The hijack opened to 3,200, and from the big blind, Dan Heimiller three-bet to 10,200. His opponent called, and the flop came out . He continued his story with a 10,600 bet. Once again, the other player made the call. The turn paired the board, and both players checked it. And the on the river got another check from Heimiller. His opponent saw he'd given up and fired 16,000. Heimiller snap-mucked with a sigh, dropping to 55,500.
Heimiller better pick it up if he wants to win WSOP Player of the Year. He's one of a few who could catch Frank Kassela, but he'd have to win the Main Event to do it.
With around 20,000 in the pot after some heavy preflop action between Frank Kassela and two opponents, play was checked through to the river on a board of . Kassela led out with a bet of 10,000 and that's where things got interesting.
His opponent put in a raise to 43,000 to force a fold from the third player, as Kassela went into the tank. With ESPN cameras hovering Kassela deliberated before sliding calling chips into the middle.
His opponent wasn't happy and shook his head in frustration as he opened for just a pair of eights, but Kassela showed for a great call to collect the pot.
"When we checked the flop and turn, I just didn't think you had a big hand," explained Kassela, "Although I nearly threw up on my shoes making that call!"
Darren Woods raised from early position to 2,800 and the small blind three-bet to 7,500. Woods made the call and the flop came down rainbow. The small blind led for 12,500 and Woods called.
The turn was the and the small blind fired 17,500. Woods called again.
The river completed the board with the and Woods raised to 89,000 after his opponent fired 20,000. The small blind mucked and Woods picked up the pot showing the for a busted draw.
Nikolay Losev, who finished 28th in the WSOP Main Event in 2008, has increased his stack considerably over the course of play so far today. We just caught him involved in a three-way hand that also included John Racener.
Losev opened with a raise from under the gun to 3,200 and got two callers, including Racener in middle position. The group checked the flop. Then following the on the turn, Losev bet 6,000, Racener got out, and the third player called.
The river was the . Both players checked, Losev showed , and his opponent mucked.
The gentleman in the cutoff raised to 3,000 and received three calls from assortedly the button, David Chiu in the small blind and the gent in the big blind.
They saw a flop and it checked around to the button who bet 4,500. Chiu called, and once the other two players had folded, they were heads up to the turn.
The turn was the and Chiu check-called another 5,500 before checking again on the river. This time his opponent checked behind, and they turned their cards over.
Button:
Chiu:
"Ooh, the eight plays," said Chiu, and indeed it did.
Chiu won another decent-sized pot the next hand as well, and is now at 160,000.
Ricardo Fasanaro has been enjoying a nice rush here in the early going today. We recently passed by his table as he was stacking up yet another pot, enough to push him above the 500,000-chip mark.
A return trip found Fasanaro involved in a big hand with Jean Robert-Bellande. The hand had reached the turn when we arrived, with the board showing and about 55,000 already in the middle. Fasanaro checked, and Bellande took his time before betting 25,000. Fasanaro looked to see how much Bellande had left -- about 120,000 -- and made the call.
The river brought the . This time Fasanaro bet 16,300. Bellande sat with an anguished look, then began moving his chips around. "You have a straight?" he asked.
Finally Bellande carved out calling chips, then, announcing he was raising, added another 78,000 to his bet for a total of 94,300.
Now it was Fasanaro's turn to look anguished. After a minute or so, he made the call, tabling for the flush. But Bellande had him beat with for the full house.
"Whew!" said Bellande afterwards, saying he actually didn't want to see that river card. "If anybody can catch a straight flush, it's this guy," he said, alluding to Fasanaro's recent run-good.
After that one, Fasanaro falls back to about 375,000, while Jean-Robert moves up to 318,000.
We got to the scene to see Edward Brogdon and an opponent involved in a hand with a board reading .
Brogdon's opponent checked, Brogdon bet and then called when his opponent moved all in.
Brogdon was happy with his call, showing , which was ahead of his opponent's . However the river came down and Brogdon's hand finished second-best, leaving him out of chips.
With the board reading , Sammy Farha was faced with an all in bet of 30,200 with about 30,000 in the middle already. Farha tanked for a bit, but eventually made the call and a third player behind him folded.
Showdown
Mr. Shover:
Farha:
Farha needed one of the three remaining nines to make a better straight, but the on the river paired the board and changed nothing. Farha is still very healthy though, sitting with 220,000 chips.
![[user140525]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
. He continued his story with a 10,600 bet. Once again, the other player made the call. The 
turn paired the board, and both players checked it. And the 
on the river got another check from Heimiller. His opponent saw he'd given up and fired 16,000. Heimiller snap-mucked with a sigh, dropping to 55,500.
for just a pair of eights, but Kassela showed 
for a great call to collect the pot.
rainbow. The small blind led for 12,500 and Woods called.
and the small blind fired 17,500. Woods called again.
for a busted draw.
flop. Then following the 
on the turn, Losev bet 6,000, Racener got out, and the third player called.
was greeted with a 6,000-chip bet from Billirakis as Gates check-called to see the 
and collected the pot to move to 174,000 in chips.
flop and it checked around to the button who bet 4,500. Chiu called, and once the other two players had folded, they were heads up to the turn.
and Chiu check-called another 5,500 before checking again on the 
river. This time his opponent checked behind, and they turned their cards over.
for the flush. But Bellande had him beat with 
for the full house.
flop.
