Volpe Bests Two World Champions
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Johnny Chan opened with an early position raise to 1,600 and Paul Volpe called from the cutoff. Phil Hellmuth peeked at his cards from the small blind and moved out a three-bet to 7,000. Chan took a moment and looked at his cards once more before moving out a call. Volpe decided to call behind.
| Player | Draw |
|---|---|
| Phil Hellmuth | Pat |
| Johnny Chan | 1 |
| Paul Volpe | 1 |
Hellmuth checked before the draw was even complete and Chan checked as well. Volpe knocked the table back and the dealer prompted the players to table their hands.
"Queen," announced Hellmuth.
"No good," shot back Volpe, showing 
.
Chan quietly looked at Volpe's hand and mucked his own. Hellmuth threw his hand away but nothing about the exchange that occurred afterward was quiet.
"He calls seven-thousand with a nine. It's just insane," Hellmuth muttered to himself. "If I get some chips I have a shot to win. You on the other hand..." he trailed off.
Volpe quietly replied with something that we couldn't hear, but this was when Chan chimed in.
"Did he say he had a queen?" asked Chan.
Volpe confirmed that was what Hellmuth said.
"I had him beat anyway!" said Chan.
Hellmuth continued to speak lowly even as the next hand begun. The PokerBrat now has about 19,000 in chips while Volpe is thriving at 42,000. Chan is just around starting stack with 31,000.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
42,000
11,000
|
11,000 |
|
||
|
31,000
-4,000
|
-4,000 |
|
||
|
19,000
-20,000
|
-20,000 |
|
||