$3,500 WPT RRPO Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 15:  3,000/6,000 with a 6,000 ante
Players Remaining:  200 of 1,566

With the board showing on the turn and about 150K already in the pot, the player in the small blind checked, James Calderaro moved all in UTG+1 for 251,000, and his opponent went into the tank for a very long time.

The small blind had maybe 10K more in chips than Calderaro, so it was for nearly his entire stack.

Calderaro was casual and talkative, as he often is, and at one point the small blind said he wasn’t sure what to do.

Calderaro said, “Tell me what you have, and I’ll tell you what to do.”

The dealer points out that they can’t discuss the contents of their hands, and Calderaro jokingly asks why. The dealer, who knows full well that Calderaro is joking, sticks to the script and says it’s against the rules.

“Rules?” asks Calderaro. “There are rules?”

The small blind thought for a while longer, and Calderaro asked the dealer if he could tell him that he’ll show his hand if the small blind folds. The dealer said it wouldn’t be against the rules. (Calderaro knows all of this, and is just having fun doing a bit.)

So Calderaro looked to the small blind and said, “I’ll show if you fold.”

After a while longer, somebody at the table calls for a clock. The floorperson counts down for 30 seconds, and the time runs out, killing the small blind’s hand with a forced fold.

Calderaro stays true to his word and shows his cards — for a nine-high flush — as he takes the pot.

The small blind claimed to have had bottom set (a set of deuces).

James Calderaro  –  405,000  (68 bb)

With 200 players remaining from a field of 1,566, the average chip stack is about 313,000 (52 big blinds). The final 196 players will finish in the money, guaranteed at least $5,265 each.

There will be a 90-minute dinner break after Level 16 (around 6:30 pm), and action will continue tonight until the end of Level 20 (around 12:15 am).