Linas Balaisis Survives the Big Blind Again, Winning Back His 3K

Linas Balaisis is once again in the big blind, and he owes 8,000 for the big-blind ante and another 8,000 for the big blind. But he only has 3,000, so it all goes into the ante, and, if he wins the pot, he’ll only get his 3,000 back.

Dmitrii Shchepkin raises UTG+1 to 17,000, and everyone else folds. Shchepkin takes the small blind of 4,000, and he’ll need to beat Balaisis to claim the 3,000 in the main pot.

Balaisis turns over , and he needs to improve to stay alive against Shchepkin’s .

The flop comes , and Shchepkin pairs his jack to take a huge lead.

But the turn card is the , giving Balaisis a glimmer of hope with an open-ended straight draw.

The river card is — the !

The entire table cheers as short-stack Linas Balaisis rivers a king-high straight to stay alive and win back his 3,000 in chips.

Linas Balaisis  –  3,000  (1/2 bb)