#896 – WSOP Final Table Update #4 – The Roar from the Theatre

At 3:23 PM, a wave erupted from the Penn & Teller Theatre. It felt like the place was shaking. I was standing, on my way to the exit to speak with James Akenhead right after he busted. He was all-in against Eric Buchman and, based on the betting, it was clear there was no way he had much of a chance.

That roar was for Chance.

In the last ten minutes, everything has accelerated. James has been the cause, as his small stack of about 4 million pushed him to take drastic measures. He moved in and received no callers, then moved in again and got something WORSE than a caller. He got a call from Steven Begleiter and a RERAISE to 12 million by Eric Buchman. I figured Begleiter could safely fold A-K or Q-Q in that situation. He folded.

I was surprised to see Buchman table A-K; I really thought it was going to be aces or, at worst, kings. Akenhead showed K-Q. Begleiter was surprised too. He jerked away from the table, I’m sure unhappy at his fold. To me, that meant he folded A-K or K-K. After a jack-high flop and a king hit on the turn, that sealed it for me: Begleiter was kicking himself for folding a split of the winner.

Then came the queen. The queen on the river almost knocked me off my feet as I was rushing out of the room for a bust-out interview that has been indefinitely postponed.

Almost immediately after that hand, as I was writing the paragraphs above, the table dynamic tilted in another direction. Antoine Saout had been quietly chipping up through uncalled raises – though the “quiet” based entirely on the lack of action; his cheering section exploded with every pot pushed his way – when he saw a flop with Darvin Moon. Moon pushed all-in after a flop of Q-J-2.

When Antoine instantly called, I knew that Darvin had made his first misstep. The canny Frenchman trapped him. Darvin was trying to buy the pot with A-4, for nothing. Saout had J-2, for two pair.

In the last 15 minutes, James Akenhead has tripled up and Antoine Saout has doubled up. Akenhead is a tough, experienced player but didn’t start the day with enough chips to do much and couldn’t get traction. And Antoine has seemed like a savvy guy who knows how to play his stack. Both become much more dangerous now.

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