The Second Man-Machine
Poker Competition

Live Blog

Note: The information on this page may be incomplete or contain errors. We apologize for any misquotes or incorrect hand history information.

Day 3: July 5th, 2008

3:41pm The video has finished with IJay ending down $307,500, meaning that Polaris ends the match up $56,000. This means a victory for Polaris, bringing the total score to 2-2-1.

3:20pm The final hand finishes and the competition is over. Down here at the expo we'll show a video of the final hands of the other half of the competition to see how it ends, though of course you can just go check the hand casting to see what happened. Mark ends up $251,500 after having played an excellent session against our powerful agent.

3:16pm We pass hand 475 as the competition comes to a close. Mark is up $238k as he takes down a small pot that Polaris folded.

3:12pm Mark makes a great play by being a little conservative in a tough situation. He starts with 64 to a 6KK flop and the turn brings another 6, giving him 6s full of Ks. There's a litte bit of betting before a 9 comes on the river, and Mark wisely checks to see Polaris reveal K3 for the win.

3:08pm Polaris takes down a decent pot with big slick as the board brings nothing for Mark.

3:06pm Passing hand 432 and Mark takes down another hand. He hits mid pair on the flop and bets it through the river, winnings a decent pot. This brings him up to $234k.

3:01pm In the classic fashion of aggressive play, Mark and Polaris go toe-to-toe with mediocre hands and lots of bets. The board ends 4J5J2 and Polaris takes it down with K high.

2:58pm The break's over and the match has restarted. The break was a bit long for Polaris and he went to sleep. Everyone needs a nap now and then.

2:46pm And we've reached the second break at hand 400. Mark is up $211k, obviously having the stronger side of the cards. His hope now is that his partner hasn't been run over as much as he's beaten Polaris down here.

2:43pm Mark's total is brought up to $185k after hand 384. The betting is capped preflop with his cards A8. Despite some aggressive betting by Polaris, Mark hangs in the hand and ends up winning with A high.

2:40pm We're getting close to our second break as we pass by hand 365. Mark is up $169k after folding a weak hand preflop.

2:35pm Polaris gets another break in hand 347. The betting preflop is capped with Mark's 77. The flop comes underneath his pair with 354 and it checks around. The turn brings another 4 and Mark ends up 3-betting to Polaris. The river brings an A, but this didn't matter to anyone as Polaris takes the pot with KK.

2:30pm The river brings another blessing to Mark in hand 328. After flopping two nines, Mark ends up drawing to a J high straight on the river and tramples Polaris's trip nines.

2:24pm Hand 301 and Mark is up $144k. Polaris catches a break after Mark starts the hand with 22 and a 3-bet. The flop comes AAJ and the players check. The turn brings another A and a bet. Finally, the river brings an 8 and Mark ends up losing to Polaris catching that final pair with 89.

2:19pm Mark seems indestructible as he starts another hand with K9s. After capping the betting preflop and calling Polaris's bets after street, he ends up hitting a K on the river, beating Polaris's pocket Qs.

2:16pm A big hand starts with Mark getting AK in the hole. The players cap the betting preflop, and the flop comes 7QJ. Mark bets, Polaris calls, and the turn brings a K, giving mark top pair. Mark bets again and Polaris calls. The river brings a 7, pairing the board. Mark ends up winning with two pair KK over 77 against Polaris's QQ over JJ.

2:12pm The match continues as some Jackson 5 comes on the loud speakers. Mark's now up to $103k after his last victory. Starting with A6, he and Polaris played a timid game as the board ends up pairing twice and Mark wins with his A high.

2:03pm Hand 217 and Mark takes a loss. He starts the hand with A6 to a couple a preflop raises. The flop comes 932 and he calls Polaris's bet. The turn brings a 10 and another bet. Finally, the river brings a 6, giving Mark a pair. He bets, Polaris raises and he ends up losing to KK.

1:57pm The break's over and the hands are flowing again. The expo is a bustling place with lots of people wandering around and booths advertising things. The hand casting is now up and running, so you can see both sides of the match as we continue to play.

1:46pm We've reached the first break at hand 200 and Mark is up $63k. We'll resume shortly.

1:43pm We've passed hand 180 and Mark is now up $80k. He hit another pair on the flop last hand, starting with 64 and seeing 693. The turn brings an A, which he checks through. The river brings a J, he bets, Polaris raises and he ends up laying down his hand.

1:33pm Mark just hit another big hand, bringing him up to $53k. He started with JK preflop. The flop comes 47J, giving him top pair. Both players make a bet, and the turn brings a 5 and another bet. The river gives Mark trips with another J, and he ends up beating Polaris with 74 who now has 3-pair.

1:29pm Hand 125 and Mark is up $24k. He started with 8T preflop with a couple bets. The flop comes 9A7, giving him an open ended straight draw. The turn brings another A, and when the river brings a 5 he finally gives up his hand.

1:18pm Mark is up $27,500 after a poor hand. He has 5K and the flop comes 44Q. The turn brings a 5, giving Mark two pair. The river brings another 4, giving him a full house. Polaris had been somewhat timid, so he bets and ends up losing to Polaris's pocket 8s.

1:11pm Hand 48 and the players are tied. Mark had 99 and raised preflop. The flop comes under his pair with 534. The turn brings another 9, giving him a set, and he checks as a slow play. The river brings an 8, but he's unable to cash in on his set as Polaris wouldn't put any more money into the pot.

1:05pm We've played 28 hands so far and polaris is up $5,000. Mark had a strong A8 preflop and 3 bets were put into the pot, but the flop game 7J6 and Polaris ended up winning with 2J.

1:00pm The match has begun! Let the best man, er, player win.

12:35pm We're getting close to the start of the match. IJay "doughnutz" Palansky has been playing upstairs for a little while now, and Mark "newhizzle" Newhouse will begin the expo match in 25 minutes. Mark's anxious to test his skills against Polaris and can't wait to start.

9:56am Good morning world! This is Dave coming to you live from the gaming life expo at the Rio. I have a feeling that it's going to be a wonderful day. I'll have more for you as the day gets started. Rar.