Filippo Candio was heads up on an board. His opponent bet 16,500, and he quickly made it 76,000 total. The other player, who had about 230,000 behind, took his time considering the implications of his next move. Candio got impatient and called for the clock after a few minutes. That was the sign the player needed. As soon as Candio called the clock, he announced he was all in. Candio made the dealer count down his opponent's stack, though he was probably never going to call the 175,000 extra. He decided to fold as soon as the ESPN cameras swarmed, and the all-in player picked up a nice pot to take into the money.
The player under the gun opened the pot with a 12,000-chip raise and the action folded to the player on the button. The button called and in the small blind Paul Magriel called too.
In the big blind, António Palma popped it to 45,000 and the initial raiser folded. The player on the button folded too, and Magriel moved all in.
Palma called for his tournament life.
Showdown
Palma:
Magriel:
The board ran out and Palma doubled up, is now up to 555,00 chips. Magriel slipped to 57,000 chips.
We got to Jason Somerville's table to see him facing a bet of 18,500 made by the small blind on a flop of . The big blind folded and Somerville called from the hijack.
The small blind bet again on the on the turn, this time for 33,000, with Somerville once again calling.
Both players checked the on the river and Somerville showed with his opponent mucking. Somerville is now at 545,000.
This time last year a young man by the name of Kia Hamadani was sitting quietly in the corner of the Amazon Room, minding his own business, during hand-for-hand play of the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event. Unfortunately for Hamadani, there were three ESPN cameras, twenty poker reporters from various media outlets and 647 other poker players watching his every move.
You see, Hamadani was officially the "short stack" in the entire room as we all watched on, as his miniscule stack was slowly being blinded down, one ante at a time. We heard multiple stories of pocket kings being folded preflop on other tables while Hamadani sat there, praying that there would be a cooler of some description, somewhere, so that he could limp into the money.
It didn't happen, and the media were three-deep when Hamadani was all in for his single ante. He held a monstrous and was up against the of Reed Hensel. Running nines on the turn and river gave the pot to Hensel, the bubble burst and Hamadani's worst nightmare had come true. He'd just bubbled the WSOP Main Event.
The one shining light to come out of that day was that Hamadani received some small compensation for his misfortune, as the WSOP and sponsor Jacks Links offered to provide the entry for Hamadani into the 2010 WSOP Main Event.
Fast-forward twelve months and we're at that very moment once again. Are eyes on Hamadani this time? Well not exactly. In fact, it took us a while to recognize him. Perhaps it was because we're not used to seeing him with a mountain of chips! He has roughly 540,000 in front of him, and you'd think he would be pretty safe to avoid the same fate again this year. But then again, stranger things have happened!
Hopefully a deep cash is on the cards for Hamadani who is making the most of his second chance. He's experienced the very lowest point that poker imparts on a player, and is now well on his way to experiencing one of the highs.
There was around 85,000 in the pot when we arrived - we think the player in mid position raised and then called a reraise from Amit Makhija on the hijack - and a flop reading . The mid-position player checked and it actually wasn't clear whether Makhija had gone all in or merely bet 50,000 with 55,000 behind - either way, the TV cameras descended on the table as Makhija's opponent tanked up, all the pressure in the world on him. Eventually he folded, and Makhija mock-wiped some imaginary sweat off his brow as he increased his stack to 190,000.
Under the gun, Kido Pham moved all in for 35,000 with . Josh Brikis called across the table, and he showed down his , racing against Kido for his bounty.
The flop was a clean slate for Pham, coming . The turn left him sweating a little bit, though, as Brikis picked up another four outs to the knockout. Sure enough, the disastrous peeled off on the river, ending Pham's WSOP four places shy of a Main Event cash.
The gregarious Pham shook hands with his table mates and wished everyone luck as the eyes of the ESPN cameras were trained on the tournament's latest victim.
As the dealer bellowed, "All in and a call!" a buzz of excitement simmered through the orange section and players had to resist the temptation to leap from their seats.
The man all in was Mike Mercaldo, and with versus , he was in good shape to not only double through, but sneak into the money. But first, he had to dodge the board.
As the cameras closed in, the dealer reached for the deck and rolled out a flop, followed by a turn. Mercaldo held his breath as the river was summoned... . Mercaldo was safe!
A gentle sigh emerged from the surrounding tables and Mercaldo was forced to celebrate alone, clapping the air and exhaling as big a breath of relief as I've seen thus far. He's now on 80,000, and if he has hit wits about him, should be leaving the Rio with a minimum of $19,263.
For the next 90 minutes, the clock will paused with 1:15:44 left in Level 16 and 751 players remaining.
"We want you all to enjoy your dinner break," tournament director Jack Effel announced. "So we will break for 90 minutes and then return for hand-for-hand play."
The reaction from the players?
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
Four players are currently on dinner and will return to bubble the 2010 Main Event. Quite brutal.
Plenty of chips flew during the last few levels and ten players now have over a million. Theo Jorgensen leads the way with 1,325,000 and is immediately followed by Duy Le with 1,320,000.
Pieter De Korver, Corwin Cole, Andrew Brown, Rolf Slotboom and Joe Awada all made early exits, while Tony "Bond 18" Dunst (1,179,000), Phil "OMGClayAiken" Galfond (1,050,000) and Nick Niergarth (850,000) made major moves.
Only dealers and casino staff remain in the Amazon Room, but in 90 minutes the floor will certainly be abuzz again. Cya then!
![[user140525]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
board. His opponent bet 16,500, and he quickly made it 76,000 total. The other player, who had about 230,000 behind, took his time considering the implications of his next move. Candio got impatient and called for the clock after a few minutes. That was the sign the player needed. As soon as Candio called the clock, he announced he was all in. Candio made the dealer count down his opponent's stack, though he was probably never going to call the 175,000 extra. He decided to fold as soon as the ESPN cameras swarmed, and the all-in player picked up a nice pot to take into the money.
, Rob Pisano led out for a bet of 35,000. An opponent called.
and Pisano immediately bet 80,000. His opponent again called.
and Palma doubled up, is now up to 555,00 chips. Magriel slipped to 57,000 chips.
. The big blind folded and Somerville called from the hijack.
on the turn, this time for 33,000, with Somerville once again calling.
and was up against the 
of Reed Hensel. Running nines on the turn and river gave the pot to Hensel, the bubble burst and Hamadani's worst nightmare had come true. He'd just bubbled the WSOP Main Event.
. The mid-position player checked and it actually wasn't clear whether Makhija had gone all in or merely bet 50,000 with 55,000 behind - either way, the TV cameras descended on the table as Makhija's opponent tanked up, all the pressure in the world on him. Eventually he folded, and Makhija mock-wiped some imaginary sweat off his brow as he increased his stack to 190,000.
, racing against Kido for his bounty.
. The 
peeled off on the river, ending Pham's WSOP four places shy of a Main Event cash.
versus 
turn. Mercaldo held his breath as the river was summoned... 