Jordan Cristos bet 2,500 when an opponent checked to him with the board reading 
. The player called, and the two took in an 
river. The first player checked to Cristos, and he turned up the heat considerably, betting 25,000. His opponent quickly folded, and Cristos appears to be putting his big stack to use to bully the opposition.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
169,000
23,000
|
23,000 |
|
||
We caught the tail end of a hand in which three players decided to wager around 21,000 on the turn, with Cliff "JohnnyBax" Josephy and Jeremy Menard both risking the last of their stacks in doing so.
The board read 
by the turn and Roland Israelashvili had bet 11,200 into a pot containing more than 14,000. According to Nick Guagenti - who was out of the hand and thus free to fill us in - the pot was played six-handed to the flop, and four-handed to the turn.
With a sizable bet now to him, one worth more than half of his stack, Josephy decided to move all in over the top, putting 18,825 in the middle and waiting for Menard's response. That came soon enough, as Menard's 21,375 was shipped in as well, putting Israelashvili to a decision that, mathematically speaking, shouldn't have been too difficult given the bet-sizing.
Despite only needing to call about 10,000 more to have a chance at a huge pot with more than 65,000 up for grabs, Israelashvili tanked for about a minute while standing and asking the dealer to spread the chips in the middle. Eventually, Israelashvili announced the call though, and after a lengthy delay the cards that created this collision were revealed.
Showdown:
Israelashvili: 
Josephy: 
Menard: 
Menard had flopped the joint with his nut straight, Josephy hit the butt end and was drawing dead to a chop, and Israelashvili was searching for spades to scoop one of the biggest pots of the day.
River: 
"Four!" said Josephy with a sardonic smile. "I win right?"
"I did flop it..." answered Menard as the two talked the hand over quickly while Josephy headed off.
"I know you did," replied Josephy, smiling like a man who knows he can fire another bullet or five at will tomorrow without denting his bankroll. "It's a re-entry... I couldn't help myself."
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
67,600
67,600
|
67,600 |
|
||
|
22,000
-14,400
|
-14,400 |
|
Busted | |
|
||
Action checked to Mike Dentale on an flop, and he fired 1,200 from the cutoff. The player to his left popped it to 5,000, and the two players who had checked both made the call. Dentale called as well, and the turn came 
. Everyone checked to the aggressor, who bet 16,000 this time, Only Kevin Blewitt called. The river brought a 
, and both players checked.
Blewitt rolled over the 
for middle two on the flop, and his opponent mucked.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
70,500 |
Level: 8
Blinds: 250/500
Ante: 50
Here is a round of updated chip counts from the latest pass through the room.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
185,000
185,000
|
185,000 |
|
100,000
6,000
|
6,000 |
|
||
|
94,000
94,000
|
94,000 |
|
82,000
60,500
|
60,500 |
|
||
|
80,000
47,700
|
47,700 |
|
|
||
|
76,000
76,000
|
76,000 |
|
67,000
67,000
|
67,000 |
|
56,000
26,000
|
26,000 |
|
|
50,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
|
32,000
32,000
|
32,000 |
|
23,000
23,000
|
23,000 |
|
|
||
Jonathan Little's last hand went down a few minutes ago, and when five board cards were revealed his hand turned out to be second-best.
We'll let Little take it from there, courtesy of this recent Twitter postmortem:
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted | |
|
||
We didn't see the hand, but according to a player at the table she ran 
into 
and busted out.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted | |
|
|
||
After an opening raise to 900 by a player in middle position, the player on the button three-bet jammed for his last 17,700.
Eddie Sabat was laying in wait with his 
though, and he moved all in himself, putting about 19,000 in the pot before trying to goad the original raiser into a light call.
"Could be an early Christmas for you..." said Sabat, feigning weakness.
The bait failed to attract any fish, however, and the preflop opener mucked his cards. Sabat rolled over his queens and found himself far in front of the jammer's 
.
The final board ran out 
to keep the ladies in the lead, and Sabat earned the double up to move back above the starting stack.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
39,500
39,500
|
39,500 |
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
146,000
6,000
|
6,000 |
|
|
||
|
132,000
115,500
|
115,500 |
|
78,000
-4,000
|
-4,000 |
|
65,500
-11,500
|
-11,500 |
|
55,400
19,400
|
19,400 |
|
|
||
|
51,100
23,600
|
23,600 |
|
51,000
-12,000
|
-12,000 |
|
||
|
39,000
9,000
|
9,000 |
|
|
||
|
39,000
-32,000
|
-32,000 |
|
|
||
|
26,800 | |
|
|
||
|
26,500
26,500
|
26,500 |
|
|
22,000
-29,000
|
-29,000 |
|
|
||
|
10,400
-12,150
|
-12,150 |
Every stop on the World Poker Tour attracts the game's best players and brightest stars, so inevitably the random nature of the table re-draw process ensures that a few pros sit down together for yet another friendly game of cards. With the Borgata Winter Poker Open WPT Main Event now in full swing, we've found a table to worth talking about to be sure.
Tonight the place to be is Table 9, where a foursome of feared professional players are holding court and building big stacks.
Jacob Bazeley, John Racener, Allen Kessler and Jonathan Little are all accomplished players who have taken down the biggest tourneys on the circuit a time or two in their careers. Take a look at the lifetime career earnings for these four - an amount in excess of $15 million - and you can see why all eyes will be on Table 9 to see who emerges from this clash of poker titans.
| Seat | Player | Chips | Career Live Earnings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Jonathan Little | 49,200 | $5,573,375 |
| 5 | John Racener | 74,000 | $7,538,647 |
| 6 | Jacob Bazeley | 121,000 | $1,255,214 |
| 7 | Allen Kessler | 64,500 | $2,785,057 |
