Timex Ticks Ahead

On the last hand before the break, Mike "Timex" McDonald and Alexander Kuzmin mixed it up in another big pot.

It began with Konstantin Puchkov opening to 4,500 under the gun, and Kuzmin flatted in the cutoff seat. From the button, McDonald squeezed in a reraise to 12,400, and Puchkov quickly called. The action froze back on Kuzmin, though, and he eventually decided that he wanted to play for more. Stacking out 40,000 chips, he made a back-raise, and McDonald responded by reraising all in for 91,800 total. That finally shook Puchkov out of the way, and Kuzmin asked for the count before calling. He had the covering stack, but only just.

Showdown
Kuzmin: {A-Diamonds} {Q-Diamonds}
McDonald: {10-Spades} {10-Clubs}

McDonald's eyes widened for just a moment as he willed the dealer to be kind in this coin flip.

The {K-Clubs} {9-Diamonds} {2-Diamonds} flop was a good sweat -- there's always a sweat -- and Kuzmin added the flush draw to his two overcards. The board-pairing on the turn was a good card for McDonald, robbing one of Kuzmin's outs and putting himself one card from the double.

That turn card would prove to be rather necessary for Timex, too. The river {10-Diamonds} was a flush card for Kuzmin, but it made McDonald the superior tens full.