"Merry Christmas, Sir"

Brandon Cantu had just been broken to a new table, and on the first hand, he opened to 1,700. Jean-Noel Thorel three-bet him to 4,200, and Cantu popped it right back to 10,200. Throel called.

The flop came {2-Clubs} {K-Hearts} {9-Hearts} , and Cantu check-called a big bet of 25,000. The turn {5-Diamonds} checked through, and the river came the {9-Clubs} to pair the board. Cantu led out now with 26,000 of his own chips, and Thorel shoved all in for 45,000 or so. Snap-call from Cantu, and Thorel showed up {A-} {9-} for trips.

It was no good. Cantu tabled {K-Clubs} {K-Spades} for the full house, and he'll drag a huge pot. We'll call it 180,000 now, but his chips are still in piles in front of him, and we'll have to wait until he stacks up to count him down better.