I arrived just as the river was being dealt, the board reading :::4h :::5d :::Js :::Ts :::8h. A hefty 5,000 pot had already formed – consider a moment that the blinds are still a piddling 25/50, making this a huge pot at this stage in the tournament. It was about to get even huger…
Joao Vieira bet 3,200 and after a few moments his opponent Pedro Poças raised to 8,200, giving Vieira a confrontational look. Vieira didn’t look intimidated though – after a pause, he silently moved all in for just over 20,000.
This was presumably not what Poças had hoped would happen. He sighed deeply and took a sip of coffee. Then he sighed again and sat back in his chair. He looked at the ceiling and said, “Uh.” Then he sighed again. This went on for a good five minutes before he folded, leaving himself on 9,000.
Vieira remained completely impassive as he increased his stack to over 30,000. He is among our early chip leaders now.
