Derek Gregory Doubles Thru Peter Neff to Take the Chip Lead in a 15+ Minute Hand

This was the last hand of the previous level, though it effectively extended thru the break and into this level.

Joe Tehan raises from the cutoff to 4,500, Derek Gregory (left) reraises from the button to 15,000, and chipleader Peter Neff (right) cold-four-bets it from the big blind to 38,500. Tehan folds, and Gregory thinks for a bit before he calls.

The flop comes [10h6d3h], Neff checks, Gregory bets 40,000, and Neff moves all in for about 300,000. Gregory has a little less than 110,000 left behind, and he goes into the tank for a long, long time.

Neff moved all in about the same time that the level ended, and most of the players in the area clear out for the break, leaving just Gregory and Neff. Gregory is visibly conflicted, repeatedly calling it a possible cooler situation. Meanwhile, Neff remains silent and motionless, not responding to any of Gregory’s comments.

About halfway into the break, Gregory says, "I’m glad this is a break, because I’m gonna need some time!" He then says he thinks he’s been coolered, and adds, to nobody in particular, "Every damn tournament this happens, man!"

After 10 minutes in the tank, Neff brings his hands up in front of his mouth, but otherwise remains motionless. Gregory looks up at the clock to see that there are fewer than five minutes left in the break, and he says, "I’m sorry you’re missing your break, but I’m not gonna let you go, man." (Neff, of course, has the option of calling for a clock, but he remains silent and motionless.)

Gregory stands up and says, "This is about to be one of the biggest coolers." He looks like he might call, but he sits back down.

After more than 12 minutes in the tank, players start returning, and gather around to sweat the action. A pretty good-sized crowd develops, as Gregory mutters to himself, "Too much invested. Too much invested."

Finally, with about a minute left in the break (nearly 15 minutes in the tank), Gregory calls and shows [QhQs] for an overpair. Neff quietly turns over [8c8h] for a lower pair with some backdoor draws.

Gregory stands up and says, "C’mon, baby!" The dealer puts out the [9s] on the turn, giving Neff a gutshot straight draw. But the [2d] on the river misses Neff, and Gregory shouts "Whoo!" as he wins the pot to double up in chips.

Derek Gregory  –  381,800  (159 bb)
Peter Neff  –  156,000  (65 bb)

After the hand, Tehan points out that he folded ace-five of hearts, and if he hadn’t been raised out of the pot, he might have gone broke over-extending a flopped flush draw.