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Within the first hour, despite having seen less than a handful of flops, one person has changed the poker-face of this table. The lone Russian, Ivan Demidov, took only one pot early in the action, but in the 18th hand of the day, he took a monster from now-former chipleader Dennis Phillips.
After Phillips attempted to limp into the pot, Demidov raised to 1.025 million. Phillips reraised to 3.525 million, and with some consideration, Demidov pushed it up to 8.225 million. Phillips called, and the flop came 8d-10c-Js. Phillips began post-flop betting with 4.5 million, but Demidov came over the top with an all-in move. Phillips would have been covered and at-risk for his tournament life, and he finally folded.
That left Phillips with only 8.88 million and Demidov with a significant chip lead over the pack with 35.875 million.
Considering that Ivan Demidov is the first WSOPeople person in the spotlight today, we can announce that he has won the opportunity to wear a Pokerati patch for the remainder of the final table…..for free! Yes, at no cost to him, he can come to us on the next break and grab that patch. Congrats, Ivan! We\’ll wait for you in the lobby.