Vladimir Kochelaevskiy raised to 140,000 under the gun and Tomer Berda called from the button and Hungcheng Hung from the big blind. The three saw a flop of and action checked to Berda, who bet 250,000.
Hung folded and Kochelaevskiy check-raised 380,000 more. Berda thought it over and then made the call. Both players checked the on the turn and on the river.
Kochelaevskiy showed but was behind Berda's . Berda took down the 1.75 million pot while Kochelaevskiy dropped to 1.55 million.
Salvatore Bonavena opened to 155,000 from the cutoff before Joseph Curcio moved all in for 465,000 more from the small blind. Tomer Berda surrendered his big blind and Bonavena tanked momentarily before making the call.
Bonavena:
Curcio:
The flop was a punch to the stomach for Curcio, and he immediately stood up ready to leave.
"CLUB!!!" one of his rambunctious fans yelled.
Curcio indeed had a backdoor club draw, and the on the turn kept him alive.
There was a moment of brief silence as the dealer wrapped the table, but the second the spiked on the river Curcio's rail exploded.
There is no quit in Curcio, and after a roller-coaster start to the day he is back in the middle of the pack with 1,275,000 chips.
Action folded to Hungcheng Hung in the small blind and he opted to limp. Vladimir Kochelaevskiy checked from the big blind and the two saw a flop of .
Hung wasted little time in moving all in and Kochelaevskiy mucked. Hung showed for two pair and stated that he didn't want to see any more cards. He is now up to 1 million.
On the first hand from break, action folded to Joseph Curcio who moved all in for 275,000 in the small blind. Tomer Berda immediately called in the big, and the hands were tabled.
Curcio:
Berda:
Flop: ...he did it again!
The turn and river came , respectively, and Curcio doubled to 590,000 chips.
At his low point he had less than two big blinds, but Curcio's chip and a chair dream is still alive. He now has more than seven.
After folding a few times, Joseph Curcio finally plopped his last 80,000 or so in the middle. Action folded to Mike Wattel who raised to 250,000 from the small blind.
Salvatore Bonavena, who was sitting in the big blind, plopped a chip on his cards and sat back in his chair. He removed his glasses and thought for a bit before moving all in. Wattel quickly mucked, and Curcio had a chance to triple up:
Bonavena:
Curcio:
"Ten ball!" Curcio blurted.
The dealer wrapped the table before delivering two tens for Curcio; .
The on the turn officially ended the hand and the river brought the just for kicks and giggles.
With the Main Event taking up all the space in the Amazon Room, today's $2,500 and $1,000 no limit hold'em final tables have been relocated to a part of the Pavilion Room.
Players and spectators alike are not happy with the arrangement. The rails are too close and the whole area has an overcrowded atmosphere.
Mike Wattel raised to 125,000 from early position only to have Joseph Curcio move all in for about 700,000. When action got back to Wattel he immediately called for his stack of 575,000.
Wattel:
Curcio:
The board ran out and Wattel doubled to 1.2 million; meanwhile, Curcio was crippled and left with only 115,000.