Looking to defend his title in this event, David Baker is making a hell of a run through this Day 2.
In the last hand, Baker opened to 18,000 before Nick Schulman three-bet to 56,000. Schulman, it should be noted, won this event the year before "Bakes" did, so we had the previous two champions mixing it up in this pot. Baker called the three-bet quickly, and he took one card. Schulman stood pat.
Bakes must have liked what he saw, because he led right out into the pot with a big bet of 114,500. Schulman would spend the next couple minutes in the tank, clearly pained by a tough decision. He took his hat off and rubbed his forehead as he pondered, then checked and double-checked his cards a few more times. Eventually, he waved the white flag and spun his cards into the muck.
After that exchange, Baker is atop the pack once again with 550,000 chips and his sights set on a (nearly) unprecedented repeat.
Greg Raymer has been slowly chipping back up, winning small pots and avoiding any big confrontations.
Joe Cassidy made it 22,000 to go from the cutoff and was called by Richard Ashby on the button and Greg Raymer in the big blind. Raymer drew two cards, Cassidy decided to stand pat, and Ashby took one. The action checked all the way around and Raymer announce "Ten-six", tabling . Cassidy and Ashby mucked their hands and Raymer scooped a decent sized pot.
After this hand, Raymer now sits at about 350,000.
David Baker made a raise from early position and Johnny Chan moved all in. Baker called and both men took one card.
Baker:
Chan:
Chan squeezed out a three across, making Chan a 2-1 favorite to win the hand. Unfortunately for Chan, he pulled a , pairing him up and knocking him out of the tournament in 12th place. This reduces the overall bracelet count in the field by about one-third. The Orient Express will take home $24,043 for his efforts.
Phil Hellmuth opened the pot with a raise under the gun, and he was called by Hasan Habib (button) and Johnny Chan (big blind) to go three-handed to the draw.
Everybody took one card, and Hellmuth continued out with another 42,000 chips. Habib took pause for a moment, and he cut out the calling chips. He then added another 75,000 to the bet and slid it all across the line for a raise to 117,000. Chan quickly folded, and Hellmuth quickly got grumpy. He stared across the table for a moment, then slapped his cards face-up on the felt. A few of them turned over, and the dealer grabbed Hellmuth's hand and mucked it.
"Here, show him the f***in' hand," Hellmuth said, grabbing the cards out of the muck. "I want him to see what he bluffed me off of." The dealer re-mucked them rather quickly, so Hellmuth announced it. "Nine-six smooth, baby. Unbelievable."
Habib is up to about 345,000 now, while Hellmuth falls to 220,000. As we write this post from half an Amazon Room away, we can still hear Hellmuth giving it to Habib.
"Hasan!"
And then a minute or so later...
"Hasan Habib. Make me muck a nine-six."
And then a minute or so after that...
"I finally pick up a nine-six and you have to bet me off it."
From early position Brandon Cantu moved all in for his remaining 54,000. Steve Sung made the call in the cutoff and stayed pat while Cantu drew two.
Cantu had and was off to a promising pull when he first turned over a , but sadly paired up when he flipped over another . The pat of Sung eliminated Cantu and sent him home in 13th place. Sung is now around 370,000.
In early position, Chino Rheem got his last 32,000 into the middle, and Bertrand Grospellier and Joe Cassidy were tangled up in side action heading to the draw.
Rheem and Cassidy took one card apiece, while ElkY stood pat. He checked post-draw, and he'd fold to a bet of 35,000 from Cassidy.
We'd never get to see Rheem's cards. Cassidy tabled , and his ninety-seven is good enough to send our first player to the payout desk. It's Chino Rheem who's out in 14th place, good for $24,043.
After shipping most of his stack to Phil Hellmuth, Brandon Cantu pushed his last 14,000 into the middle. He was called by Nick Schulman in the small blind and Johnny Chan in the big blind. Schulman drew one while Chan and Cantu both took two.
Into a sidepot, Schulman bet 18,000 and Chan made the call. Schulman spread out causing Chan to send his cards into the muck. Schulman picked up the sidepot, but was unable to eliminate Cantu, who spread out and managed to pull and . Cantu tripled up but is still in the danger zone with 52,500.
Brandon Cantu opened to 18,000, and Phil Hellmuth three-bet shoved all in for 104,500 total. Cantu called, and he patted .
Hellmuth needed one card to go with his , and it was a long squeeze. He peeled it from the side, and he determined it was three-across hearts. A good start, but Hellmuth was still a 2:1 underdog to pull the he needed. He squeezed a little harder and determined it was either the six or the eight, and he was even money to double up. Hellmuth didn't peel the card the rest of the way; instead, he lifted it up facing forward so that Cantu could see it first.
Cantu, nervously pacing around his seat, let out a deep sigh and rolled his eyes. It was indeed the , and it made Hellmuth the winning eighty-seven. He doubles to 229,500 with that timely draw, while Cantu falls all the way back to just 15,500 lonely chips.
. Cassidy and Ashby mucked their hands and Raymer scooped a decent sized pot.
he needed. He squeezed a little harder and determined it was either the six or the eight, and he was even money to double up. Hellmuth didn't peel the card the rest of the way; instead, he lifted it up facing forward so that Cantu could see it first.