John Dwyer agonizingly close to cashing the Battle of Malta

As the 2015 bubble bursts along with his hopes for a deep run.

The bubble was painless this year for the floor managers as it involved just one all-in, (unlike the mad scramble of 2013).

For three times Battle of Malta final tablist, John Dwyer, the experience was anything but painless.

The professional poker player known for his expert mathematical play took an entire sixteen minutes, before he decided to commit his remaining chips and tournament life to Newhouse's river shove. The length of time that Dwyer went into the tank was made all the more remarkable because of the strength of the hand he was holding - a fullhouse (queens full).

Despite the sixteen minutes of consideration which must have seemed like an eternity for the other players at the table, not one player asked for the clock.

"There are some moments in poker that are so important you just don't call the clock, this was one of those moments", Daniel Negreanu remarked when interviewed.

Negreanu had to jump from his chair to catch Dwyer who almost collapsed to the floor! When his opponent tabled quad fives.

Departing the casino amidst a chorus of 'wow, so brutal!', and "so sick man", Dwyer was heard to cry, "I knew I should have folded the queens pre-flop. Why didn't I fold the queens?".

On the green felt one person's destruction is another person's bounty however and the very same ice cold deck: - 

Q♦5♦K♦5♣A♠

that ended Dwyer's dreams, catapulted the remaining one hundred players into the money, instantly creating a carnival atmosphere across the floor.

They have their work cut out though if they want to take this tournament down. The chip leader Emty (of Ranking Hero) has a cool 1.1 million chips and shows no signs of abating his relentless ascent.

Emty who attributes a large part of his success to the Ranking Hero club he attends commented "It's all about the sense of community and fun for me, it has really motivated me to do great things with my game".

In fact, all 9 of the current chip leaders are regulars at the Ranking Hero club.

You can relive the brutal bubble hand here, courtesy of our replayer: -

Play resumes tomorrow at 10am.

#BloggersBubble