The craziest hand I have seen today (or just about any other day) occurred on table 35. One guy moved all in with pocket sevens and he got called by Steve Seidman who was holding pocket tens. The dealer screwed up and spread a four-card flop: 267K. The player who had flopped a set of sevens was both ecstatic and terrified at the same time. The two players argued over what should be done. Finally, the floor was called over and settled the matter. When a four-card flop gets dealt by accident, the cards get shuffled back into the deck and a new flop gets dealt. The guy with pocket sevens was livid… until the flop came 7K9! He had flopped a set once again and it was nearly the same flop as before! Now it was Seidman’s turn to bitch… until the board finished with two clubs. His 10 gave him a winning flush. Crazy hand.

A hand nearly as dramatic took place moments later a few tables away. After a player raised before the flop, Lasse Aspen reraised to 15k and got called. Last night I played against Aspen in a cash game and I came away extremely impressed. I watched him call an all-in bluff when there was an ace and a flush on board. All Aspen had was pocket queens, but they were good enough to win the massive pot. This kid isn’t very old, but he is a very good poker player. No one’s heard of him here yet because he’s Norwegian and I bet he’s not much older than 21. I am predicting that he will go very deep in this tournament and if he keeps playing poker he should have an excellent career.

On a hand that propelled Aspen near the top of the leader board he reraised his opponent to 15k before the flop. The flop came KK10. Aspen bet 18k and his opponent called. The turn was the Q. Aspen bet 40k and got called. The A fell on the river. Lasse moved all in and his opponent folded. I guess he was trying to make it look like he was bluffing, trying to steal the massive pot, but he wasn’t. He showed his opponent his A-K.

One player who took advantage of both of these elements of the game early on today was Doyle Brunson. Staring at a large raise, Doyle went ahead and shoved the last of his money into the pot. He got called and his opponent showed him a 9-high low while Doyle could only show a 10-high. “I knew that hand wasn’t any good,” he mumbled before shouting, “Rebuy!” Taking a break from the game, Doyle visited a table that featured Barry Greenstein, Freddy Deeb, and Scotty Nguyen. “They just sit there,” Doyle said, commenting about the tight play at his table. “They’ve got no gamble in them.” 

It was a particularly appropriate comment when you consider the history of this game at the World Series. Debuting in 1973, the first tournament was won by Jack Straus, one of the biggest gamblers of all-time. In 1974 the buy-in jumped to what it is today, $5,000, and the game was also played no-limit. “Sailor” Roberts, a man with almost as much gamble in him as Straus, took the title. In 1976 Doyle Brunson would win the bracelet in that event. The following year the buy-in jumped to $10,000 for the first time and Bobby Baldwin won $80,000 for coming in first. The buy-in stayed at $10,000 until 1983 when the event suddenly disappeared from the schedule. It returned the following year, but in 1986 the buy-in was reduced to $5,000. In the 1990s the event would be dominated by Billy Baxter, who has won the event five times, and John Bonetti, who has won it twice. Then in 1999 it suddenly vanished once again. Back on the schedule in 2000, Jen Harman took the title. It’s been going strong ever since, an old-school game that has managed to survive the rise and seemingly endless appeal of no-limit hold’em.