We're not sure how the action went, but we arrived to find a player in mid position all in with . Robert Varkonyi on the button was holding .
Board:
The all-in player doubled up, leaving Varkonyi woefully short on just 16,000 or so. The TV cameras, and indeed your bloggers, decided to wait at the table like vultures circling a wounded deer.
We didn't have to wait long.
Next hand, the same gentleman who had just doubled through Varkonyi raised to 11,000. The gent next to him - let us call him Player 2 - flat-called, and Varkonyi shoved for his last 15,800.
"Think about it before you call," Varkonyi laughed. Both players called.
They checked down the flop and the turn. The initial raiser checked the river as well, but this time Player 2 bet 7,500.
"Oh no," laughed Varkonyi.
Oh yes.
The initial raiser folded, and Varkonyi turned over . Duly Player 2 flipped for a rivered higher full house, and that was that for the 2002 world champion.
[user25067]
Jesper Hougaard and his nearly 20 racks of chips
There is a very large color-up scheduled for the end of this level, when the black and blue 100-denomination chips will be removed from play. Typically, as the break closes in, one player on each table starts buying up all the 100s from their neighbors but Jesper Hougaard already got a jump on this task. Hougaard has long relieved his opponents of their 100s and constructed a chip castle that while not as architecturally spectacular as a Carlos Mortensen creation, by its sheer size dwarfs anything the Matador has ever built.
With a raise to 10,500 from middle position, Jackie Glazier moved all in for an additional 73,200 from the big blind. After a few minutes of thought, her opponent made the call.
Glazier:
Opponent:
Glazier was looking for diamonds but had to sweat the river when the first four community cards were spread . But the river bricked the and they chopped it up, much to the relief of Glazier who survives and has about 85,000 chips.
I doubt many players here today can say that cashed in the 1997 Main Event when Stu Ungar completed his comeback year to win a third WSOP title.
George McKeever can.
Hailing from Ireland, McKeever was likely around when poker was invented and has been a regular visitor to Vegas since the eighties, maybe earlier. In his time, McKeever has picked up a number of impressive results - including two EPT final tables - and was a part of the Irish invasion of the World Series in 1999 where he finished seventh.
This year, he's looking to make the money once again. The location is different, and the field is somewhat bigger, but McKeever remains a permanent fixture and could well add another Main Event cash to his repertoire.
However, if he's to achieve such a goal, the journey's going to be long and hard as, at time of writing, he doesn't have too much more than 100,000. I did see him win a pot, though, his push for 98,000 on a flop enough to pick up the pot.
Barry Shulman triumphed at WSOPE 2009. Could McKeever bring another home for the old guard in Vegas?
Counting a chip-leading stack is quite a process with all of the low-denonimation chips on the tables in anticipation of this color-up. Still, we figured it was a good idea to really stare down Duy Le, and a careful count finds him sitting atop the leaderboard with 1,040,000. He's the first player to cross that million-chip mark in this year's Main Event, and he was announced to the room as such by T.D. Jack Effel.
It's a fine spot to find yourself in on Day 4, but Le still has a long way to go. He's still 218,530,000 chips away from winning this thing.
Christian Harder had a short-stacked opponent all in for his last 40,000 and racing for his life. The at-risk player held to Charder's . The flop gave Harder four extra outs, but the turn and river were both blanks. The player doubled up to around 100,000 while Harder is still chugging along with 270,000.
Bruce Buffer fired 15,000 on the flop of . After his opponent asked Buffer how much he was playing, he made the call.
The turn added the to the board and Buffer didn't slow down. He increased his bet by a little to 20,000. His opponent called once more.
The river completed the board with the and Buffer stayed aggressive, firing out 25,000. His opponent called and Buffer showed down the . His opponent mucked and Buffer moved up to 315,000 in chips.
Like Jason Mercier needs more help. The under-the-gun short stack raised to 10,000, and in late position, Mercier three-bet. The player called all in for his last 31,400. Time to table the hands. Mercier held , pretty standard. Mr. Call All In? . One way to make sure you've got live cards.
The flop gave the guy an open-ender, and it's hard to tell whom the rail was rooting for. The on the turn took away his pair outs, and the river didn't give him a straight. He disappeared quickly, leaving the rest of the table scratched their heads. Mercier is up to 325,000.
Action folded to Lauren Kling on the button and she limped in. Shannon Shorr wasn't up for that and raised to 15,000 from the small blind. After Andre Coimbra folded from the big blind, Kling made the call.
The flop came down and Shorr fired out 19,000. That was all he needed to do as Kling folded and Shorr picked up the pot.
They've done some rearranging over at the secondary feature table. Gavin Smith remains there, still sitting on a below average stack of 80,000. "Eighty is a million!" said an optimistic Smith as the new players were being seated.
One of those brought over was Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi, also on the short stack. He was just involved in a blind-versus-blind hand. His opponent bet 10,000 into a 20,000-chip pot on the river with the board showing . Grinder thought for a bit, then folded, showing one of his cards -- -- as he did. Mizrachi is down to 68,000 now.
Like Smith, Mizrachi isn't letting his short stack get him down either. A cocktail waitress delivered him something after the hand was over, and the Grinder jokingly grabbed a couple of black (100) chips off of his stack as though to tip her, eliciting a few grins from his new tablemates.
![[user46392]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
. Robert Varkonyi on the button was holding 
.
flop and the 
turn. The initial raiser checked the 
river as well, but this time Player 2 bet 7,500.
. Duly Player 2 flipped 
for a rivered higher full house, and that was that for the 2002 world champion.
. But the river bricked the 
flop enough to pick up the pot.
. The 
river were both blanks. The player doubled up to around 100,000 while Harder is still chugging along with 270,000.
to the board and Buffer didn't slow down. He increased his bet by a little to 20,000. His opponent called once more.
. His opponent mucked and Buffer moved up to 315,000 in chips.
. One way to make sure you've got live cards.
river didn't give him a straight. He disappeared quickly, leaving the rest of the table scratched their heads. Mercier is up to 325,000.
