8
A Quite level with Thundering Moments
Play continues at a torrid pace. In only 20 minutes, four players dropped. After an hour and a half of play, we’re down to 21 players.
At Allen Cunningham’s table, the pots are phenomenally large. Whereas at the other tables, most of the pots are heads-up, at Table 3, many of the raised pots were called in two or three places. One pot was raised to 250k and called by three players, including the blinds. It was checked all the way to river – no one wanted to stab and the board, which contained 4 hearts and a pair o 8s.
Amid the insanity, Cunningham was quiet, playing few pots. His stack was reasonable short – in the 2.2 Million range – and he wasn’t taking chances with this chips. He stole blinds a couple of times, but didn’t contest pots where he raised post-flop and was called.
Allen was involved in two very large, valuable pots. The first occurred 20 minutes before the break. A late position player limped. The small blind raised to 400k, and Allen came over the top all in. All folded.
The second major hand was the final deal before the break. The under-the-gun player raised to 175k and was called by a Swede in middle position who was something of a calling station. Allen called from the big blind. The flop came K-5-2 and Allen checked. The UTG player bet 400k and was called by the Swede. Allen then thought for a moment and declared “all in.”
The pre-flop raiser looked furious but folded. Then the Swede thought and thought, then called, tabling 9-9. The turn and river came Q-Q, giving Cunningham the full house – 5s full of Queens.
The pot will propel Allen into the top 5 or 6.
UPDATE: Early into the next level, with blinds of 30/60k and a 10k ante, Allen took his pocket Aces against Kings, eliminating a player and building his stack to over 13 Million. There are now 18 remaining players — two tables.
