Mattern Doing or Dying
We did not, so Mattern explained to us what happened. It turns out that he raised to 250 in early position with offsuit. He'd been raising a lot, and so was not surprised when he got action. A gentleman in mid position made it 750 to go, one Armenio Massimo called in the big blind, and Mattern called too.
Mattern was delighted when the flop came down , giving him top two pair. Then everything went mad.
Massimo bet out 2,400. Mattern made it 7,500. The gentleman in mid position flat-called with 17,000 behind. Massimo then went all in for 17,500, Mattern also went all in to cover them both, and Mr. Mid Position called all in.
When the cards were flipped, Mattern was ahead - Massimo was holding for top pair and a gutshot, while Mr. Mid Position had just the nut flush draw. A blank on the turn didn't do anything for anyone, but the river came down the to make Massimo a straight and Mr. Mid Position a flush. Massimo is therefore bust, Mr. Mid Position took the whole pot, and Mattern is back down to 30,000 after a very good start to the day.
German Team PokerStars Pro George Danzer was listening in as Mattern retold the story. "French fish," he chuckled as Mattern headed back to the felt.