Thursday, October 1, 2009 11:48 PM Local Time
Negreanu raised his button and Shulman called. They saw a
and Shulman checked; he proceeded to fold when Negreanu bet. Only slightly disappointed, Negreanu showed him pocket threes for a set.
Thursday, October 1, 2009 11:43 PM Local Time
Daniel Negreanu called a preflop bet of 125k from Barry Shulman just now, and then followed it up with a check call on the
flop. Both players checked the
turn but when Negreanu bet 275k on the
river it was enough to take the pot.
Thursday, October 1, 2009 11:43 PM Local Time
Whether he comes first or second in this, Daniel Negreanu will be picking up enough cash at the end of tonight to bump him up above both Phil Ivey and Jamie Gold in the all-time money list as according to the folks in the know over at the [url=http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/ranking/1]Hendon Mob rankings page[/url]. Congratulations Mr. Negreanu, and we hope the drinks are on you!
Thursday, October 1, 2009 11:39 PM Local Time
Daniel Negreanu raises to 120k on the button (that's a minraise now, the blinds have reached such dizzy heights). Barry Shulman reraises him a further 125k, and Negreanu makes the call.
On the
flop Shulman instantly bets out 400k, which wins him the pot without further ado.
Thursday, October 1, 2009 11:32 PM Local Time
First hand - Shulman raises 180k, Negreanu calls.
comes down - Negreanu check-calls Shulman's 250k bet.
The turn:
Both players check.
The river:
Check-check one more time, and it turns out that Negreanu's
for, as Jack Effel puts it, "A pair of deuces with a large kicker," is good enough to take the first pot.
Thursday, October 1, 2009 11:30 PM Local Time
...Presumably just in case nobody in the casino knows who these two gentlemen are yet.
Messrs. Shulman and Negreanu have been once more officially introduced to the crowd who cheered dutifully.
With that achieved, it's shuffle up and deal!
Thursday, October 1, 2009 11:27 PM Local Time
Some lucky audience members (of whom there are now a pretty large number crowding the rail) are going to get to stand on this podium one of the TV cameras has been on up until this point - they're going to get the best view in the house as Shulman takes on Negreanu for one of the most coveted prizes in poker.
In about ten minutes.
Thursday, October 1, 2009 11:19 PM Local Time
Here they be, after the dust has settled from a) the last hand and b) the wheeling of the money stack and the bracelet out into the middle of the room in front of the table:
Daniel Negreanu - 6,180,000
Barry Shulman - 3,855,000
Thursday, October 1, 2009 11:17 PM Local Time
Praz Bansi shoved from the button and Daniel Negreanu called from the small blind. Simple as that.
It wasn't looking good for our short stack.
Bansi:
Negreanu:
Rail: "DOOOOOOOOOCE!!!"
Flop:
Rail: "Oof"
Turn:
Rail: "Ooh"
River:
A quick "Awww" from the crowd soon turned into a standing ovation as we lost Mr. Bansi in third place. He returned to the table to hand his few remaining stacks of chips over to Negreanu, and with his exit, we are heads up.
Thursday, October 1, 2009 11:08 PM Local Time
SO... new short stack Praz Bansi gets a walk on the very next hand, but his rail, the other two players, and everyone watching all over the Empire (that sounds good, doesn't it - I mean the Empire Casino, but still) are waiting for a double-or-bust move. Even so he still has enough to make his opponents think before taking him on, and he's not out of the running.
The last three hands have been no-floppers with one check-down pot between Shulmsn and Negreanu.
Thursday, October 1, 2009 11:06 PM Local Time
Disaster for Praz Bansi now, as he raised to 150,000 and Barry Shulman called out of the big blind.
They saw a
flop -- and the action went Shulman-check-Bansi-200,000-Shulman-all-in-Bansi-call. We think. It went very fast. Either way, on their backs.
Bansi:
Shulman:
Turn:
River:
"Awwww," said more or less everyone in the crowd, excpet for Mrs. Shulman who screamed "WOOOOOO!!!!" repeatedly.
Shulman enjoys a full double up to 3.86 million; Bansi meanwhile is crippled to 820,000.
Thursday, October 1, 2009 11:01 PM Local Time
On a flop of
, small blind Praz Bansi, who I imagine was the caller of button Barry Shulman's preflop raise, bet out a quick 250k. Shulman made the call. When the
popped out on the turn, Bansi checked and got an instant shove of 1,030,000 back at him from Shulman. He counted out the call, considered making it for some time, but eventually passed.
Bansi - 2,700,000
Shulman - 1,935,000
Thursday, October 1, 2009 10:54 PM Local Time
Praz Bansi is up to just over 3 million in chips after no-one hit anything on the board and his pocket deuces held up to win him a small pot.
Thursday, October 1, 2009 10:51 PM Local Time
Daniel Negreanu raised from the button, and then called a hefty reraise from Praz Bansi in the big blind.
They saw a
flop, and Bansi looked at it. He looked down at his stack. He looked over at Negreanu. He looked back down at his stack. Then he went to bet -- we have no idea whether it was all in or less, but however much it was, Negreanu folded, to rapture from the Bansi-ites at the rail.
Bansi is back up to 2.9 million.
Thursday, October 1, 2009 10:50 PM Local Time
Two or three small pots have seen a small chip shift toward Daniel Negreanu, who called a bet out from Praz Bansi just now on a
flop, only to take the pot with a bet of 375k when it was checked to him on the
turn.
Another one went to Barry Shulman, again a minimal bet-on-flop affair, but so far there have been no major changes in chip position. Still, if Bansi so much as picks up some antes and the blinds, he's encouraged loudly by his rail, which must be good as it grows later and some frustrations in earlier hands seem to have taken their toll on his mood.
Thursday, October 1, 2009 10:36 PM Local Time
A brief preflop raising war between Barry Shulman and Praz Bansi ended with the former getting his whole stack in and the latter calling for most of his. On their backs, and Shulman was in very poor shape.
Shulman:
Bansi:
But lucky Mr. Shulman, as the board came down:
A chorus of, "Awwww," rose from the crowd, except of course for Mrs. Shulman who continued to shout encouragement for her husband throughout. They duly chopped, and we continue three-handed with the stacks unchanged.
Thursday, October 1, 2009 10:30 PM Local Time
The big chip stacks aren't afraid to play each other at this point, and this hand which tilted the lead firmly back to Negreanu is a case in point.
Praz Bansi limped on the small blind, then called bb Negreanu's raise to 150k.
On the
flop Bansi check-called a bet from Negreanu.
The turn:
Now Bansi checked, but then raised when Negreanu bet 180k to 450k. After a brief think, Negreanu made the call.
The river:
Bansi had a look over at Negreanu's stack, down at this point to the 2.5ish mark. I think he even asked him for a rough countdown... this psychological battle over, he bet out a wopping 1,100,000.
Negreanu pretty much instacalled, flipping a winning
. It looked as Bansi's hand sailed toward the muck that he had been at it all along with the pure air of
, which may have been spades for a turned flush draw but ended up being just five-high.
Thursday, October 1, 2009 10:29 PM Local Time
Barry Shulman opened for 150,000 from the button and Praz Bansi folded his small blind -- but chip monster Daniel Negreanu reraised all in to cover Shulman, and he folded in a flash.
Thursday, October 1, 2009 10:18 PM Local Time
Daniel Negreanu raised to 140,000 on his button and Barry Shulman called out of the small blind -- but Praz Bansi made it what looked like 525,000 out of the big blind, and before the dealer had even finished counting the reraise, both Negreanu and Shulman had folded.
Thursday, October 1, 2009 10:15 PM Local Time
This hand started with a misdeal and a change of card for Negreanu when the
popped out face-up. It turned out to be very important, for when Shulman shipped his 1 million in on the button, Negreanu now found he had
and called. Shulman showed
.
Flop:
Turn:
River:
for an overkill house for Shulman and a double up.
The loss of that pot moves Negreanu into second place chipwise, while Shulman's 2,000,000 is a lot more playable than 1,000,000.