On table Goodwin, they've had more high pairs than Jimmy Choo's. The AA-QQ set-over-set earlier was preceded and followed by more confrontations of big starting hands. Chips have been flying around the table, most recently, from Dirk Dijkstra to Shaun Deeb. Dijkstra picked up the Aces, Deeb the Kings, and after a preflop raise or two, they saw a Q-5-5 flop and got it all in. Bang - King on the turn, short stack for Dijkstra.
In a battle of the blinds, UK circuit regular Vik Kanwar bets out 1k on a board, only to be called by Horse Finalist and Bellagio runner-upper Kirk Morrison.
The river comes the , and Vik bets 1k. Yet again, the Kiwi Kid calls, but soon mucks when Vik shows his .
As a result, Vik jumps to 25,500 leaving Kirk and his 11,700 saying, "beam me up".
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THE FIFTY-- In the early going here, the room is very, very quiet. And everyone's favorite Irish Buddhist Andy Black took notice. He's been chatting to his table almost non-stop, even if they're not chatting back.
Black: Let's take a vote-- who's the quietest person in the room?
Chan: Well, it's not you!
Black: And for once, it's not an American! We need Mike "The Mouth" (Matusow) here, is he in London?
Chan: I don't think so. If he was anywhere in the city, we'd be able to hear him!
Black: Oh that's right. He's in Mississippi getting that operation done to graft his arm straight onto his laptop!
Whilst we while away the first level, Johnny Lodden is slowly whiling away his chips, now down to 14,200 from his original starting stack of 20,000.
If you haven't heard of the name Lodden, then you may well recognise his online alias... bap_ip. About a year ago, bad_ip was a name being branded about many poker forums as the player who lost the biggest ever online pot to Fast Freddie.
Knowing Johnny, he probably just shrugged his shoulders, turned off the laptop and returned the next day to win it all back. He really is that laid back, and if you don't believe me, then just watch him play. He's as cool as a prize marrow, raising and re-raising whenever he senses weakness in players, whatever his hole cards are.
Although he's won millions online, this popular Norwegian is yet to conquer the live world, amassing chip leads in multiple EPTs but always falling at the final hurdles. However, if he can change gears in the latter stages, or perhaps avoid the misfortune of previous occasions, then he's destined to win something big.
[user25067]
THE FIFTY-- With Allen Cunningham's arrival, Table 25 has become our official table of death. He joins Vanessa Rousso, Michael Binger and Dario Alioto.
In other news, Patrik Antonius just took his seat across from Brandon Schaefer and Lars Bonding at Table 23.
Up here on the balcony of the Empire Casino, there are a few players who I recognise and suspect of wearing British underpants. On quick glance, Vik Kanwar, Roland DeWolfe, Bruce Atkinson and John Soreman are all flying the flag, as is the amicable face of Rumit Somaiya.
A popular player off the UK circuit, Rumit is actually known in some circles as 'one hand' Rumit, not because he is physically impaired, but because he has an unfortunate habit of busting on the very first hand, especially if someone has swapped a last-minute percentage.
If anyone is the master of negotiating a percentage, then it's Rumit, because at the time of writing, his biggest victory came in the form of a percentage, Irish Open 2006 Champion Vincent Melinn generously offering Rumit half of the bet he had on himself after dealing out a bad beat to eliminate him from the comp. That bad beat netted Rumit £19,000.
But poker aside, what I'll always remember about Rumit is when I spotted him at the table in a sling, his arm damaged after... falling over a speed hump. Yep, HE TRIPPED ON A SPEED HUMP!
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David Levi playing in the HORSE event
From the Empire Casino...
Over at the feature TV table, another Las Vegas cash game specialist has gone busto. David Levi was knocked out in the first thirty minutes of play. Stephen Rynne took him out with Aces against Jacks. Levi often plays in the leargest cash games in the world and he'll be joining Doyle Brunson on the rail.
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board, only to be called by Horse Finalist and Bellagio runner-upper Kirk Morrison.
, and Vik bets 1k. Yet again, the Kiwi Kid calls, but soon mucks when Vik shows his 
.
