shipitfish | Live Blog Main Event, 2006, Hour 5 (Reply)

(Remember, I've taken the “,000” off of the numbers, because there is no point in typing the chip inflation.)

21:51 EDT: Cunningham just slow-played a flopped two pair and got paid off by Gold. The break is starting.

21:49 EDT: Butler just raised from UTG with an overbet with five times the big blind. Everyone folds, including Gold in the BB showing an Ace. Butler is playing the short stack really well; I think the tight play is right here.

21:41 EDT: They paused briefly to get an accurate chip count, and the next hand was another battle of the blinds. Butler raised the SB and got Lee to fold. He's playing smart against Lee; Lee is playing very passively.

21:34 EDT: Binger just pushed on the button when it was folded to him. Kim and Gold folded quickly. On the very next hand, Wasicka made it 600 to go, and Kim called. Gold folds and the flop fell 4 4 3. Kim checked and Wasicka bet 1,000 and said What's a couple hundred thousand between friends like you and me?. Kim moved quickly all in, and Wasicka called in a second. Kim has only 99 and Wasicka has QQ and neither has a spade draw for this 10,000 pot.

A J 7 came and gave Kim $2,391,000 for seventh place. Wasicka said something like I hate to lose a teammate! (?) as he shook Kim's hand.

21:21 EDT: Gold just bet 1,800 into a pot of that size in a multiway pot, and shows top pair (9) after Cunningham folds.

21:18 EDT: Lee raised preflop and Binger quickly moved all-in from late position behind him. Gold asks What do we have> (why does he always seem to use the royal We?). He asks for the 700 to be pulled in. The raise 1,540 more after Lee's 700 is in. Gold makes it 4,000 straight! No way that Gold doesn't have a huge hand, of course, here. I'm giving him at least QQ.

Lee is actually thinking this one through, but I think he's folding; I can't imagine that he's going to play the pot. Lee is trying to chat him up, and Gold says: You're going to see the hand; I got a monster. It's bizarre how much. Gold has KK, and he rubs it in with Good, enough, Richard.

As the hands go toward the dealer, Binger freaked out saying Which is mine, which is mine?. That minimal flush equity is important here. Gold is now the only person to win with two hearts on the flop. Binger looks a bit nervous, but is trying to cover it. The turn locks it to chop and Binger relaxes.

Lee says he folded AQ. If Gold lets him in, Binger goes out but Lee gets a big chunk of Gold's stack. Didn't happen that way, and everyone is still in it.

21:12 EDT: Wow, Butler won a pot. He's playing really tight! Meanwhile, they are announcing the chip counts and everyone is cheering.

I noticed that occasionally a mic from what must be the dealer at the table comes through. I wish they'd feed that audio constantly. It's so much easier to follow the action, especially when the idiot announcers aren't even paying attention — they just called a four-way pot a heads-up pot!

21:07 EDT: Kim wins an uncontested preflop pot with a standard raise the very next hand.

21:04 EDT: Wasicka has been reraised preflop by Kim (whom we have just confirmed is 22 years old, and he would be the youngest ever if he won). Meanwhile, Wasicka is thinking really hard about the situation as he absentmindedly ruffles chips. Wasicka finally moves in. Kim looks sick about it but doesn't move at all.

The glass come up and off. He grabs a water and drinks deep. He seems almost ready to cry as he leans back into his hand and looks down at his chips. He finally decides to look back at Wasicka who has put both his fists over his mouth and glances back at his chips.

I am reading Wasicka for QQ or KK and that he was showboating with all the waiting before going all in. That glance at the chips was somewhat of a give-away as a tell, but generally, why else would he be going all-in? Of course, Kim's getting a good price from the pot, and gives it up. I'll call it right now. Even money bet for up to $25 that he had a pair QQ or bigger if anyone is interested. (Final pot size was over 9,000.)

21:00 EDT:

I am live-blogging the pay-per-view ESPN Coverage. I start a new post each hour.