Kurganov and Kanit - The Best of Frenemies
Igor Kurganov had been eliminated, that was the headline. All-in with 
against Tim Adams' 
and no luck on the board. Goodnight, Igor. Except for Kurganov, whose girlfriend Liv Boeree claimed "hasn't stopped talking for six days!", a few more words were called for. Words such as 'Where can I buy back in?'.
Kurganov's second entry came with the clock paused just seconds later, and six more hands announced. On the fourth of those hands, poker pandemonium broke out.
Kurganov was sat to the direct right of good friend Mustapha Kanit, who had plenty of chips, around 70,000 and easily enough to bust his pal. When Kurganov moved all-in with 
and Kanit called with 
, the pair of them were up and down like a pair of puppets. They were racing not just for a 97,000 pot, but bragging rights too.
The flop of 
saw Kurganov on his feet, with an 'Eh!' to his friend Kanit. However, the 
on the turn sent Kanit into raptures.
"Eh!" he cried jubilantly. Kurganov covered his friends eyes from the river card.....of the 
!
"Ehhhh!" yelled Kurganov, as his hand improved to a full house. He flipped Kanit's cap from his friends head and wore it triumphantly like a crown.
"I deserve to wear this now. You are a loser. Mathematically, you've only had one buy-in yes? - OK - Mathematically, you should shove any two next hand."
As it happened, Kanit did so, piling his remaining 17,500 into the middle and being snap-called by Anthony Zinno. Zinno had 
, but Kanit was racing again, holding the almost-identical-to-his-last-hand 
.
The flop of 
offered little hope. The turn of 
didn't improve the actual odds dramatically. But the 
on the river gave Kanit a runner-runner straight and he jumped back up, took back his hat and cried 'Who's the boss? Who's the boss?!"
To be fair to Kurganov and Kanit, and with deference to the everlasting good humour of Zinno, all of it happened with riotous sense of good humour and the trio were all happy to progress to the next day. Kurganov, Kanit, Zinno and of course Boeree and other friends by now on the rail who were watching the drama unfold all burst into peals of laughter at the conclusion the two hilarious hands of poker.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
97,000
47,000
|
47,000 |
|
||
|
40,000
-40,000
|
-40,000 |
|
||
|
33,800
-26,200
|
-26,200 |
|
||