We are now on the bubble, and we are hand for hand.
By the by, it's not just whoever eventually wins this that could make a six-figure sum from this tournament. Jamie Gold took a bet before this that he would cash in his first WSOP tournament of the year. We understand that it was, in his words, "Two to one on a couple hundred thousand," and he is just about to win his bet.
"I'm going to drink after we cash," he told his table. "I'll buy everyone drinks."
That is what our reporter told us as he recounted the tale of Jamie Gold's demise.
As soon as the bubble burst, signifying that he had won his very hefty prop bet, Gold announced, "Never been so happy to cash in my life. Going out drinking if anyone's thirsty."
So, here's what happened.
Gold raised to 5,000 and the player on the button called. They saw a flop.
Flop:
Gold checked and his opponent bet 4,600. "Nice hand," said Gold and called.
Turn:
Gold checked and his opponent bet 11,200. "Nice hand," said Gold, and called again.
River:
Gold checked and his opponent moved all in to cover him. Gold called, and mucked his hand without looking. "I could have had the nuts," he said cheerfully, and left.
Now that they're in the money, our remaining runners have been banned from using any electrical equipment at the tables.
"No headphones," a dealer told a player at the table who was still listening to an MP3 player. The player said something in his own language, which wasn't English. "No foreign languages during a hand," the dealer further told him.
Another player at the table laughed at the stern dealer and the hapless player. "So many rules," he lamented.
From the cutoff, Team PokerStars Pro Andre Akkari moved all in. He was called by David Warady who was in the big blind.
Akkari:
Warady:
The flop came down and Akkari found no help. The on the turn didn't make things better, nor did the on the river. The Team PokerStars Pro's tournament was cut short and he headed to the payout desk.
Mike Wattel opened for 6,000 in the cutoff only for Jon Turner to reraise on the button. The gentleman in the big blind shoved, Wattel folded and Turner called.
"I got it," said Turner.
"Again?" said the suddenly panicking big blind, presumably thinking Turner meant aces. Turner just chuckled as his opponent's face melted in relief as they turned the cards over.
Turner:
Big Blind Gentleman:
The board bricked out for Turner and his opponent doubled up.
"You looked like you prayed before you looked at your cards," another player told him.
When we walked up to the table, the board was showing and Alain Medesan was all in for his tournament life against Matt Mason. Medesan showed to double and Mason tossed his cards in the muck.
Thien Nguyen raised from the button and was reraised to 16,000 by Cherie Beasley in the small blind. Nguyen then reraised to 60,000, sending Beasley into the tank. After quite some thought, Beasley folded her cards. Nguyen showed . Beasley told the table she had ace-ten suited.