Justin Smith raised from the cut off and found calls from Philippe Rouas in the small blind and the big blind before the flop came down .
It was checked to Smith who continued his aggression with an 11,300 bet. Rouas called but the big blind moved out of the way. The turn saw Smith fire another bullet to the value of 27,600 when checked to him. Rouas made the call so we saw the river.
Once more Rouas checked and this time Smith fired 53,600 in to the pot. Rouas sat there for an age and eventually said "Go on, take it down," and mucked face-up.
There were a couple of "Wows" from around the table.
Unlike previous days, there's an eerie silence here in the cardroom, the remaining players perhaps sensing the scent of hard cold cash and realizing that a big money win could soon become a reality. Even Mike Matusow has been relatively quiet today, the Full Tilt pro seemingly more focused than he's ever been as we approach the meat of the tournament. In fact, the atmosphere is so intense overall, that if I stripped down to my Speedos and danced the Macarena, I don't think anyone would notice.
I joined the action as the hands were being revealed, but from the stacks and seating positions, it was clear that Thomas Bentham had raised it up preflop from middle position, Brian Townsend reraised from the button and Bentham pushed. It was only 19,000 for Townsend, who duly made the call.
The first player to hit the deck is Jani Vilmunen. He found himself involved in a classic, and ultimately unavoidable, coin-flip with neighbor Peter Neff with versus . A favored the latter, leaving Vilmunen to exit in silence.
On a flop, Jan Schwarz checked, Stephen Ladowsky led for 6,200 and Schwarz made it 14,000. Although initially hesitant, it was perhaps a deceptive reaction as Ladowsky pushed all in for around 50,000. Schwarz made the fold, allowing Ladowsky to pick up a nice early pot uncontested.
I was watching a hand between Daniel Negreanu and Phil Laak where the board read . It ended up being a chop as Negreanu was holding to Laak's . Laak was mock-irate, "How could you call?" gesturing to his hole cards, "I have 40% of a straight flush here!"
But while I was watching this, I should have been paying attention to my sweets as I saw Jack Effel, the man himself, sneakily help himself to my sweets and dash off without (he thought) anyone looking.
Cards are in the air and the seats at the rail are almost as popular with the public as my Haribo Tangfastics are with the TV crew who keep trying to steal them.
Greetings, poker fanatics and welcome to Day 3 of this year's WSOPE £10,000 no limit hold'em main event. With the likes of Daniel Negreanu, Erik Seidel, John Juanda and the quiet-as-a-mouse Mike Matusow, there are more big names remaining than an entire series of Celebrity Squares so we should be in for a roller coaster of a day.
But not all the faces are familiar to the masses, as online superstars Chris Moorman, Justin Smith and Johnny Lodden look to prove themselves as capable beyond the virtual felt. The Norwegian sensation in particular has been threatening a big win for a while now, so maybe this week will be his time to shine.
As I write, the players are unpacking, debagging and recounting in preparation for the starting whistle which should sound in just a couple of minutes time.