Day 53: Day 3 of the Main

Thursday was Day 3 of the Main Event and I went to work wondering if it was going to be my last day or not.  Amy started with the letter S, and I missed out on the Amazon Room by one person.  I started the day on table 1 in the Black section of the Pavilion.  Steve Brecher was at my first table and I also dealt to Jon "PearlJammer" Turner later in the day. 

There was a fascinating hand on my last table of the day.  There were TV cameras surrounding the table and when I got there I saw why.  There were monster stacks all over the table and the players were not shy about playing big pots.  The second hand after I sat down was a doozy and I'm pretty sure it's going to be on TV.  The blinds were 1,200/2,400/300 and a very talkative player, who turned out to be named Max Troccoli, raised preflop to around 7,000.  Tuan Vo, a young asian guy with a huge chipstack around 500,000, called from the button.  The flop came J♦ 6♣ 4♣ and Troccoli checked.  Vo bet 13,500 and Troccoli snap called.  The turn was the Q♣ and Troccoli checked again.  Vo bet 27,000 and Troccoli called quickly again.  The river was the 10♦ and I began counting the deck stub.  A voice in my ear told me to protect the muck pile when I was done and I thought I was being reprimanded by the floor, even though my hand was fairly close to the muck already.  Troccoli checked a third time.  Vo bet 35,000 and Troccoli went into the tank.  He seemed to be a very loose, uneducated player, but he seemed genuinely conflicted by this decision.  I heard the voice in my ear again, saying that he didn't want either hand to reach the muck and that they wanted to see both players' cards.  I realized that the voice must belong to an ESPN exec, not a floorman.  Troccoli asked me if he was allowed to call the clock on himself, to which I replied in the negative.  The player in seat nine accommodated his request and called the clock for him.  Troccoli thanked him and thought for about a minute more while the floor man came over.  I figured him for two pair, since A-K would make a straight and any two clubs would make a flush.  But then he said that he couldn't even beat two pair, and I couldn't believe he was still thinking about calling.  He finally folded K♥ K♣ face up, but then Vo flipped over 7♦ 5♦ for a stone cold bluff to win the pot!  Sometimes you just have to tip your cap to a great bluff!

Amy told me that I probably wouldn't get in to deal on Friday and asked me if I would take the day off and come in to work my shift on Saturday at 1PM.  AJ was flying in Thursday night, so I agreed to take off Friday to hang out with him.  I'll finish out the Vegas blog, containing my last three days soon!