An Orbit in the Life of James Bord
Since he's, you know, the defending champion of this event, we figured we'd park next to James Bord for an orbit and see what things look like through his eyes.
Chips to start orbit: 70,925
Hand #1: Bord was in middle position. Yves Hallague opened to 1,250, and Bord folded.
Hand #2: Alexander Dovzhenko opened to 1,100. Bord folded.
Hand #3: Under the gun plus one, Bord opened to 1,400. Next door, Men Nguyen made the call, and they went off to a heads-up flop. It came 
, and Bord continued out with 1,000. Nguyen only had 2,900 chips left, and he instantly dumped them into the pot in a sloppy pile. "I don't think you have any ace," he said after a moment.
Bord just chuckled. "Well, of course I don't have an ace," he replied. After another few seconds, he added a, "Whatever," under his breath and made the call to put Nguyen at risk.
"Of course I have the ace," Nguyen said proudly, tabling his 
.
"I don't really care," Bord said flatly. He doesn't seem to be a fan of Nguyen. He showed his 
, and the turn 
and river 
gave Nguyen the double.
Hand #4: Bord folded under the gun, and starting grinding his Twitter feed hard.
Hand #5: Bord was in the big blind, punching through Twitter when the dealer's eyes were averted. Men Nguyen limped in under the gun, and he was joined by Philippe Narboni and small blind Joao Barbosa. Bord knocked the table for a free flop. It came 
, and the action checked all the way around. On the 
turn, Bord took his cue to bet 1,000 at the pot, and now only Nguyen called to see the last card. It was the 
, and Bord relinquished control with a check. Nguyen took his cue to bet 2,000, and Bord tank-called. Nguyen tabled 
for the flush, and it was good. Bord flashed his cards -- we couldn't tell for sure, but it looked like he showed a ten. Either way, it was second-best.
Hand #6: Bord was in the small blind, and he folded to a raise from Stephane Gard.
Hand #7: Bord was on the button, and he received three hole cards from the dealer. The mistake was quickly caught, and the cards were called back. Interestingly, Men Nguyen happened to be dealt pocket queens, and Herve Carvalho was dealt ace-king. Bring 'em back though, boys.
Hand #7 (again): When the action folded to him, Bord raised to 1,500. We didn't see him look at his hole cards, but that doesn't necessarily mean that he didn't. Guillaume Humbert called in the big blind, but check-fold to another 2,000 from Bord on the 
flop. Bord buried his nose back in his phone.
Hand #8: With a raise and a call in front of him, Bord folded his cutoff. Something on his phone caught his attention. He shot out of his chair and began pacing around the room, head on a swivel. In the far corner of the room, he finally found who he was looking for -- Tony G. The two men shared a brief conversation while they both stared intently into Bord's phone.
Hand #9: Bord was still up talking with Tony G during the final hand of his orbit, and his cards were mucked.
Chips to end orbit: 64,625