Burns Turns Tables on Kurganov
In the course of two hands, the chip positions of the final two players have changed round, illustrating the heartbreaking (and fun to watch) drama of high stakes no limit hold’em.
Igor Kurganov raised his button, understandably, with [qsqh] (to 650,000), called by Kahle Burns in the big blind with [Kd9h]. Burns outflopped his opponent ([3dKh4h]); both players checked. Burns led out for 425,000 on the [2h] turn, then called Kurganov’s raise to 1,300,000. No further betting on the [js] river, and Burns was up over 14,600,000.
The real damage came soon thereafter, however. Burns raised his button with [qh8h] and Kurganov three-bet with [ah8d]; call. The suited queen flopped a flush with [9h4h5h], while the nut flush card lurked in Kurganov’s hand. No bet from either player. On the [7c] turn, Kurganov led out for 3,300,000 and Burns flat called.
The river: [8c]. Now Kurganov checked, and Burns dived deep into his timebank, using two cards for a full minute extra to make his decision. It was to shove for 7,900,000. Kurganov took his own time to make this big call, but make it he did, and now finds himself facing a 3:1 chip leader!
| Player | Chips | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Kahle Burns | 29,100,000 |
18,100,000  |
| Igor Kurganov | 8,000,000 |
-18,000,000  |
