Antonio Esfandiari raised from early position to 18,000. Erik Seidel called from the hijack seat, Scott Seiver called from the cutoff seat, Connor Drinan called on the button, Dan Smith called from the small blind, and then Brandon Steven put in a reraise to 123,000. One by one, everyone folded, and Steven won the pot.
Greg Merson raised to 16,000 from middle position, Antonio Esfandiari called from the hijack seat, and Scott Seiver called from the button. On the 
flop, Merson led with a bet of 35,000, Esfandiari folded, and Seiver called.
The turn was the 
, and Merson bet 80,000. Seiver gave it up, and Merson won the pot.
![[user196676]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
We arrived at the table in time to find Tom Hall and Jean-Robert Bellande looking down at a completed board of 
. With about 480,000 already in the middle, Hall flung forward a bet of 300,000. Bellande went deep into the tank, thinking for well over a minute.
Ultimately, Bellande released his cards and Hall was pushed the pot. Hall has had a successful first two levels, increasing his stack to 3.98 million. Bellande, however, has dropped down to 2.075 million.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
3,980,000
830,000
|
830,000 |
|
2,075,000
-675,000
|
-675,000 |
|
||
Action folded to Antonio Esfandiari in the cutoff seat, and he raised to 18,000. Connor Drinan made the call from the big blind, and the flop came down 
. Drinan checked, Esfandiari bet 23,000, and Drinan called.
On the turn, the 
was added to the board. Both players checked, and the river was the 
. Both players checked.
Drinan showed the 
, and Esfandiari mucked.
Phil Galfond opened the action under the gun for 18,000 and Rono Lo called from early position. Stanley Choi came along from the cutoff, and then Daniel Negreanu three-bet to 65,000 from the small blind. Galfond and Lo both called, and the Choi came in with a four-bet to 325,000.
Negreanu took his time before pushing back with a big five-bet to 865,000, which inspired Galfond and Lo to fold. Choi thought about it for a minute or so and then released his cards.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
3,200,000
400,000
|
400,000 |
|
||
|
2,600,000
-400,000
|
-400,000 |
"You're just a d**** bag," Daniel Cates said, as he looked at Doug Polk who's sitting right across from him at the table.
The two no-limit hold'em wizards have been known to battle it out online and it seems like there's much more underlying history as well.
"If you want to play I'll play you any game heads up right now," Doug Polk fired back at Daniel Cates, as the two were emerged in a very heated discussion about past games they played.
"I'll play both of you heads up in any game besides hold'em," Jason Mercier chimed in, as the players at the table burst out in laughter.
"I'll play you heads up no-limit hold'em and one other game," Cates responded, as he was not backing down from a possible battle.
After some back-and-forth mumbling, Cates raised his voice and sarcastically said, "Congratulations on being better than me after you beat me once at one game. Let's play some other games. You said I coached you for only three hours ever, but I know it was way more."
There was a brief pause as Polk didn't respond.
"You're a f***ing prick," Cates finished.
From the way the conversation had been going it seemed like Polk said something to set off Cates, but at this point Polk was ready for this situation to be over.
"You're too unreal," Polk sighed, "Can we just not do this."
"Last night your mother even called to congratulate me," Polk added, as the entire table held its breath thinking this was the ultimate needle.
"Is that true?" Mercier sheepishly asked.
"That's actually true," Cates responded, as there's a lot more going on between these two players than we can possibly find out from the few quotes we just overhead. Friends or enemies, for now we'll say it's a bit of both.
The two seem a bit more cordial now, but we'll offer any updates as they arise.
Vanessa Selbst completed from the small blind, Sam Trickett checked his option, and the two players took a flop of 
. Selbst tossed out 10,000, Trickett raised to 38,000, and Selbst tank-called.
The turn was the , Selbst led out again - this time for 28,000 - and again Trickett raised. The Brit tossed out 78,000, Selbst called, and the river was the 
.
Selbst checked for the first time, Trickett plopped 128,000 in front of him, and Selbst mulled the decision over for a minute or two before calling.
Trickett rapped the felt, then turned over 
for queen-high. Selbst tabled 
for top pair, and was awarded the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
5,400,000
-600,000
|
-600,000 |
|
||
|
3,491,000
691,000
|
691,000 |
|
||
Brandon Steven made it 21,000 from under the gun and found a call from Scott Seiver on the button. The blinds folded, allowing the two to go heads up to the 
flop. Steven continued for 27,000 and Seiver called.
The turn was the and Steven led at the pot once again, this time making it 57,000 to go. Seiver called and the 
rivered. Both players checked and Steven tabled 
for ace-high. Seiver mucked his hand and Steven raked in the chips.
Steven's stack is now up to about 3.27 million while Seiver has dropped to 3.18 million.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
3,270,000
270,000
|
270,000 |
|
3,180,000
-20,000
|
-20,000 |
|
|
||
