T.J. Cloutier raised from the cutoff, and Chris Ferguson moved all in on the button. Cloutier snap-called to put Ferguson at risk, and it was time for showdown.
Ferguson:
Cloutier:
The flop wasn't much help to Ferguson. Neither was the . The on the river looked like a miracle at first and got a murmur from the crowd, but it was one pip short of rescue for Jesus, and he shook hands and disappeared as fast as possible.
So long, Mikey. Daniel Negreanu is on a roll and crushing everything in his path. Picking up kings twice in the first hour doesn't hurt either. On a board, Mike Matusow moved all in. "Call," Negreanu said before Matusow had finished saying "all in." Matusow's family knew that was bad news.
Matusow: for top pair and 0 outs
Negreanu: for top set
"He's out, he's out," Matusow's brother reported back to their mother sitting down on the rail. "What happened?" she asked? "I don't know," he responded. "He was on tilt or something."
The meaningless completed the board, and our chip leader only one short hour ago, Matusow made a beeline for the exit. Negreanu increased his lead over the rest of the field, moving up to a towering 160,000.
It hasn't been a fruitful five minutes for Scotty Nguyen. After doubling through Antonio Esfandiari just moments ago, he offered Barry Greenstein the same favor a hand or two later.
No bad beats this time, though, Greenstein starting ahead with versus , and maintaining that lead through a flop.
Greenstein now over the 50,000 mark, although I'll get a more accurate count shortly.
Daniel Negreanu raised to 2,600, and Phil Hellmuth bumped it to 5,600. Negreanu called, and both checked the flop. The turn brought the , and Negreanu checked again. Hellmuth bet 4,800, and Negreanu moved all in to put Hellmuth to the test for his last 22,000. Hellmuth muttered to himself for several minutes before giving up the hand unhappily. Negreanu raked in the chips while Hellmuth assured everyone he'd get Daniel in the end.
Antonio Esfandiari found his tournament life hanging by the very thinnest of threads when he moved all in with versus the of Scotty Nguyen.
The flop offered him a welcome flush draw, and although the turn was the wrong color and shape, the river wasn't, the dealer laying a on the baize to double the Magician through.
"Yes!" said Esfandiari. "There is a God."
"There's no more God," countered a wounded Nguyen.
It's been quite slow progress thus far, but with 10 minutes left to spare of the first level, we lost out first man.
But what a hand it was, Allen Cunningham the unfortunate victim of a cooler colder than an Artic breeze. I didn't catch the action leading up to the all-in showdown, but with hands on their backs, Chan found himself on the right end of a set over set encounter with versus on a board.
Although Cunningham was drawing to just one out, it was Chan who made quads, the river merely adding salt to already open wounds.
"Here's Johnny!" beamed Antonio Esfandiari after Cunningham's departure.
Daniel Negreanu raised to 2,600, and T.J. Cloutier called on the button. Mike Matusow added the extra chips in the big blind, and they all saw the flop come out . Matusow and Negreanu both checked, and Cloutier moved all in for 18,200 total. They gave up their hands, and Cloutier took the pot. He's now playing with 28,000.