Wowsers!
Chip leader Rifat Palevic just lost a massive hand into the break to Vadim Ifergan. When we arrived at the table, Palevic had checked the flop to Ifergan and he bet 20,000. Palevic check-raised a huge, tall stack of gray T5,000 chips to set Ifergan all in. Ifergan tanked and tanked. He thought a few minutes into the break and then finally made the call.
"Wow, you called?" said Palevic and then turned over his hand to reveal the . Ifergan showed the for top pair, top kicker, but who have to dodge the turn and river in order to double up. He was all in on the flop for 153,300 in chips and this pot was worth well over 300,000.
The turn brought the and Ifergan was pleading with the dealer to keep the river clean. The dealer dealt the on the river and won the pot for Ifergan. He celebrated a little bit before counting out his stack for the dealer to verify. All Palevic could say was, "Wow, you call? You really called?"
Ifergan responded with, "I have nothing to lose in this tournament and I don't believe you. I bought into this tournament for $500 and I have nothing to lose, this is my first big buy-in live tournament and I have nothing to lose."
"Great call, great call," said Palevic as he sent over the chips. "Wow... wow."
Palevic saw his stack drop to 415,000. He's still in the lead, but suffered a massive blow. Ifergan moved to about 350,000.