We're not sure how he got that way, but we discovered former WSOP bracelet winner and recent World Poker Tour Celebrity Invitational champ Davidi Kitai sitting on a short stack of just 2,525. As we were watching, action folded around to the player in the small blind and he bet enough to put Kitai, who was in the big, all in. Kitai peeked down at his cards and snap-called.
Showdown
Kitia:
Small Blind:
Kitai was in a dominating spot and primed to double; however, the flop did deliver his opponent an open-ended straight draw. That draw was quickly debunked as the hit the river and gave Kitai Broadway; however, his opponent replaced the old straight draw with a new flush draw. Luckily for Kitai, the blanked on the river and he doubled, though he is still short with just 6,000.
Belgian Pro Koen De Visscher has been eliminated after he smooth called preflop with and then called bets all the way on , eventually calling all in on the river only to find he was up against .
We picked up the action on a board that read , where Braden Murphy had checked to an opponent who bet out on the river; Murphy thought out it for a while, then asked, "Will you show me if I fold?"
His opponent didn't respond, but Murphy laid it down anyway. The dealer immediately called the floor and explained the situation. The floorman didn't see any malicious activity, but did explain that questions that may influence the play are not allowed.
"He never answered the question though," another player stated. The floor agreed and reiterated that nobody was being penalized and it was merely a formality before letting the dealer push the pot.
"I see no problem with it," said the winning player in a thick French accent. "I saw something like this on the TV!"
Earlier we reported that Theo Tran's stack had been reduced to around 1,500 before he doubled in two consecutive hands to build his stack up to 6,400.
Well apparently Tran has been doing some work while we weren't watching because we just wandered by his table and saw 38,000 sitting in front of him. If he ends up going deep that would be a fairly impressive comeback so we'll certainly be keeping our eyes on him.
We came across this hand with a board reading . From what we could piece together, it seemed the big blind had out out a bet, the amount of which we're not sure, and Brooks raised to 5,700. The big blind then three-bet to 18,500, about half of Brooks' stack.
The LAPC champ asked for a count on his opponent, as if he were pondering a raise. In the end, Brooks splashed in a call, only to shake his head when the cards were revealed.
Showdown
Brooks:
Opponent:
Brooks had rivered a wheel, but his opponent held the superior six-high straight. Brooks is down to 11,600.
Jonathan Plens raised to 700 in middle position and was called by Rick Rahim (also in middle position), Mark Newhouse (button), and Phil Hellmuth (small blind).
The flop came down and action checked to Newhouse. He bet 2,000, but was immediately raised to 4,300 by Hellmuth. Plens folded, Rahim called, and Newhouse folded. The hit the turn and Hellmuth bet about 5,600, resulting in a quick fold from Rahim.
Marc-Etienne Blais opened this pot to 800 in late position, and Andrew Teng flatted one seat over. In the small blind, Guillaume Darcourt (who is decked out in bright, hot pink hair for the Main Event), squeezed in a reraise to 2,600. Undeterred, Blais reraised it right back to 6,200, folding Teng in the middle. Darcourt called, though, and off they went to the flop with a pot brewing.
It came , and both men check-checked to the turn. Darcourt led out now, firing 5,500 at the pot. Blais got in another raise, though, making it 13,500 total, and Darcourt made the call. The river brought the , and Darcourt took the betting lead once again. This time, he made a tiny bet of 8,000 into a pot of more than 40,000. Blais decided a call was enough on this street.
It was on Darcourt to show, but he just patted the table and flashed the . Blais tabled his , and it was plenty good enough to take down that big pot. It moves him up onto our radar with 80,000, knocking Darcourt all the way back to 33,000.
With about 1,900 in the pot and a board reading , former November Niner Steven Begleiter bet 1,100. The bet was enough to get his lone opponent to fold. It wasn't a big hand, but it gave us an excuse to sneak in a Begleiter update!
Paul Pierce is amassing quite a stack and we caught him dragging two pots back to back. The first hand the board read and Pierce put a 1,500 bet that was called. Pierce tabled for a flopped two pair and beat pocket queens and .
The next hand a player in the nine seat opened for 900 and Pierce raised behind him to 2,500. The nine seat player called and the flop came . The one seat checked and Pierce bet 4,000. His opponent folded and Pierce showed .
flop did deliver his opponent an open-ended straight draw. That draw was quickly debunked as the 
hit the river and gave Kitai Broadway; however, his opponent replaced the old straight draw with a new flush draw. Luckily for Kitai, the 
blanked on the river and he doubled, though he is still short with just 6,000.
, eventually calling all in on the river only to find he was up against 
, where Braden Murphy had checked to an opponent who bet out on the river; Murphy thought out it for a while, then asked, "Will you show me if I fold?"
hit the turn and Hellmuth bet about 5,600, resulting in a quick fold from Rahim.
, and both men check-checked to the 
turn. Darcourt led out now, firing 5,500 at the pot. Blais got in another raise, though, making it 13,500 total, and Darcourt made the call. The river brought the 
. Blais tabled his 
, and it was plenty good enough to take down that big pot. It moves him up onto our radar with 80,000, knocking Darcourt all the way back to 33,000.
for a flopped two pair and beat pocket queens and 
.
