WSOP Hand of the Day: Maxim Lykov vs. Ben Lamb

World Series of Poker / Short-Stacked Shamus / 09 July 2011 / Leave a Comment

Ben Lamb making yet another bet on Day 1b (Photo credit: PokerNews / WSOP.com)

Among the stories swirling about the Amazon Room during Day 1b of the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event, a couple in particular stood out. One concerned the turnout, with ongoing speculation regarding what the final tally will be. The other had to do with Ben "Benba" Lamb and the phenomenal Series he's had this summer. Lamb's WSOP run continued yesterday as he accumulated more chips than anyone on Friday to take a spot near the top of the counts heading into Day 2. It is a big hand between Lamb and the Russian Maxim Lykov that serves as Friday's WSOP Hand of the Day.

Regarding turnouts, just 978 showed up on Friday for Day 1b, following the 897 who came out for Day 1a. However, the word is that registrations for Saturday and Sunday indicate field of more than 2,000 on both days, making a 6,000+ total a real possibility. The final number will surely be down from last year's 7,319, although the general sentiment is that making 6,000 will represent a higher than expected turnout.

Meanwhile, Lamb was already the focus of attention even before he started gathering chips on Friday afternoon. Lamb made three final tables this summer, including a runner-up in Event #31 ($3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha) and a victory in Event #42 ($10,000 PLO). That success has placed him just behind Phil Hellmuth in the 2011 Player of the Year standings. Lamb had a deep run in the 2009 WSOP Main Event as well, finishing 14th, and thus has had the experience of playing all of the way down to Day 8 in July before.

Lamb's big hand with Lykov occurred in the middle of Level 4 yesterday (blinds 150/300, ante 25). Lykov has had a fine WSOP himself this year, taking a bracelet just a couple of days ago in Event #54, the last of the $1,000 NLHE events. By the time the pair's big hand occurred, Lamb had about 150,000 and the current chip lead, while Lykov had a well-above-average stack himself of about 90,000.

As Kevin Taylor reported on PokerNews, the hand saw preflop action leave just Lykov and Lamb (with position) to see a flop come Jc-Kc-Js. First to act, Lykov led with a bet of 2,700, and Lamb responded with a raise to 8,500. Lykov called.

The turn brought the 10s and a check from Lykov. Lamb, now with the initiative, bet 12,000 -- probably a little more than half the total pot at that point -- and Lykov called. The river was an apparent blank, the 4d, and Lykov checked again. This time Lamb bet 30,000, and after tanking Lykov called. Lamb showed Qc-9d for a king-high straight and Lykov mucked, giving Lamb what ended up being a 100,000-plus chip pot.

Judging by the blind sizes and the flop action, there was likely a three-bet before the flop from Lamb to help create a pot big enough for Lykov to lead for 2,700 as he did. We can see in retrospect that Lamb's flop raise was on the come, with the ten on the turn subsequently filling his straight. From there Lamb bet for value, and whatever Lykov had was enough to call both the turn and river bets.

Lamb pushed over the 200,000-chip mark on that hand, and would end the day with 188,925, second thus far only to Day 1a chip leader Fred Berger who ended with 209,500. Lykov fell to 35,000 on this hand, but would battle back to end Day 1b with a healthy stack of 65,300.

Check over at PokerNews' live reporting today to see if anyone else can build a stack as big or bigger than did Berger or Lamb.