Greetings From Russia
Anatoliy Zyrin somehow convinced at least part of his table to do what he called a "helicopter."
Basically a round of straddles, which is extremely uncommon in tournaments. Fabrice Soulier was the first to smack down a straddle, putting in 600 under the gun before he received his hand. Boris Kolev was next to act and tossed in 1,025 blind. Then three players called, including Zyrin, before Peter Skog raised to 5,500 from the big blind.
He only got one caller.
The flop came 
and both players checked. The turn was the 
and Skog bet 6,700. His opponent called. The river was the 
and both players checked again. Skog won the hand with 
over the 
of his opponent.
Skog actually won the next hand too after Kolev straddled and Skog was in the small blind. He ended up making a flush on the river and winning the three-way pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
63,000
5,500
|
5,500 |
|
60,000 | |
|
||
|
53,000
3,000
|
3,000 |
|
||
|
43,000 | |