PokerNews' Manager of Tournament Reporting Garry Gates found himself on the losing end of a prop bet with Evelyn Ng. The two proclaimed Guitar Hero experts went head-to-head in a three-song battle, with Ng emerging victorious in a 3-0 shutout. As the winner, Ng earned $1,000 to the charity of her choice, which was the Hospital for Sick Kids in her native Toronto, Canada.
Gates' penalty for losing? He arrived this morning donning a toga and a leaf-wreath and fanned Ng with a palm leaf and fed her grapes during the first half-hour of play. Naturally, ESPN's cameras captured it all.
Tournament Director Jack Effel put a stop to the fanning after a few minutes as it was proving to be a bit of a distraction to the nearby players. But the grape-feeding continued in earnest.
Marco Traniello limped in from early position. Another player limped from middle position. Ryan Hughes raised to 750 from late position. The big blind called, Traniello folded, and the middle-position limper called.
The flop came down . It was checked to Hughes, who bet out 1,450. The big blind folded and then the middle-position player raised to 4,200. Hughes made the call and the big blind folded.
The turn was the . The middle-position player bet 7,500 and Hughes raised him all in. The player snap-called with . Hughes held and would need the board to pair.
The player that was all in stood up and said, "Don't do it!" But then just like that, BAM! The river hit the , pairing the board and giving Hughes the pot. The player that lost slammed his hat on the floor, packed up his bag, and left.
Larry Flynt entered the pot from early position. Action folded around to the cutoff seat and he raised to 600. Flynt made the call and the two took a flop heads up.
The flop came . Flynt check-called all in for his last 500 chips and the players showed:
Flynt:
Opponent:
The turn came the and the river the which were no help to Flynt and he was eliminated.
With the board reading on the turn, Michael Gracz got his remaining 11,000 in chips all in and was called. Gracz was in great shape with against his opponent's , but a jack cruelly spiked on the river, ending Gracz's Main Event.
Clonie Gowen caught a set of eights on the turn against a single opponent who led out for 1,200. After a bet of 1,500 on the river, Clonie called and showed her set while her opponent mucked and claimed to have two pair.
Clonie has picked up a few other hands and is up to 42,250.
On a flop of Bertrand 'ElkY' Grospellier followed up his preflop raise with a continuation bet of 650 from the button. The player in the small blind made the call. They saw a turn of and it was checked to Grospellier who fired out another 1,125. The small blind then moved all in and Grospellier was forced to lay down his hand.
Grospellier has found it tough in the early goings today and is now down to 10,200 chips.
We pick up the action on the flop in a hand between Sam Farha and an unknown player. There is about 900 in the pot already, and the board shows .
With Farha in position, he sees his opponent bet out 650 chips and makes the call. The turn comes the . The bettor checks, and Farha comes out with a bet of 2,500. The player announces, "Raise," and makes it 6,500 to play. Farha calls.
The river brings the . Check to Farha again, and he moves all in for a little less than 14,000 chips. His opponent goes into the tank for a few minutes before making the all-in call, putting himself at risk of elimination. He flips over , but it's no good against Farha and his . With his full house, the pro and his unlit cigarette notch an early knockout, chipping up to 42,000.
In a battle of the blinds, on a flop of , the small blind raises to 450 and Sabyl Landrum calls. The turn is and the SB checks. Landrum bets 1,000 and the SB raises to 3,300. Landrum calls.
The river is and the SB bets 6,000. Landrum goes into the tank and eventually calls, showing to the opponent's . She's up to 30,000.