An unusual hand saw Tony G's stack drop by about 300,000 just now. Caught from the turn with the board reading , Rousso bet 200,000 and got a call. The river she bet too, but Tony G passed -- face-up.
It turns out that Tony G has sneaked into the chip lead by a matter of a few thousand after taking down a hand on the turn against Vanessa Rousso. He bet 40,000 on the flop, which she called, but she passed to his 80,000 bet on the turn.
"You just wanted the chip lead," laughed Rousso. He didn't deny it.
Play has been paused and Kevin the TD has taken a seat, counting the stacks and performing some calculations. In my experience, that usually means a deal is being brokered. No certainties yet, though. And they'll definitely have a tidy amount to play on for whatever happens.
Overheard -- the tail end of some kind of story, probably bad beat related: "Devilfish got me with three-deuce against my pocket kings." Dorfman looked downcast just recalling this (I almost want to know the story now). Tony G simply looked around the final table and told him, "Devilfish is gone." He cheered up.
Vanessa Rousso limped on the small blind, and big blind Randy Dorfman checked. The flop was -- no interest yet. The turn got a 125,000 bet from Rousso, called after a brief think by Dorfman. They both checked the river. Dorfman turned over -- exactly the same hand as Rousso's . Chop chop.
"Did she limp with ace-jack?" asked a railer.
"I was thinking of raising," said Dorfman, "But you're playing sneaky."
Wielding his stack as if it was some kind of sledgehammer seems to be paying off -- even though Dorfman has lost his chip lead over the course of half a level. His most recent shove came on the turn with the board reading . Both Tony G and Vanessa Rousso passed (Tony G showed the ) and although I couldn't quite see properly it looks like Dorfman flashed .
These two are playing quite a few small pots together, the last few having gone Dorfman's way. The last one involved Randy Dorfman raising to 92,000 on the button, and big blind Vanessa Rousso making the call. On the flop of Rousso checked and Dorfman announced his bet -- seeing as he didn't move a chip and Rousso passed quickly, I think it was an all-in move. He certainly does have a lot of chips to put all in still, and as chip leader it was always the other guy whose tournament life was threatened when he did it.