If it gets to the stage where all your chips are going in preflop, you know you're in trouble. Travers Bawden was all in preflop with and got called by an opponent who woke up with . Bawden couldn't connect with a board that ran out and has been eliminated from the tournament.
Carl Restifo raised first-in, making it 2,500 to go. Action passed to Martin Barisch, and he moved all in for about 17,000. Restifo made the call, but the dealer apparently mistook the action, thinking the hand had finished. She grabbed the already-mucked cards from the rest of the table and added them to the deck in her hands. The floor was called over, and the remaining deck had to be reshuffled before the board could be dealt out. While this was happening, the players who still had cards showed them down:
Restifo:
Barisch:
Interestingly, three players said that they folded an ace before the dealer moved them from the muck back in to the active deck. Barisch was at risk of elimination, and his best hope was to catch one of those second-chance aces.
No such luck for him though. The dealer spread the community cards: , and Barisch headed for the door.
Brett Richey and Jimmy Wong got all the money in before the flop with Richey's in trouble against Wong's . But Richey was in the direst of straits after the flop. His best chance to win was to spike a single card, the . If the board didn't pair and the didn't come on the turn or river, he'd lose the hand. That was the only card that could save the day all by itself, the . Have I made my point, or am I being too subtle?
Anyway, I'm sure you'll be shocked, shocked, to learn that on the turn Richey did indeed catch the . Wong still had outs to reverse that brutal suckout but instead it was the that fell on the river, and he was eliminated. Richey is now up to 165,000.
Charles Dolan just got into a preflop raising war from the big blind after a player had raised from the cutoff and all the chips ended up in the middle. Dolan held to his opponent's .
The board came . A set at the end ensured the chips went Dolan's way, putting him up to 175,000. His opponent, on the other hand, is out.
Tiffany "HotChips" Michelle has seen a reversal of fortune ever since her aces were cracked by Tony Antonious. Down to her last 8,000, Michelle pushed all in preflop with and was called by an opponent holding . Michelle hit an ace on the turn to cinch the win, but is still in bad shape with just 16,000.
Matt Ross and David Sklansky were all in preflop. Sklansky tabled and was in bad shape against Ross's . But the flop changed the whole tenor of the hand when it came down to make a set of tens for Sklansky. The turn and river couldn't save Ross from losing the hand -- they were the and the .
As Sklansky raked in a pot worth 26,000, someone in the crowd shouted out, "Wow, that dude just won Sklansky Dollars off of Sklansky."
Sklansky Dollars (a phrase not actually coined by David Sklansky) is a sarcastic concept used to imply what a player's theoretical profit would be over the long-term if he got his money in "good" in a given situation every time -- for example, when he has a 4.5:1 edge with pocket aces over a smaller pocket pair. If the pot is worth 26,000 chips, the player holding aces has roughly 21,000 chips worth of equity in the pot. Of course, if his opponent makes a set, he gets zero of the pot. But in Sklansky Dollars, he's up 21,000.
Ross heard the comment and ran with it. "You owe me a lot of Sklansky Dollars for that one, David. Which book is that play outlined in?"
A middle-position player limped in, the cutoff raised to 2,400, Chip Jett called from the big blind and the MP player called. The flop was and the action was checked around. The turn was the . Jett led out for 3,000, the MP player called, the cutoff raised to 10,500, Jett called and the MP player folded. The river was the . Jett checked and the cutoff checked behind.
Jett showed and the cutoff mucked. Jett is now up to 105,000.
Simon Christensen raised to 2,500 in early position. Anjela Brunson made the call from the cutoff and the big blind also called.
The flop came and the big blind checked. Christensen checked as well and then Brunson bet 3,100. The big blind folded and Christensen called.
The turn was the and it was checked to Brunson again and she bet 4,500. Christensen called.
The river was the and both Christensen and Brunson checked. Brunson showed and Christensen showed . Brunson's pair of queens won the pot and she is now up to 113,000.
On the turn of , Doug Johnson moved all in against Rayan Nathan. Nathan made the call.
Johnson:
Nathan:
Nathan had turned the nut straight. Only an ace or jack would save Johnson. Then, as fate would have it, the fell on the river to make aces full and double up Johnson to 44,000.