Full Blown Tank

[user101598]

Level 4 : 600/1,200, 200 ante

Way back in Level 3, Greg "FBT" Mueller raised to 2,300 from early position, Daniel Alaei three-bet to 8,000 in the cutoff, and Michael Mizrachi (button), and Jeff Gross (big blind) cold-called the three-bet. Mueller called as well, and the flop fell .

Gross and Mueller knuckled, Alaei fired out 18,000 and Mizrachi called. Gross folded, Mueller check-raised to 52,000, and both Alaei and Mizrachi called. The turn was the , Mueller checked again, and Alaei tossed forward 130,000. Mizrachi quickly folded, leaving 207,000 behind, and Mueller thought for 30 seconds before calling.

The river was the , Mueller checked again, and Alaei moved all in for 141,200.

Cue the tank.

Mueller grabbed a handful of chips and snapped them on top of a stack violently.

"I had you on ace-king on the flop," Mueller sighed. "I was thinking, 'How am I going to get all of Danny's chips?'"

Mueller threw his hands on his head, closing his eyes to think. He reached for chips once again, counted out enough to make the call, then placed them aside. Then he counted the rest of his stack to see what he would have left (around 140,000).

"It's fun flopping a set," Mueller said, lifting high enough off the felt so that dozens of people on the rail and a few players at the table could see it. Mizrachi started laughing.

"What the hell were you doing in the hand?" Mueller shot at Mizrachi. He laughed again.

"The same thing you were," the two-time Poker Players Champion told him. "Trying to win it."

A few more minutes passed.

"I only ask one thing, Danny," Mueller said, looking at Alaei. "If I fold, don't show a buff. That's all I ask Danny. Don't show a bluff."

Alaei didn't respond, verbally or physically. Throughout the tank, he silently stared at one spot on the felt without moving an inch.

Mueller then stood up, leaned over the table, and started recounting the action on each street. "There was over two-hundred in the middle after the flop - that's fun - and we each put one-twenty in on the turn."

David Peters and Trevor Pope both broke out into laughter. News of this epic tank had reached adjacent tables, and Tom Dwan, Bryn Kenney, and Toby Lewis were discussing the hand. Other players from other tables swung by to check out what was happening, returned to their table to play a hand or fold, then return to see if the hand was over.

Finally, after 15 minutes of thinking, apologizing, snapping chips, holding his head, rechecking his cards, and apologizing some more, Mueller folded his full house. Silently, Alaei dropped his cards into the muck facedown, and raked in the pot.