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Emcee Tom Sexton has been doing his part to keep things interesting. There are a couple dozen railbirds sweating the action today, mostly friends and family of the players. When things get a little too dull, and the audience's focus starts to wander, Sexton chimes in with a poker story to kill some time. With the Sexton family so involved in the poker world, you can imagine that Tom has no shortage of stories to tell. Topics so far have included Johnny Chan's 1987 win, the hand that changed poker forever, Stu Ungar, brother Mike Sexton, and the worst bad beat in the last forty years.
Many thanks to Tom for keeping things interesting here over the past few hours.
. Dennis Meierotto and Jesse Hale checked to John McDonald. McDonald fired out 15,000. Meierotto called and Hale folded.
and Meierotto led for a bet of 20,000. McDonald quickly announced a raise and made it 60,000 to go. Meierotto folded, giving McDonald the pot.
in a joking manner and then watched McDonald turn up pocket threes, 
. The turn card brought a little sweat to the action when the 
fell, giving Panesis a bunch more outs. "It's never easy," commented the onlooking Hale.
though, not what Panesis needed. "That's poker," he said after shaking the hands of the final three remaining players.
and Panesis bet 15,000. Hale quickly called.
and Panesis checked to Hale. Hale thought for a few moments and then said, "I know a guy that got check-raised in this spot for a lot of chips." He then checked and said, "I have a straight."
and took down the pot.
. Both men checked.
. Hale took control now, confidently announcing, "Fifty thousand." Meierotto wasted little time stacking out ten yellow chips and raising to 100,000. Hale called.
. Hale checked, Meierotto bet another 50,000, and Hale quickly called.
for the big full house. "Oh, you had all of them!" quipped Hale. He flashed his own cards, revealing 
and all three players checked.
and a bet of 12,000 from Hale. McDonald called. Meierotto folded.
, pairing the board with tens. Hale announced a bet of 23,000 and fired. McDonald slid his cards into the muck giving Hale the pot.