"How can you check so many times?" a disappointed Joe Hachem asked his opponent. "How is that possible?" Hachem, sitting in the big blind, had called a late position raise to 3,000 with the remark, "Friends... for now." Both players checked the flop and the turn. Hachem checked a third time when the hit the river, then quickly called a bet of 4,100. His opponent turned over a pair of aces, , a hand that Hachem beat with two pair, .
"Well played," Hachem said as he collected the pot. "On the turn we play a big pot if you bet."