On the turn with the board reading , the small blind fired 500 and then Allen Kessler, who was acting from the big blind, called. The third player in the hand folded before the river card came the .
On the river, the small blind checked and Kessler fired 1,000. His opponent folded and Kessler won the pot.
"I won a pot?" said Kessler, surprised at what had just occurred. "That's awesome. First time I've bet the river in a while."
Kessler has had himself a great World Series so far. He's tenth in the Player of the Year rankings and has himself eight cashes this summer, including one final table where he came second to POY point leader Frank Kassela for $276,485. His success this summer isn't just on the WSOP-branded felt. Kessler played a Bellagio VI Cup event the other day, the $1,000 H.O.R.S.E. event, and bested the field of 44 players to take home $13,608 for first place.
Kessler is still short in this one, with only 5,050 chips, but if anyone knows how to grind out a tournament it's Allen Kessler.
Jonathan Little raised enough to put his opponent in Seat 4 all in for about 10,000. Seat 4 made the call and flipped over . Little then turned over for the same hand, which induced a chuckle from the table.
The flop came down and Little smiled as he said, "Freeroll," referring to the fact that he couldn't lose the hand but could win if it came runner-runner diamonds. The table suddenly became tense as the dealer burned and turned the .
It was going to be a chop pot afterall. Little still has some work to do as he is down to just 13,000.
Robert Varkonyi was faced with an all in bet with the board reading . Varkonyi was deep in the tank when we arrived at the table, but eventually made the call.
His opponent rolled over for the nut-flush and Varkonyi frowned, flashed before mucking his cards.
The pot was a sizable one, but the former Main Event champion is still healthy with 26,000 chips.
In 2003, Chris Moneymaker shocked the World when he beat Sammy Farha heads-up to win the WSOP Main Event, proving that, with a bit of luck and a little determination, anyone could become World Champion.
Having qualified for just a few bucks, he subsequently encouraged an army of poker fanatics to take to the online felt, in a bid to qualify for the World Series for a paltry sum in the hope of emulating the remarkable achievements of "the man that changed poker".
Seven years on, and the Moneymaker effect remains prominent in the Rio, a huge percentage of the 7,000 plus field having earned entry from the comfort of their own home. One of those players in orange section is Mandy Card of London, England. Making her debut in both Vegas, and the World Series, she qualified for just $8.80, and is now realizing her dream here today in the Amazon Room.
What's more, she has got off to a lucrative start, and returned from the dinner break with 43,000. Perhaps thinking that she is going to be a pushover, Card has used her image to her advantage, and slowly, but surely, worked her way back up from her initial dip to 21,000.
In one hand, she cold four-bet pocket tens preflop, and was called by the second raiser. She checked an flop, but then bet a turn. Her opponent spent little time in folding face-up and declaring confidently, "I know you have aces."
As long as her opponents aren't following the action from their iPhones/iPads, Card will be looking to continue using her tight image to increase her stack even further, and, who knows, maybe she'll be able to turn that $8.80 into a November Nine spot and become the 2010 WSOP World Champion. She won't be the only one who has had that dream.
Five players saw a flop for the minimum including Steve Zolotow from the big blind. The flop came down and the small blind checked. Zolotow was next in line and fired 1,200. One by one, each of his opponents folded and Zolotow scooped the pot to move to 32,200 in chips.
Doug Lee is out. On one of the first hands after returning from the break, a short-stacked Lee found himself all in before the flop with and unfortunately was up against an opponent holding .
Almost 10 minutes into the level and we're still missing an awful lot of players - some tables are actually playing six-handed at the moment. We blame the queues at Buzios.
One man who is not late, but rather on the move, is William Thorson. No longer present at his old table with fellow Scandie Andreas Hoivold, we can't wait to see which other players he'll be terrorizing over in the red section.
There was about 5,000 in the pot with a board reading when Humberto Brenes bet 2,400. His sole opponent on the button looked as if he might make the call but opted to muck. The win gave Brenes' stack a boost to around 57,000.
.
for the same hand, which induced a chuckle from the table.
and Little smiled as he said, "Freeroll," referring to the fact that he couldn't lose the hand but could win if it came runner-runner diamonds. The table suddenly became tense as the dealer burned and turned the 
.![[user101598]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
. Varkonyi was deep in the tank when we arrived at the table, but eventually made the call.
for the nut-flush and Varkonyi frowned, flashed 
before mucking his cards.
turn. Her opponent spent little time in folding 
and the small blind checked. Zolotow was next in line and fired 1,200. One by one, each of his opponents folded and Zolotow scooped the pot to move to 32,200 in chips.
and unfortunately was up against an opponent holding 
.
