they'd be the next two players out, as fate would have it, with a massive pot spoiling both players' chances.

Blinds and antes were 60,000/120,000/15,000, with Negreanu around 6 million and both Cainelli and Martin Hruby around 3 million. Cainelli opened for 280,000 under the gun and received calls from Negreanu and Hruby — then also on Team PokerStars — on his left.

The flop came 8♥5♥K♠ and Cainelli continued big for 725,000. Everyone stuck around for the 9♠ turn. At this, Cainelli jammed, with Negreanu quickly getting his stack in as well. Perhaps out of surprise, or perhaps just savoring the moment, Hruby needed a moment before committing as well, turning up 7♣6♦ for the nuts.

Negreanu held K♦9♦, having turned two pair, while Cainelli was stone dead — and quite unlucky — with A♠A♦.

The 5♣ river paired the board but preserved Hruby's straight as a winner. He raked in the monstrous pot to take a huge chip lead, which he'd eventually ride to a second-place finish for €470,000, losing out to Michael Eiler heads up.

As for Negreanu, he'd bust in fourth and it remains the closest he's come to winning an EPT Main Event title.

Luca Cainelli — Cainelli got his aces cracked in two spots.

Robert Scott Shows His Hands

Original title:	A Double-Up Nearly Turns Violent
Date:	05-10-2011
Reporter:	Eric Ramsey
Tournament	2011 WSOPC Harrah's Cherokee Main Event
Players involved:	Robert Scott, Michael Rocco

Everyone who has played poker for some reasonable amount of hours has seen a game get heated, but it's rare for things to come to blows. That didn't quite happen in the 2011 WSOP Circuit Harrah's Cherokee Main Event, but a misunderstanding did leave one player putting his dukes up late in the tournament thinking he might have to defend himself.

It was late on Day 2 of the event, with just 11 players remaining, and Robert Scott raised on the button to 29,000 at 6,000/12,000/2,000. Michael Rocco was in the big blind and opted to shove all in with a covering stack, setting Scott at risk for 293,000.

Scott didn't need long before calling with 9♥9♦ and had to be pleased when Rocco rolled over 8♦8♥. A board of 5♦4♠3♣7♥9♣ meant a double for Scott, and he began walking to the rail to celebrate with his friends.

He walked past Rocco on the way, and Rocco stood to congratulate him, offering a chest bump. Scott, thinking the man walking towards him with chest out had ill intentions, raised his fists and prepared to defend himself.

"Don't make me f*** you up!" he yelled.

Rocco found himself in an awkward spot, but the situation was resolved in short order as he explained the situation and the two players squashed things over a few handshakes.

Rocco still had a solid 40 big blinds after the hand but would bubble the official final table, while Scott navigated to a second-place finish for $58,639.

Chino Rheem Keeps it Light at the Final Table

Original title:	Ector Takes First Pot, Chino Gets All the Laughs
Date:	09-06-2016
Reporter:	Paul Oresteen
Tournament	2016 WinStar River Poker Series $2,500 Main Event
Players involved:	Chino Rheem

Chino Rheem has been the talk of the tournament poker world lately as he's absolutely on fire after taking down the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event and then getting third in the Aussie Millions $25K Challenge.

However, Rheem is well-known in the community for the incredible highs and dreadful lows he experiences, having found himself in need of some stakes in his time despite some fantastic results. At the same time, those very results mean more than a few have been willing to back Rheem.

When he made the final table of the 2016 WinStar River Poker Series $2,500 Main Event, Rheem was able to poke a little fun at his own history.

During one of the first hands of the final table, with the winner scheduled to claim a cool $1 million, some of the players joked about how sparse the rail was. Some Layne Flack fans ribbed the competitors, asking whether they had any family or friends.

"Don't worry," Rheem quipped. "If I win this thing, I'll have friends showing up, lining out the door."

Alas, Rheem would only muster a seventh-place finish for $54,288, while the final five chopped for over $200,000 apiece.