Manuel Bevand raised to 120,000 under the gun, and both Alex Venovski (button) and Phil Ivey (big blind) joined him in the pot. It was the first three-way flop of the after-dinner session.
The dealer spread out , and Ivey was first to act. And he was betting. He stuck 200,000 out there, and Bevand and Venovski wasted no time folding in turn.
It might just be us, but it seems like Ivey is really hitting his groove here in five-handed play. He's just crossed the 2-million chip mark, holding almost 40% of what's in play with five left.
The action folded around the Alexander Venovski in the small blind who raised to 140,000. Ali Eslami was seated in the big blind and he asked for a stack count before making the call.
Flop:
Venovski made a 100,000 c-bet and Eslami's hand went into the muck.
These ones are approximate, but they were delivered to us verbally by none other than "RedBull" Robbie Thompson. The man can count, so we'll go with them until we get some hard counts ourselves.
One orbit later, Phil Ivey made his standard 120,000-chip under-the-gun raise. The table once again folded around to Ali Eslami's big blind. This time, though, he decided to just save the 70,000 chips and the pain of check-folding on the flop. He ditched his big blind, and that's another one passed to Ivey.
Phil Ivey raised to 120,000 on the button and Andy Frankenberger defended his big blind. The flop was and Ivey took down the pot with a 120,000 c-bet.
The action then folded around to Andy Frankenberger in the small blind who raised to 125,000, Alexander Venovski popped it up to 300,000, Frankenberger moved all-in and Venovski called.
Frankenberger
Venovski
So a split pot was likely unless a few diamonds arrived on the board. The flop brought one , then the turn brought another . So a sweat for Frankenberger until the arrived on the river and the spoils were shared.
Phil Ivey made the call from the small blind and Manuel Bevand checked in the big blind. The flop was and Ivey bet 60,000 to win the pot.
Phil Ivey made it 120,000 on the button and Manuel Bevand raised to 300,000 from the small blind. Andy Frankenberger folded in the big blind and Ivey thought for a good few minutes before raising 'pot' for a bet of 960,000. Back to Bevand and he mucked his hand.
The action has been very passive in the first 15 minutes of the new level. The average stack is starting to get a little thin, and each decision is becoming more meaningful at this point. We've seen one pot checked down to the river, another one checked through the river, and plenty of raise-and-takes.
The last hand stuck out only because it was a copy of the action we saw on the first hand of the level. Ivey was under the gun and raised to 120,000, and Ali Eslami defended his big blind. Ivey bet another 120,000 on the , and Eslami quickly check-folded.
There was a dead small blind for the first hand back from dinner, and Phil Ivey began it with an under-the-gun raise to 120,000. Ali Eslami defended his naked big blind, and off they went.
The paired flop brought them . Ivey bet another 120,000, and Eslami check-folded without much trouble.
Ivey went ahead and stole the blinds when the button came around to him, too.
Things have started off just a bit tighter in the first few hands back.
![[user66118]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
, and Ivey was first to act. And he was betting. He stuck 200,000 out there, and Bevand and Venovski wasted no time folding in turn.
and Ivey took down the pot with a 120,000 c-bet.
, then the turn brought another 
. So a sweat for Frankenberger until the 
arrived on the river and the spoils were shared.
, and Eslami quickly check-folded.
