Action folded to Dan Shak in the small blind and he limped. Igor Kurganov then raised to 36,000 and Shak instantly check-raised the pot. Kurganov responded by moving all in and Shak called off for 227,000 total.
Shak:
Kurganov:
Shak got it in good, and he felt compelled to ask the dealer for some help. "Hearts," he requested, and while the dealer only obliged with one on the flop, Shak got something even better... a pair of aces.
Kurganov was still drawing live as a jack would give him a straight and he could still make something with running cards, and Shak was on his feet when the turned. "Deuce," Shak requested on last time headed to the river, which came the . "That'll do." Indeed it will as Shak has doubled back.
On the very next hand following the beat he took from Andrew Robl, Dan Shak raised to 32,000 on the button. Igor Kurganov reraised to 88,000 from the small blind, and action moved back to Shak. He reraised the pot to 280,000, and Kurganov shoved. Shak quickly called, but would be met with a surprise.
First, Kurganov tabled the , and he was up against Shak's . Shak thought Kurganov had around 300,000-400,000, but Kurganov actually had closer to 700,000 in chips thanks to quietly building his stack throughout the day. Shak cited the last hand with Robl and also said he thought Kurganov had far less chips than he did. At any rate, the money was in and the board needed to be run out.
The flop came down , and Kurganov picked up a set of queens to really get ahold of the hand. The turn was the , and now Shak's only hope was a ten on the river to chop the pot.
The landed on fifth street, and Kurganov won the pot. He doubled to nearly 1.4 million while Shak was left with just about 260,000.
Andrew Robl opened for 24,000 from the button only to have Dan Shak three-bet to 88,000 from the small blind. Igor Kurganov folded the big, and Robl, as he's prone to do, thought for well over a minute before making the call, leaving himself just 41,000 behind.
Those chips went in on the flop after Shak bet 125,000. "Good call," Shak said and tabled . It actually wasn't as Robl was behind with . "Sorry, I didn't mean to slowroll," Shak said.
No sooner did he finish the sentence than the spiked on the river to give Robl the lead. Shak seemed frustrated by the card, and he vented to Kurganov after the river allowed Robl to double.
Igor Kurganov started the action with a raise to 24,000 from under the gun. Masa Kagawa made the call on the button, and action folded over to Dan Shak in the big blind. He also called, creating a three-way pot to the flop.
The flop came down , and Shak checked. Kurganov bet 50,000, but Kagawa opted to raise it up to 150,000. Shak looked at the dealer and announced that he was all in — a bet worth 462,000. Kurganov folded, and Kagawa snap-called.
Shak tabled the for the flopped nuts. Kagawa had flopped top two pair with the and needed to fill up to win the hand.
The turn was the , keeping Shak in front. The river completed the board with the , and Shak's hand held up.
Shak doubled to over 1 million in chips, while Kagawa was kicked all the way back to 325,000.
From the small blind, Dan Shak raised to 25,000. Igor Kurganov made the call from the big blind, and the dealer ran out the flop. Both players checked.
The turn was the , and both players checked again. Then, the river completed the board with the , and Shak bet 12,000. Kurganov called.
"The three of clubs," said Shak.
Kurganov nodded, and Shak tabled the to win the pot. Kurganov mucked.
Igor Kurganov opened for 24,000 from the button and Andrew Robl defended from the big. The railbirds got a kick when the flop came down , which both players checked. When the turned, Robl checked, Kurganov bet 23,000, and the American woke up with a check-raise to 46,000. Kurganov called and then Robl took about two minutes before checking the river, which put a full house on the board.
Kurganov took about 90 seconds before betting 121,000, and Robl silently flung his cards to the muck.