After making a deep run through Event #16 ($10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em) earlier in this 2013 World Series of Poker, where he finished in 2nd place to Mark Radoja, Don Nguyen is here today trying his hand in yet another big buy-in event.
Unfortunately for Nguyen, he was unable to recapture the magic of his heads-up run in a recent hand, dropping nearly half of his starting stack in the process.
We caught the action on the flop, with the board reading , and Ron Minnis with a bet of 700 in front of him. Nguyen thought things over for a moment, before calling to see the arrive on the turn. Minnis immediately led out again, this time for 1,000, and again Nguyen called.
On the river, Minnis rolled a bet of 4,000 into the pot, and Nguyen went into the tank, counting his stack and looking across the table with a quizzical expression.
"You can fold," said Minnis, leaning back in his chair. "You're making my heart pump over here."
With this apparent tell motivating him, Nguyen elected to look Minnis up, but he quickly mucked when he saw the for a full house on the river.
By the looks of it, David Williams has come in gunning in today's tournament. We caught a hand with Williams heads up against an opponent. There was 7,000 already in the pot when the flop came .
After his opponent checked, Williams snap-shoved all in. His opponent thought about it for a second, quickly glanced at his chips, then folded. Williams didn't show the winner as he collected a nice pot in during the first level.
With best friends Phil Laak and Antonio Esfandiari sitting one table apart, the conversation has been free flowing to begin this first day of six handed action.
During a recent hand involving Laak and an unknown opponent, the "Unabomber" three-bet to 425 from the button, after the other player opened for 175 in the cutoff. On the flop of , the opponent checked to Laak, and then called the longtime pro's bet of 625, bringing the to the table on the turn.
Around that time, Laak's partner in crime sauntered over to the table, ostensibly to ask how Laak was progressing in his binge watching sessions of HBO's hit series and pop culture sensation Game of Thrones.
"You made it to Season 3 yet?," he asked, while Laak contemplated a sudden lead out of 1,100 by his time wizened opponent. "It's the greatest show of all-time."
Thinking the two were talking about HBO's other critically acclaimed series, fellow pro Shannon Shorr chimed in, saying "The Wire is the best."
Perhaps distracted by pondering the similarities between Westeros and Baltimore, both places of extreme danger where the wrong choice can result in death, Laak elected to surrender the hand, his conversation with Esfandiari never skipping a beat even as he tossed his cards into the muck.
Here's a list of some of the early notable faces in the field. RIght now, many tables are playing with just two or three players as they wait for others to arrive. The board currently reads that 315 players have registered.