Second Thoughts Are Best
Cornel Cimpan raised to 40,000 from the button, and Daniel Makowsky -- never too happy about giving up his big blind -- made the call.
The flop came
. Makowsky checked, Cimpan bet 75,000, and Makowsky made the call. The turn was the
. Makowsky again checked, and Cimpan asked how much was in the pot. "238,000," said the dealer. Cimpan took some time to cut out 238,000 from his stack, and it looked a lot like he was about to push them forward. But he refrained, and checked instead.The river was the
, and both players checked. Makowsky turned over 
-- he'd turned the straight and was hoping to trap Cimpan, but Cimpan didn't bite. The paired board kept Makowsky from firing on the end, and he complimented Cimpan as he dragged the pot.Makowsky now has 695,000, while Cimpan is at 805,000.