If you hang around a poker room long enough, there are some sounds that tell a story so clearly, you don’t even need to see the action to know what’s going on.  Our attention was attracted by a resounding and familiar pairing of words: “All-in”, followed by a resounding and immediate “call!”  Every poker player knows this song: someone has aces up their sleeve.

We got to the table in time to see two aces land on the table in front of Etienne Sorel: .  His opponent, Jean-René Lafleur, slumped his shoulder and tabled his own hand: .  His all-in was worth 315,000 and had obviously been meant to make everyone fold.  Then lady luck decided to prove, once again, how fickle she can be, as the dealer revealed the flop.  .  Now it was Sorel’s turn to slump his shoulders.  Just like that, Lafleur had gone from underdog to top dog by hitting his nut flush right out of the gate.  Two bricks followed on the turn and river: and Sorel sighed as he sat back down to count out his chips.

He pushed out what he thought was the right amount, but the dealer informed him that he was still missing 100,000.  Sorel looked down at his remaining chips and sadly realized that he was covered.  When the dust settled both gentlemen knuckle-punched and all was good.  If this has never happened to you, you’re either very lucky, or very new to the game; cracked aces are the bane of every poker player’s existence.  “Don’t sweat it man, it happens”, were Sorel’s parting words as he left the tournament area to go claim his $490 prize for finishing in 44th position.

Things are moving along and there is just under one hour of play left.