Event #23: $2,500 8-Game Mix

2-7 Triple Draw

The action folded to Desmond Portano who completed in the small blind, and John Racener checked his option in the big. Portano drew three, and Racener drew four. Portano led out, Racener called, and it was off to the second draw.

Both players drew two, and Portano check-called a bet from Racener. On the third and final draw, Portano drew one, and Racener stood pat. Portano check-called one last bet.

"Pair," Racener announced.

Portano opened up       for a ninety-eight low, and shipped the pot.

John Racener	330,000	20,000
Desmond Portano	220,000	113,000

Owais Ahmed raised from the hijack seat, and Greg Dyer reraised from the button. Ahmed made the call, and off they went to the draw.

Both players took two cards, and Ahmed made the bet. Dyer raised with the additional 15,000 he had left. Ahmed called, and he patted the rest of the way while Dyer took one card each time.

Ahmed tabled his       while Dyer's      was drawing only to a deuce or a five. He peeled a  , though, and that's that. Dyer's day is done in 16th place, good for a pay bump up to nearly five figures.

No-Limit Hold'em

John Monnette raised to 14,500 from the button, and Adam Geyer reraised to 42,500. Monnette shoved for 175,500 total, and Geyer didn't waste much time making the call with    . It was a flip as Monnette showed up    .

The board ran out          , and Monnette spikes his pair to double up. He's back to 360,000 now, while Geyer falls all the way back to 227,000.

Table 286 is starting this level with no limit hold'em, where the ante is 1,500, and the blinds are 2,500-5,000.

"That's way too high," John Monnette told a floorperson. "We just played with the antes at 700."

Actually, during the last level, the antes in NLHE were 1,000, but the table never got to the game during their rotation.

"I understand," Monnette retorted. "But your structure is terrible."

Whether or not you agree with Monnette, the structure has been public for quite some time. Perhaps it will change in the future, but for now the players must deal with the established limits.

Players are now on a 20-minute break.

Limit Hold'em

John Racener raised from the cutoff, Eric Buchman put in three bets from the small blind, and Racener called. The flop came down    , and Buchman led out. Racener called.

The turn was the  , Buchman bet again, and Racener called.

The river brought the  , and Buchman fired one last bet. Racener put in a raise, and Buchman called.

Racener opened up    for a rivered straight, Buchman mucked, and Racener raked the pot.

John Racener	305,000	15,000
Eric Buchman	185,000	-95,000

Limit Hold'em

In a battle of the blinds, Desmond Portano and Marco Traniello were heads up with the board reading    . Portano led out, Traniello raised, and Portano announced, "call."

Portano didn't put any chips out though, and the dealer burned and turned the  . Since the card came out before Portano's chips were committed to the pot, the   was re-shuffled into the deck, and a new turn was dealt. It was the  .

Portano bet, Traniello called all-in, and the hands were tabled.

Portano:   
Traniello:   

Initially, Traniello was furious. The jack on the turn gave Portano a better pair, but it was irrelevant because the   would've given him a flush and an unbeatable hand anyway. Ironically, the river was the  , giving him the flush for kicks and giggles, and Traniello was eliminated from the tournament.

Limit Hold'em

Ylon Schwartz and Brent Hanks saw a flop of    . Schwartz bet out, and Hanks called. The turn was the  , and Schwartz led again. Hanks opted to raise this time though, and Schwartz called.

The river was the  , and Schwartz checked to Hanks who immediately fired. Schwartz slammed the table with his hand, and went into the tank before making the call. Hanks opened    for trip sixes, and Schwartz mucked, leaving himself with just 50,000 chips.

We missed his bustout hand, but a few minutes later we heard a dealer call, "Seat open!", and Schwartz was pacing around, waiting for a floorperson to give him his payout ticket.