Chau Giang is trying to pay a player to keep quiet at his table. Even for an hour. Giang offered 2:1 on $5,000 for the gentleman not to say one word for an hour. He refused, saying he didn't think he could do it. Giang was flabbergasted, and stood up to talk to the adjacent table about it.
"He won't shut up," Giang said, looking at Eugene Katchalov and Barry Greenstein. "Not for ten thousand dollars. Ten dimes. One word."
The best part of watching a $10,000 event like this is all the tens of thousands of dollars that exchange hands away from the felt.
A player opened the button with a raise, and David Bach three-bet from the small blind. The raiser reraised it right back, and Bach called to see a flop. The dealer spread out , and Bach check-called a bet. The turn came the , and Bach apparently didn't like that card very much. He checked, then frowned and folded to a big bet from his opponent.
Bach, the winner of the 2009 $50,000 H.O.R.S.E World Championship, is off to a slow start with his stack falling to about 19,500 here in the early going. They spread Omaha Hi-Lo as part of H.O.R.S.E, for what it's worth.
Eric Buchman opened from the hijack seat, John Monnette three-bet from the cutoff, and the action folded to Buchman who called. The flop fell down , and Buchman check-called a bet from Monnette. Both players checked the on the turn, but after the was dealt on the river, Buchman led out. Monnette called.
Eric Buchman raised from middle position, Chad Brown three-bet from the cutoff seat, and the aforementioned "Poor Gentlemen" in Seat 3 cold-called on the button. Buchman called as well, and the flop fell . Buchman checked, Brown tossed out a bet, the third player put in two bets, and Buchman made it three bets. Brown and the third player called. The turn was the , and Buchman led out. Brown called, the third player raised, and both Buchman and Brown called.
The was dealt on the river, and the action checked to the player on the button who bet. Only Brown called, and he mucked when his opponent opened for trip fives and an ace kicker. Brown slipped to 32,000 chips.
Marco "CrazyMarco" Johnson, Max Pescatori and Michael Binger got three bets in before the dealer fanned . Johnson checked, Pescatori bet, and Binger raised. Johnson called, but Pescatori made it three bets. Both Binger and Johnson called.
The turn was the , Johnson checked again, and Pescatori bet. Binger slowed down, just calling this time, and Johnson got out of the way. The river was the , and it was Pescatori's turn to slow down - he check-called a bet from Binger.
Binger rolled over for kings full, Pescatori mucked, and Binger is now up to 27,800 chips.
We picked up the action just after the flop, as three players had each put two bets into the pot going to the turn. The leading bettor (Seat 9) fired again, and the gentleman in Seat 1 put in a raise. Michael Mizrachi made it three bets to go, and both of his opponents called the remainder to see the fill out the board. Mizrachi got in one last bet when the table checked to him, and Seat 9 quickly called. Seat 1, however, spent a long while in the tank before deciding a surrender was in order.
Mizrachi:
Seat 9:
Mizrachi takes the high half, and he and his opponent chop up Seat 1's money. Mizrachi was up to about 38,000 early on, but lost some. That pot pulls him back up to starting stack with about 30,500.
We just saw Chau Giang try to make another bet with a tablemate, and this time he had success. We don't recognize the gentleman in Seat 2, but he's just made a $15,000 wager with Chau Giang on the over/under for this event. Both men apparently liked the o/u 186.5 line, so they decided to flip a coin to pick sides. It came up heads, and Giang has $15,000 riding on the "under".
Ben "Benba" Lamb limped in from the cutoff seat, Nick Schulman raised from the hijack seat, and Yuval Bronshtein cold-called from the cutoff. Lamb came along for the ride, and the dealer flopped . Lamb checked, Schulman bet and Bronshtein raised. Both Lamb and Schulman called.
The turn was the , and the action checked to Bronshtein who bet. Only Lamb called. The river was the , and Lamb check-folded to a bet from Bronshtein who shipped the pot.
, and Bach check-called a bet. The turn came the 
, and Bach apparently didn't like that card very much. He checked, then frowned and folded to a big bet from his opponent.![[user101598]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
, and Buchman check-called a bet from Monnette. Both players checked the 
on the turn, but after the 
was dealt on the river, Buchman led out. Monnette called.
for the low
for the high
. Buchman checked, Brown tossed out a bet, the third player put in two bets, and Buchman made it three bets. Brown and the third player called. The turn was the 
was dealt on the river, and the action checked to the player on the button who bet. Only Brown called, and he mucked when his opponent opened 
for trip fives and an ace kicker. Brown slipped to 32,000 chips.
, Johnson checked again, and Pescatori bet. Binger slowed down, just calling this time, and Johnson got out of the way. The river was the 
, and it was Pescatori's turn to slow down - he check-called a bet from Binger.
. Lamb checked, Schulman bet and Bronshtein raised. Both Lamb and Schulman called.
