The tournament clock was nearing the end of Level 18 when Billy Argyros made his stand. He was called by Mel Judah and Derek Raymond. Judah folded by the turn of a board. That left Raymond to show Argyros for a made straight. Argyros had club outs, . He called out, "Club! Club!" desperately but didn't get it. The river blanked out .
Argyros was his usual colorful self during today's tournament, engaging in animated, joking banter with his tablemates. His good mood mirrored his good play that earned him AU$6,120 for sixth place.
Mark Furniss was all in several times after being crippled by Jeffrey Duvall. Each time he managed a chop to stay alive. That came to an end at the hands of Derek Raymond. Raymond opened with a raise to 10,000. Action passed to Furniss in the big blind who called all in for 9,000.
Raymond:
Furniss:
The board came almost all high, , completely missing Furniss' low hand. He's finally out, collecting AU$4,590 for an impressive display of tenacity and resilience.
Mark Furniss and Jeffrey Duvall were both short, but Duvall was the player at risk when all the chips were in by the turn on a board of . He showed against Furniss' and scooped the pot when a four hit the river for a spade flush. Duvall doubled to 46,000, leaving Furniss with just 5,000 chips.
Jeffrey Duvall may have had a plan for his hand, but it surely backfired. He raised preflop only to see Rainer Quel three-bet him. He called to a flop of , where he check-called one bet. On the turn , Duvall led out with a bet of his own, but Quel wasted no time in raising. That was enough for Duvall. He folded. As Quel collected the pot, he opened his hand to show -- the nut flush with the nut low draw.
Easy come, easy go for Danny Mountt. He limped in from under the gun, then called a raise from Mel Judah that was also called by Rainer Quel. The flop was all baby cards, . Judah managed to fold Quel by raising Mountt's bet after Quel had checked, but Mountt was undeterred and came to the turn. He bet when it as a third club, the . Judah called, then led out after Mountt checked the river. Mountt called with , but it was no good against Judah's . Judah took both halves of the pot for a huge scoop worth 90,000 chips.
What better way to stimulate action than have five players limp into a pot? That's what happened in a recent hand, With Billy Argyros getting things started from under the gun. He was followed by Rainer Quel, Danny Mountt and blinds Derek Raymond and Jeffrey Duvall. A flop of brought a bet from Argyros and a raise from Quell that cleared out Duvall and Raymond. Mountt, Quel and Argyros went to the turn. Quel continued pounding the pot with a bet that both of his opponents called.
The river came . Action checked to Mountt, who made the 8,000-chip opening bet. Argyros and Quel both called for a monster pot. Mountt took the high with , a club flush. Quel took the low with , the nut low. Argyros showed for two pair that were run down and a bad low. He was crippled as a result to 24,000.
Quel has regained the chip lead. He's on 169,000. Mountt is in good shape with about 100,000.
Limit Omaha Hi/Lo doesn't exactly have many enthusiasts in the poker world. As opposed to last night's no-limit hold'em final table, almost no spectators are on the rail. As a result, the Crown Poker Room staff are not announcing the action, and nobody is taking notice of what's going on. It's like a weird vacuum of disinterest has materialized around the final table. You wouldn't know that a first prize of AUD30,600 is on the line here. There's certainly less of a buzz in the room than we witnessed last night.