There was about 1,200 in the pot with a board reading 
when the small blind bet 300 and received a call from PokerStars Team Pro USA member Jason Mercier.
The dealer burned and revealed the 
on the river, which inspired the small blind to check. Mercier threw out a bet of 1,500 and the small blind seemed perplexed. He double checked his cards, threw in a yellow and blue chip to make the call and then mucked when Mercier showed 
for the nut flush.
Mercier is up to 36,500 after that win.
![[user4144]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
As if the ghost of Freddie Mercury was running rampant through the Rio, we've lost yet another player in a flash as the fallen continue to break free from this year's Main Event.
On this occasion, the man taking it all was Brent Baldrey, who peeked down with joy at 
. But it wasn't heaven for everyone as just a few seats down another unwitting player held 
.
All the chips went in preflop, and you could tell by his body language that the shorter stack sensed he was beat. The board didn't provide any miracle either, the dealer failing to save him by rolling a rather raggy 
onto the felt.
As for Baldrey, he is now rocking and rolling with 65,000 and it would appear as though nothing is going to stop him now, despite the pressure of being one of the chip leaders.
A player in middle position opened for 250, and Emmitt Smith, sitting to his left, made the call.
The flop came 
. The raiser continued for 200, and Smith called. Both then checked the 
turn.
The river brought the and a two more checks. "King-high," said Smith's opponent. "King-six," said Smith, tabling his . His pair of sixes were good.
The man with the most rushing touchdowns in NFL history has 22,000 chips at the moment.
Following a 
flop, Barry Greenstein bet 600 from middle position and got two callers behind him including one in the cutoff seat. The turn brought the 
, and all three checked. The river then brought the 
. It checked to the cutoff who bet 1,700, and only Greenstein called.
Greenstein showed 
, which was good enough as his opponent mucked. The Bear has 34,000 now.
A player in early position raised to 325 and Jennifer Harman called from the small blind after a middle-position player called. The three of them saw a flop of 
and Harman checked. The preflop riser fired 1,050 and the next player folded. Harman made the call.
The turn brought the 
and Harman check-called a bet of 1,050 before seeing the 
pop off on the river. She fired 3,100 and her opponent mucked, allowing Harman to move up to about 34,000 in chips.
After slipping to about 23,000, Andy Bloch is chipping back up.
With the board reading 
, Bloch's lone opponent checked. Bloch bet 400, which his opponent called. When the 
hit the river, his opponent bet out 1,000. Bloch popped it to 3,000 and received a call.
Bloch showed , besting his opponent king-high flush to move to about 26,000.
There was a modest 400 chips in the pot by the 
flop when Ross Boatman bet out 300 from the small blind position. One player in early position called, another in mid position folded, and Boatman was heads up to the turn.
The turn was the and this time Boatman bet out 800. His opponent called, and they proceeded to the river.
Boatman bet out a chunky 2,200 on the river and his opponent called again, but promptly mucked when Boatman revealed 
for a turned straight. With that little bit of good fortune, Boatman moved up to 35,600.
One Tony Swift on the button piped up, "I had ace-three, oh my god." He said he'd intended to either limp or raise with it, but ended up folding instead. Probably a lucky escape there, although we don't think Boatman offered any information on what he would he would have done with his had Swift raised.
There was 500 in the pot and a lot of preflop limpers when the flop came down 
. Sorel Mizzi was first to act and he checked. The player in Seat 8 then threw out a bet of 300, which caused a couple players to fold. The button made the call and action was back on Mizzi.
Mizzi grabbed some chips and put in a raise to 1,100. Seat 8 folded immediately but the button took his time and went into the tank for a good two minutes. Eventually he mucked and Mizza swiped the small pot. He is sitting at 29,000.
Chris Gregorian just shared with us a tricky hand he recently played. A player sitting under the gun opened for 225, and three players called before the action was on Gregorian. He looked down to see , and decided to come along as well.
The flop came 
, giving Gregorian two pair. It checked to the last caller before him who bet 750, Gregorian called, and the others folded. The turn then came the , giving Gregorian fours full. His opponent bet 1,800 this time, and Gregorian made the call.
The river was the 
. This time Gregorian's opponent bet 4,000, and he said he was considering raising, but something kept him from doing so and he just called. Good thing, as his opponent showed for the better boat.
Gregorian slips to 21,300.
Following a limp, Steve Zolotow made it 450 from the button as only the limper came along for the ride.
The flop of was checked through to see the 
land on the turn and Zolotow call a 400-chip bet from his opponent.
The river landed the and Zolotow again smooth-called his opponent's bet; this time amounting to 800 as his opponent tabled his .
Zolotow however tabled his to collect the pot and move to 26,700 in chips.
