Anthony Zinno raised to 20,000 from early position and Mike Gorodinsky shoved his last 27,000 from the next seat over. Shawn Sheikhan called from the big blind and Zinno came along for the extra 7,000.
Gorodinsky and Sheikhan drew one card and Zinno stood pat.
Sheikhan and Zinno checked the draw and Gorodinsky turned over . Zinno tabled to take the pot and Sheikhan mucked his losing hand. Gorodinsky hit the rail in 14th place for $20,165.
Shaun Deeb opened to 17,000 from under the gun and directly behind him, Samuel Spiwak shoved for his last 107,000. Dustin Dirksen then made it 200,000 to go from the small blind and Deeb folded.
Spiwak called and both players stood pat.
Dirksen tabled , which was good against the rough nine of Spiwak, who was eliminated.
Just before the dinner break, Benny Glaser raised to 17,000 from early position and Ben Diebold three-bet to 60,000. Glaser four-bet to 155,000 and Diebold called.
Both players stood pat.
Glaser fired 210,000 after the draw. Diebold went into the tank for several minutes as most of the remaining players left for the dinner break before finally mucking his cards.
Glaser offered to show the hand if Diebold wanted. Diebold was hesitant, but he finally caved.
"Show me the fours," he said.
Glaser turned over and Diebold was headed to dinner break with the bluff on his mind.
Back in the late 2000’s, long before solvers were a thing, a group of math-focused individuals changed the face of poker. Players like Matt Hawrilenko, Bill Chen, and Jerrod Ankenman introduced a more math-based approach to poker; in fact, Chen and Ankenman even wrote a book titled The Mathematics of Poker.
Between 2006-09, the triumvirate won five World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets between them and seemingly set the wheels in motion for the game to evolve into today’s “solver era.” Like many others before them, all three moved away from the game over the next decade, with Hawrilenko temporarily coming out of “retirement” back in the 2015 WSOP.
Similarly, Ankenman made a rare appearance at the Rio when he was spotted in Event #44: $3,000 6-Handed Limit Hold’em. The 2009 WSOP Event #42: $2,500 8-Game Mix bracelet winner has an impressive limit hold’em résumé that includes a pair of runner-up finishes in WSOP event. Back in 2006, he took second to Ian Johns in Event #23: $3,000 Limit Hold’em for $150,586 and two years later finished runner-up to Rob Hollink in Event #30: $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship.