Tuesday, June 15, 2010 1:24 AM Local Time
James Dempsey fired the flop of into Sammy Farha who made the call. Farha then called a bet on the turn and river after the fell on the fell.
Dempsey tabled the and Farha mucked, giving Dempsey the scoop.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010 1:20 AM Local Time
The swings are big now with limits at 80,000 and 160,000. Two scoops have made a world of difference to Rich Zhu. In his latest pot, he re-raised from the small blind after James Dempsey raised the button. Dempsey called to a paired flop, . Zhu bet and Dempsey called.
The turn double-paired the board. Again Zhu bet and again Dempsey called. Both players checked the river. Zhu tabled at showdown, having flopped three kings with an ace kicker. It was the winner.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010 1:12 AM Local Time
Yueqi Zhu was all in on the flop of with top two pair holding the . He also had a low draw. He was up against the of James Dempsey, who held top pair, a flush draw and a worse low draw.
The turn filled up Zhu with the and then the river completed the board with the . Zhu wound up scooping the pot and doubled to over 900,000 after being all in for 475,000.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010 12:43 AM Local Time
Players are on a 20-minute break.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010 12:41 AM Local Time
Hero calls are a little easier in fixed-limit games, where you can only ever be wrong for "one more bet" on the river. We were still impressed when Sam Farha got to the river with an unimproved hand that wound up being good. He raised the small blind and was called by big blind James Dempsey. Farha continued on a flop of and was raised by Dempsey. Farha called.
The turn and river were running sixes, and . Each time Farha checked and called a bet from Dempsey. At showdown, Dempsey had a total airball. So did Farha, but his -- three sixes with an ace-five for high -- was the best hand. Farha scooped the pot.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010 12:35 AM Local Time
All three of the remaining players put in three bets each preflop and the flop came down . James Dempsey was first to act post flop and checked. Yueqi Zhu bet, Sammy Farha called and then Dempsey put in a raise. Zhu and Farha called.
The turn brought the and Dempsey fired out. Zhu called and then Farha called as well.
The river completed the board with the and Dempsey fired out again. Zhu tanked for some time and then tossed in the call. Farha stuck in a raise and sent Dempsey into the tank. Dempsey eventually called and Zhu then mucked his hand.
Farha tabled the for a backdoor flush and scooped the entire pot to move back to just under three million in chips. Dempsey dropped to 2.165 million and Zhu's on about 1.36 million.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010 12:24 AM Local Time
Now that we're down to three-handed play, scoops are becoming a little more common. First Sam Farha scooped Rich Zhu on a board of with , the nut low and an eight-high straight. Then Zhu returned the favor by inducing a fold from Farha on the turn of a board by raising.
Zhu also tagged James Dempsey a few hands later, scooping the pot with on a board of .
At the moment nobody has much momentum, and the player are all somewhat deep. We expect it to be a while before the next player busts.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010 12:18 AM Local Time
Sergey Altbregin raised on the button and Yueqi Zhu called from the big blind. The flop came down and all of the money went in for Altbregin.
Zhu held the and Altbregin held the .
The turn brought the and left Altbregin drawing dead. The river completed the semantics of things with the and that was it for Altbregin. He finished in fourth place for just under $170,000.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010 12:11 AM Local Time
Slowly but surely, Sergey Altbregin has been trending downwards. When action folded to his small blind, he limped in. James Dempsey raised the big blind, then called when Altbregin re-raised.
On a flop of , the two players quickly got the rest of Altbregin's chips in the middle. Dempsey excitedly stood up and slammed down , a wrap straight draw with an uncounterfeitable low draw and spades. Altbregin showed a pair of fives and the nut low draw, . A spade hit the turn, but it was a low spade, . The river came . Dempsey got three-quarters with the spade flush and the nut low. Altbregin got quartered down to 250,000.
Dempsey is now leading with 3.0 million chips.
Monday, June 14, 2010 11:59 PM Local Time
On the flop of , Sammy Farha checked to James Dempsey who bet. Yueqi Zhu raised and Farha called. Dempsey also called.
The turn brought the and Dempsey bet out after Farha checked. Zhu called and then Farha folded.
The river completed the board with the . Dempsey bet out and Zhu called. Dempsey tabled the and scooped the pot from Zhu who held the .
Dempsey's rolling now with nearly three million in chips. Zhu has slipped back to 1.32 million.
Monday, June 14, 2010 11:46 PM Local Time
After a few orbits where the pre-flop and flop action got a little crazy, things have settled down at the final table. The same can't be said for the gallery, where James Dempsey's supporters took off their shoes for a "Raise your shoe up" chant. If we were British we would probably understand what it meant, but we're not. So we don't.
Dempsey is up to 1.8 million in chips.
Monday, June 14, 2010 11:31 PM Local Time
James Dempsey has Sam Farha's number at the moment. He also has collected a rail of about a dozen British lads who are doing their best British soccer chants in support of their lad. The rail was ecstatic to see Dempsey tag Farha in three pots in a row to climb back to more than 1.0 million in chips. "Who's the doctor?" they keep chanting every time Dempsey wins a pot.
For his part, Farha is playing quite loose. It seems like he's involved in four out of five pots, with Richard Zhu and Sergey Altbregin playing much more cautiously. Dempsey seems to be the only person really willing to play with Farha at the moment.
Monday, June 14, 2010 11:26 PM Local Time
Well, the previous hand WAS the biggest pot of the tournament, but this one just topped it.
From the cutoff seat, Sergey Altbregin raised. James Dempsey reraised on the button, Yueqi Zhu called from the small blind and then Tony Merksick made it four bets from the big blind. Altbregin called and then Dempsey made it five bets, capping the action. Zhu, Merksick and Altbregin all called.
The flop came down and Zhu fired out a bet. He was called in all three spots before the landed on the turn. Zhu fired out again and then Merksick called all in for his last 5,000 in chips. Altbregin and Dempsey both called after that.
The river card completed the board with the and paired it with sixes. Zhu bet out and Altbregin folded. Dempsey looked disgusted, but wound up making the call.
Zhu tabled the for kings full of sixes to beat Dempsey's and scoop in the side pot first. Merksick held the and was eliminated on the hand as Zhu was also pushed the massive main pot. His stacks now sits at nerly 2.7 million chips.
Monday, June 14, 2010 11:19 PM Local Time
A ton of action just went down at our final table, and at the end it was Sergey Altbregin who was most excited about it. Sam Farha started with a pre-flop raise. He was re-raised by Sergey Altbregin and four-bet by James Dempsey. Rich Zhu, in the big blind for one bet, took three to the face and everyone else called.
On a flop of , Dempsey acted first and bet. Zhu called before Farha raised. Altbregin quickly called all in and Dempsey and Zhu also called, creating a main pot of 1.2 million chips.
The action checked to Farha when the turn came . "That counterfeits somebody. I love it," said Farha. He bet and both Dempsey and Zhu called.
The river was the . Again Farha bet when checked to, and Dempsey did not seem pleased.
"That's a good sign," said Farha. "I love it. You're a good dealer." Dempsey tanked for about a minute and a half before calling.
"Sick, sick game," said Zhu. "Since you called I'm folding." He flashed two red aces.
At showdown for the side pot, Farha showed for a flopped two pair. Dempsey showed , a live ace for low. They chopped the side. But an excited Altbregin triumphantly showed down for the main pot. He had a wheel and scooped 1.2 million.
Monday, June 14, 2010 11:07 PM Local Time
On the flop of , Sergey Altbregin check-raised Yueqi Zhu's bet. Zhu made the call and then the turn came the . Altbregin bet and Zhu called. The river completed the board with the and both players checked.
Zhu tabled for scoop the pot from Altbregin.
On the next hand, Zhu reraised a button raise from James Dempsey. Zhu was in the small blind. Tony Merksick called from the big blind and then Dempsey called as well.
The flop came down and Zhu bet out. Merksick called and Dempsey folded. The turn and river went check, check after the fell followed by the .
Zhu tabled and Merksick mucked.
Those two hands provided a nice little rush for Zhu and he's up to 1.86 million in chips.
Monday, June 14, 2010 10:58 PM Local Time
Five-handed now, you'd expect hand ranges to start widening a little. But every time we see a showdown, it seems like the players have a premium hand. Sergey Altbregin opened a recent pot from under the gun before Richard Zhu re-raised the button. Tony Merksick came along from the small blind before Altbregin called to close the action.
Action checked to Zhu on a flop of . He bet and was called by both players. When the board paired on the turn, , Zhu bet again. Only Merksick stuck around to the river. He checked one more time, then tanked for about 40 seconds after Zhu bet. Merksick finally called and was shown for jacks full of queens. That was a scoop.
Monday, June 14, 2010 10:50 PM Local Time
From under the gun, Sammy Farha raised on the first hand back from break. James Dempsey called on the button and Tony Merksick called from the big blind.
The flop came down and Merksick checked. "Let me see what I have," said Farha before checking his hole cards and then firing out a bet. Behind him, Dempsey made the call and then Merksick folded.
The turn card brought the and Farha bet out into Dempsey. He was called.
The river completed the board with the and made it eligible for a low. Farha bet and Dempsey called.
"Two pair and nut low," said Farha, turning over the . Dempsey's hands went onto his forehead as he couldn't believe what he saw.
"How do you hit every river against me?!?!" he complained. Dempsey then mucked, dropping to 675,000 in chips.
Monday, June 14, 2010 10:23 PM Local Time
The remaining five players are on a 20-minute break.
Monday, June 14, 2010 10:18 PM Local Time
James Dempsey has been involved in some good-natured back and forth with Sam Farha. The two played a raised, heads-up flop of . Farha was out of position and check-called a bet from Dempsey. On the turn, Farha checked again and Dempsey bet again.
"Are you bluffing?" Farha asked.
Dempsey shrugged. "I can't say."
"Yes you are," said Farha. "You already did." He called, then check-called again on the river. Dempsey showed for two pair, aces and kings. Farha didn't have a low, so Dempsey scooped.
A few hands later Dempsey scooped another pot against Tony Merksck when he induced Merksick to fold on the river of a board.
Monday, June 14, 2010 10:09 PM Local Time
Short-stacked James Dempsey is steamed up after a recent hand against Sergey Altbregin. Altbregin wound up check-raising the turn, , with Dempsey calling. Dempsey called one bet on the river and was absolutely disgusted to see Altbregin's , a full house, kings full of nines. Dempsey flashed the as he mucked.