PokerNews set out to get the details and found Matusow flying down the hallway on his scooter, no doubt trying to get out of the Rio as fast as possible. We didn't even have to ask questions; he just volunteered the details.
"I grenaded," he said. "A guy raised up front. He'd been playing loose all day, so I wasn't worried about him.
"The button flats. He's been three-betting a ton, and nobody's really been playing back, and I thought this was a good time to squeeze."
"I made it 21,500. The original raiser folded, and the other guy called. The flop came . I knew he didn't have a ten or a four. I made it 26.5k to go, and of course, he called. There was a blank on the turn, and I shipped it in. I had ace-queen, and he had ace-king.
"He hasn't had it all day and now decides to wake up with a hand."
You could see the pain on Matusow's face and hear it in his voice. Exit interviews are always hard, but this one made the devastation of busting the Main abundantly clear.
"I'm so frustrated. I had the worst table draw. I played for three days, and I had horrible table draws every day. I just lost it. I couldn't stay patient. I'm so mad at myself right now because I know better."
By all accounts, Matusow has had a great summer with seven cashes that included three final tables. He was full of confidence, and in true "The Mouth" fashion, made sure everyone knew he was playing some of his best poker. Which makes this kind of misstep even more disheartening.
Alerted by a tweet from Scott Seiver, a closer look at his table was warranted, as a huge pot had played out to leave him short.
Aces < Kings allin pre for 1.2 million.
— Scott Seiver (@scott_seiver)
The player that benefited in the hand in question was none other than Antoine Saout, who finished in third place in the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event for $ 3,479,670.
According to Saout, a short stack moved all in for 81,500 with pocket nines, and Seiver just called with his aces. Saout moved all in over the top for 488,000 with pocket kings and Seiver snap-called. There was no drama on the flop and turn, but Saout spiked a king on the river to bust the short stack and push his own stack above one million.
Le Jour 3 s'est tenu la nuit dernière au Rio. L'heure de la grande réunification pour les 2572 survivants du Main Event des World Series of Poker 2017. 14 heures plus tard, les rescapés du tournoi entraient finalement dans l'argent pour un min-cash de 15.000$.
Quan Zhou s'incline dans un pot 3 bet où il a essayé de bluff le Team Pro WinamaxDavidi Kitai. Le Belge avait Full House et n'a pas hésité une seconde quand son adversaire a fait tapis avec hauteur . Il termine la journée avec plus d'un million de jetons.
Les survivants du tournoi pouvaient eux laisser exploser de joie avant d'emballer leurs jetons. Alors que Zhou a overbet rivière pour lâcher ses 75 blindes, Jeff Del Castilho a passé l'obstacle avec moins d'une blinde !
Saout dans les hauteurs du classement
Le patron du tournoi à l'issue du Jour 3 se nomma Patrick Lavecchia (1,552,000). Pawel Brzeski (1,546,000) est juste derrière tout comme l'ancien finaliste tricolore, Antoine Saout (1,529,000) ! Ce dernier avait frôlé l'élimination quelques heures plus tôt mais avait été chanceux contre Scott Seiver.
In the money with 1,529 million! Avg is 333k. bb6k. Won a sick KK>AA to stay alive then some grind.
— Antoine Saout (@tonio292)
Le Breton devance Jeremiah Fitzpatrick (1,523,000), Derek Bowers (1,376,000) ou encore Mickey Craft. (1,345,000) et le chipleader à l'issue du Jour 2, le Britannique Artan Dedusha (1,288,000).
Place
Joueur
Pays
Chipcount
1
Patrick Lavecchia
United States
1,552,000
2
Pawel Brzeski
Poland
1,546,000
3
Antoine Saout
France
1,529,000
4
Jeremiah Fitzpatrick
United States
1,523,000
5
Derek Bowers
United States
1,376,000
6
Ibrahim Nasief
Mexico
1,350,000
7
Mickey Craft
United States
1,345,000
8
Scott Blumstein
United States
1,340,000
9
Artan Dedusha
United Kingdom
1,288,000
10
Greg Dyer
United States
1,276,000
Une soixantaine de joueurs tricolores étaient présents à l'entame du Jour 3, 27 joueurs français ont fait l'argent et seront au Jour 4 avec la fierté d'avoir atteint au moins l'argent sur le plus prestigieux tournoi du monde.
Pas de place payée en revanche pour Brian Rast, Cary Katz, Mike Matusow, Sam Greenwood, Adrian Mateos, Jason Mercier, Joe Hachem, Johnny Chan, Greg Raymer et Tom McEvoy.
Il y a eu de la casse et des regrets côté français avec une trentaine de ressortissants qui chutent à quelques encablures de l'argent : Estelle Denis, Michel Abécassis, Giuseppe Zarbo, David Benyamine, Eric Sfez, Edouard Mignot, François Pelletant, Richard Dromzee, Romain Lefebvre de Rieux, Adrien Favrefelix, Adriano Di Fatta, Romain Nardin, Louis Linard, Nicolas Le Floch, Jérémie Sarda, Fabrice Soulier, Clément Richez, François Tosques, Benjamin Nicolas-[Removed:372], Jean Montury, Benoît Albiges, Yann Brosolo, Sayed Moussavi Nameghi, Arnaud Mattern, Alexandre Viard, Anthony Kazgandjian, Vincent Dupuy, Anthony Apicelia, Grégory Benac et Alexandre Amiel repartent les mains vides.
Les survivants reviennent à 20 heures avec 60 minutes à jouer sur les blindes 3000-6000 (1000), cela devrait sauter comme du pop-corn à la reprise. L'action est à suivre en direct sur PokerNews.