HomeWe didn’t catch the crucial hands for Martin Gonzales so we asked him how he got to around 100,000 at this point. According to the Filipino, he remembers two hands that put him in the top spot (or near it).
First hand, Gonzales had A♦ 8♦ and he bet 1,300 preflop with one caller.
Both players checked the flop J♥ J♦ 9♥ and on the turn 2♦ Gonzales fired 1,500 and saw his opponent flat-call. The river 4♦ arrived and he fired 5,000. The opponent replied with a shove and Gonzales quickly called. The opponent had king-jack for trips but wasn’t enough to beat Gonzales’s nut flush.
In the second hand– which brought him near to 100K in chips, he held pocket aces against two shorter-stacked opponents. The bullets held and he became one of the players with the bigger stacks for Day 1B.