On table 34 just now we finally saw an elimination take place – but it wasn’t where you might have expected it, had you seen the cards the players were holding beforehand.

The situation began with Malik Lefty (below, left) and Brendan Syrette (below, right) going head to head during the first of two hands, shoving all in preflop. Brendan’s pocket sevens ended up taking down the pot, leaving with Malik (and his losing ace-king) with almost nothing, just about 7,000 in chips.

Enter the second hand of this two-parter: When the table folded around to Malik, he shoved from the button – perhaps hoping to collect the blinds, or perhaps feeling a little tilty. He didn’t like what he saw, however, when both blinds decided to call. One of the blinds was Brendan, the other Alissa Allen. The flop came down and Malik stood up, not exactly enamored with the board. With no chips left to play, he could do nothing but act as a spectator.

Alissa bet 2,500, followed by a casual all-in shove by Brendan, indicating his choice with a flick of the wrist. Alissa took a minute to think about it, but ultimately decided to call Brendan’s shove. The players flipped over their cards, and it was easy to see why Malik had stood up early: he was holding hot flaming garbage!

Malik:

Alissa:

Brendan:

Alissa had made the correct read and was leading so far. However, Brendan had an open-ended straight draw so it could go either way. What no one saw coming was what eventually happened – a big triple-up by Malik! It was the river that saved him, as the final two cards were dealt giving Malik a winning pair of eights. Alissa scooped up the rest of Brendan’s chips, sending him to the rail. Malik couldn’t have been happier. “Let’s do it again!” he said.