Alfonso Amendola, who normally sports full western attire at EPTs complete with gallon hat, cowboy shirt and a thick cigar, just helped Polish player Pawel Chmiel on his way to the chip lead.
Amendola made it 975 from under-the-gun and got two callers, one of which was Chmiel, a veteran of EPTs and the PokerStars World Cup of Poker exactly two weeks ago, where he and his Polish team mates finished sixth. They saw a flop of Kd-Tc-6d which Chmiel checked. Amendola, still working the cigar, made it 2,000, forcing out one player a bet not big enough to shake off the Pole.
Pawel Chmiel
"How much?" asked Chmiel, before raising to 5,700.
Amendola thought for a while, chewed for a while, and called to see an ace on the turn. Now Chmiel checked to the Italian who promptly moved all-in for 11,500. Now it was Chmiel's turn to go into the tank, taking some time, time enough for a few more reporters and the odd camera to stop by, asking the Italian if he'd show if he folded, before resigning himself to calling.
He did.
Ad-Jc for the Italian. Kc-Th for Chmiel, who's two pairs would hold fast. Amendola tapped the table and left the room to look for a match as Chmiel rebuilt his stack worth 55,000.
