The cutoff made it 1,000 and he got four players to call including the blinds. The flop came and the cutoff made a continuation bet of 3,000. David Matthews in middle position called and the big blind called.
The turn was the the cutoff checked and Matthews bet 15,000. The big blind folded and the cutoff tanked but decided to put his tournament at risk and made the call.
Opponiate:
Matthews:
The river was the , Butcher missed his flush draw and Matthews won a nice pot, eliminating a player in the process.
The cutoff limped and it got folded to Dan Hummer who raised to 1,500 in middle position. The blinds folded to the cutoff who made the call. The flop came and Hummer made a continuation bet of 2,500. The cutoff called.
The turn was the and it was checked around.
The river was the , the cutoff checked and Hummer bet 4,000. After a brief tank the cutoff called.
Time and pressure. That's what it takes to make a fossil. No one knows that better than 2004 World Series of Poker Main Event champ and four-time HPT winner Greg Raymer, who has long held the nickname "Fossilman" for his affinity of giving away signed fossils when he busts.
We decided to spend an orbit watching Raymer, who was sitting with around 50,000, in his quest for a fifth HPT title. Here's what we observed hand by hand.
Hand #1 (Button): A player in early position raised and Raymer folded the button.
Hand #2 (Cutoff): The under-the-gun player raised to 1,200 and Adam Friedman three-bet to 3,500 from middle position. Raymer folded.
Hand #3 (Hijack): Action folded around to Raymer and he folded as well.
Hand #4 (Lojack): A player in middle position raised to 1,200 and Raymer folded.
Hand #5 (UTG+3): The under-the-gun player raised to 1,200 and Raymer folded.
Hand #6 (UTG+2): The first two players to act both folded and Raymer followed suit.
Hand #7 (UTG+1): The UTG player folded and so did Raymer.
Hand #8 (UTG): Raymer folded.
Hand #9 (Big Blind): An early-position player raised to 1,200 and Raymer defended to see a flop. Raymer checked and folded when his opponent continued for 1,800.
Hand #10 (Small Blind): Stephen Song raised the cutoff to 1,200 and Raymer three-bet to 3,500 from the small blind. Not to be outdone, Song four-bet to 9,000 and Raymer paused for a beat or two before releasing his hand.
Nothing too exciting in that orbit, but remember, time and pressure is all it takes!
In a three way pot with the board reading Seat 2 went all in for around 13,000. Peter Froehlich came over the top and shoved his remaining 27,000 all in. The biggest stack in the hand at Seat 7 made the call and had the chance to bust two players.
Seat 2 turned over the , Froehlich revealed for the straight and Seat 7 showed for the flush draw. The river was club free as the fell to confirm Seat 2's bust out and give Froehlich the big pot.
The cutoff raised to 1,400 and Bryant Rushton called. Joshua Stephens reraised it to 5,200 and Rushton moved all in. Stephens made the call to put his tournament on the line.
Rushton:
Stephens:
The board read and Stephens queens held up and he doubled up.
The board read with a pot of about 25,000. Raymer was first to act and checked the river. His opponent in Seat 2 did not initially notice that Raymer had checked but quickly checked behind once he realized action was on him.
Raymer flipped over a set with the which was good enough to take the pot from Seat 2 who showed .
With the flop showing the cutoff made it 5,200 and Dan Hummer reraised enough to put him all in. The cutoff made the call with 10,000 behind putting his tournament on the line.
Hummer:
Opponiate:
The turn was the .
The river was and no help to the cutoff as Hummer eliminated another player from the filed.