The Greek Wheel

We passed by Athanasios Polychronopoulos' table recently to find the accomplished pro staring straight ahead with an intense expression - not looking directly at Chris Klodnicki from across the table, but not avoiding his own staredown.

Polychronopoulos is usually a gregarious fellow on the felt, smiling and talking his way through tournaments while making friends along the way, as he did with professional football player Miles Austin in the next seat over this evening. So when we saw the two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner with such an intense expression etched on his face, we stopped in our tracks to see the cause.

And we're glad we did... Chris Klodnicki though, not so much.

The board read when we caught the action, and a pot with at least 65,000 was already at stake. Polychronopoulos was in the big blind and had a bet of 50,000 already assembled and moved forward. From watching earlier hands at the table, it's likely Klodnicki had tanked for a long while to force Polychronopoulos' previously mentioned stare.

Finally, Klodnicki made the call, with Polychronopoulos insta-tabling his for a rivered wheel straight. His eyes never left Klodnicki's direction as the pot was pushed his way though, showing that when the game gets going, even the nice guys have to flash a mean mug here and there.