Hand #104: Todd Birmingham Takes the Lead From Joe Rice

Photo:  The dealer pushes the pot to Todd Birmingham, who is now the chipleader.

Joe Rice raises from the cutoff to 115,000, Todd Birmingham reraises from the button to 350,000, and Rice thinks for a while before he calls.

The flop comes , Rice checks, Birmingham bets 400,000, and Rice asks how much he has left in his stack. (Birmingham has a little more than 1.5 million behind his bet of 400K.) Rice thinks for a while before he calls.

The turn card is the , and both players check.

The river card is the , Rice checks, and Birmingham says, “I think we might have the same hand.” Birmingham checks, and turns over for a pair of kings with an ace kicker.

Rice mucks, and Birmingham wins the pot — and the chip lead.

Todd Birmingham  –  3,110,000  (62 bb)
Joe Rice  –  2,600,000  (52 bb)

Photo:  Joe Rice