Saturday, July 8, 2017 2:21 PM Local Time
Kelly and Boulos Win Pots
David Greenberg raised to 800 from the cutoff and Matthew Kelly three-bet to 1,800 from one seat over. Greenberg called and the flop came , which Greenberg checked. Kelly continued for 2,200 and Greenberg folded. "I gonna show you one time," Kelly added and flashed over before also saying, "I didn't want you to catch an ace or king."
Greenberg is still up a nice amount early on Day 1a and the same also applies for Jean Raphael Boulos. He limped in and James Moore in the small blind raised to 1,200. Francisco Neto called in the big blind, as did Boulos. On the flop, Moore continued for 1,200 and Neto folded, Boulos called.
Moore bet the turn for 2,500 and the river for the same amount, picking up calls by Boulos both times. Moore rolled over and Boulos had that beat with .
| Jean Raphael Boulos | 69,000 | 69,000  |
| David Greenberg | 65,000 | 1,800 |
| Francisco Neto | 48,000 | -1,000  |
| Matthew Kelly | 47,000 | -3,000 |
Saturday, July 8, 2017 2:18 PM Local Time
Tom Schneider Gets a Fold from Pratyush Buddiga
With about 3,000 chips already in the middle on a flop of , Pratyush Buddiga checked from under the gun and Tom Schneider bet 2,000 from the button. Buddiga called.
The turn brought the and both players checked.
The fell on the river and Buddiga checked. Schneider bet 3,000, Buddiga folded, and Schneider stacked the chips.
| Tom Schneider | 53,100 | 6,100 |
| Pratyush Buddiga | 52,700 | -1,700 |
Saturday, July 8, 2017 2:14 PM Local Time
Some Assorted Counts
| Clyde Gaskins | 97,000 | 97,000 |
| Matthew Ashton | 55,000 | 5,000 |
| Zorlu Er | 55,000 | -4,000 |
| Daniel Reijmer | 35,000 | -15,000 |
Saturday, July 8, 2017 2:12 PM Local Time
Grafton Flushes Hermiz
Joining the action on the turn, Austin Hermiz bet out of the big blind and Sam Grafton raised it up to 7,450. Hermiz called and bet the river for 7,300. Grafton raised to 23,400 and Hermiz carefully checked his stack. After two minutes of consideration, Hermiz said, "OK, I call," and Grafton rolled over .
Hermiz mucked and said, "Nice hand."
He was then consoled by the Brit: "Unlucky, man."
Hermiz was left with just over 10,000 after all was done and dusted, while Grafton has already more than doubled his stack.
| Sam Grafton | 110,000 | 40,000 |
Saturday, July 8, 2017 2:08 PM Local Time
Early Exit for Valerie Jensen
Valerie Jensen, who had her hair dyed pink for the occasion, has become one of the first casualties of the Main Event. On a completed board of , Jensen bet 15,000 with around 25,000 behind.
Her opponent Andrew Graham moved all in and Jensen snap-called with . Graham held for a rivered flush and Jensen made her way to the rail.
| Andrew Graham | 135,000 | 135,000 |
| Valerie Jensen | 0 | 0 |
Saturday, July 8, 2017 2:07 PM Local Time
New Arrivals in Brasilia
Among those to take their seat recently in the Brasilia room were Dylan Honeyman, Ognjen Sekularac, Jorn Walthaus, and Chris Hunichen. The latter shares a table with fellow online crusher Patrick Leonard and Alan Smurfit while Walthaus is one table over from Chris George.
Honeyman already managed to spin up his stack nicely.
| Dylan Honeyman | 80,000 | 80,000 |
| Chris Hunichen | 51,000 | 51,000 |
| Oleksii Khoroshenin | 50,000 | 50,000 |
| Ognjen Sekularac | 48,000 | 48,000 |
| Jorn Walthaus | 38,000 | 38,000 |
Saturday, July 8, 2017 1:56 PM Local Time
Online Crusher Astedt Takes a Seat
Niklas "lena900" Astedt has been recently ranked as the No. 1 online tournament poker player in the world by PocketFives, and he's still way up in the rankings at No. 3. He's taken a seat at Table 102, not far from the media desk, and he hasn't wasted any time getting busy.
With the board reading , Astedt checked back from the button against a player in the big blind. The big blind fired 1,000 on the river and Astedt raised to 3,200. His opponent called after about 15 seconds and Astedt showed for two pair.
| Niklas Astedt | 54,500 | 54,500 |
Saturday, July 8, 2017 1:52 PM Local Time
Shahade Loses Some
With about 9,000 chips already in the middle and the board reading , Jen Shahade was in the big blind and heads up against Hakim Zoufi on the button. Shahade tossed out a single T$5,000 chip and announced a bet of 3,250. After a few moments of thought, Zoufi raised to 9,600, and Shahade mucked.
| Hakim Zoufi | 70,000 | 70,000 |
| Jen Shahade | 38,600 | -14,925 |
Saturday, July 8, 2017 1:52 PM Local Time
Jesper Hougaard's Overpair Wins a Pot
There were four players to see a flop of with around 2,000 in the middle. Two players checked and the player in late position bet 1,100. Jesper Hougaard called from the cutoff and the big blind folded. A player in early position check-raised to 3,525 and the original better folded. Hougaard stuck around to see the turn.
The came on the turn and both players checked to the on the river. The action was checked to Hougaard who bet 2,850. His opponent called and Hougaard tabled which was good enough to take down the pot.
| Jesper Hougaard | 64,000 | 14,000 |
Saturday, July 8, 2017 1:44 PM Local Time
Geller Rising
On the flop of , Gregory Geller checked out of the big blind and called a bet of 1,000 by Ivan Nguyen. Both the turn and river were checked through and Geller tabled as winning hand to bring up his stack to around 56,000. Geller won another pot soon after to boost his stack further.
| Gregory Geller | 65,000 | 15,000 |
Saturday, July 8, 2017 1:43 PM Local Time
How Did Level 1 Go for Them?
| Bryan Piccioli | 89,400 | 89,400 |
| Mark Radoja | 81,000 | 31,000 |
| Seth Berger | 68,900 | 200 |
| Sam Chartier | 66,600 | -7,400 |
| Sergi Reixach | 63,700 | 2,400 |
| Brian Altman | 61,250 | 11,250 |
| Brock Parker | 60,000 | 60,000 |
| David Paredes | 55,000 | 11,000 |
| Pratyush Buddiga | 54,400 | -5,100 |
| Pascal Lefrancois | 54,000 | -5,000 |
| Chad Eveslage | 52,000 | 2,000 |
| Martin Jacobson | 49,500 | -500 |
| Tom Schneider | 47,000 | -9,100 |
| Mike Schneider | 46,800 | -3,200 |
| David Swanson | 45,325 | 325 |
| Blake Bohn | 45,000 | 45,000 |
| Mark Johnson | 44,100 | -5,900 |
| Jeff Bryan | 41,100 | -8,900 |
| Matt Reed | 37,200 | -12,800 |
| Leon Tsoukernik | 24,600 | -9,400 |
Saturday, July 8, 2017 1:39 PM Local Time
Some Updated Chip Counts from Amazon Purple and Gold
| Seth Berger | 68,700 | 18,700 |
| Pratyush Buddiga | 59,500 | 13,500 |
| Pascal Lefrancois | 59,000 | 9,000 |
| Tom Schneider | 56,100 | 6,100 |
| Joshua Field | 52,800 | 52,800 |
| Mike Matusow | 47,600 | 3,200 |
| David Swanson | 45,000 | -400 |
| David Paredes | 44,000 | -6,000 |
| Leon Tsoukernik | 34,000 | 34,000 |
Saturday, July 8, 2017 1:36 PM Local Time
Counts from Brasilia in Level 2
| Chris George | 62,000 | 12,000 |
| Zorlu Er | 59,000 | 9,000 |
| Jimmy Jonsson | 58,000 | 8,000 |
| Pierre Merlin | 55,000 | 5,000 |
| Patrick Leonard | 55,000 | 5,000 |
| Phil Laak | 53,500 | 4,300 |
| Alan Smurfit | 52,000 | 4,900 |
| Emil Ekvardt | 52,000 | 2,000 |
| Francisco Neto | 49,000 | -6,000 |
| Jerry Yang | 48,000 | -1,100 |
| Richard Seymour | 45,000 | -4,770 |
| Dan Shak | 42,000 | -8,000 |
| Donnacha O'Dea | 42,000 | -8,000 |
| Raul Martinez Requena | 38,000 | -12,000 |
| Anton Morgenstern | 25,000 | -27,800 |
| Jerry Odeen | 24,000 | -26,000 |
| Caroline Dupre | 17,000 | -33,000 |
Saturday, July 8, 2017 1:28 PM Local Time
Level 2 started
Level: 2
Blinds: 150/300
Ante: 0
Saturday, July 8, 2017 1:06 PM Local Time
First Break of Day 1a
The players have been sent into the first break of the day. Because of a bracelet ceremony, this one is a bit longer than the usual 20 minutes.
While you wait check out what makes the Ladies Event so popular.
Saturday, July 8, 2017 1:05 PM Local Time
One For Grafton
Sam Grafton bet 4,300 on a board and his opponent called. On the river, Grafton instantly checked. His opponent bet 7,200, which Grafton called immediately.
Grafton's opponent showed for ace-high and Grafton took it down with .
One table over, Jameson Painter is already up to 90,000 in the early stages.
| Jameson Painter | 90,000 | |
| Sam Grafton | 70,000 | |
Saturday, July 8, 2017 1:04 PM Local Time
Boatman Runs Over the Table
Iraj Parvizi managed to spin up his stack to 40,000 again, but that has since vanished to zero while Barny Boatman was stacking a ton of chips. According to Boatman, he took the entire stack of Parvizi and the Brit was kind enough to share the details.
Parvizi raised to 450 from middle position and Brooks Floyd called on the button, Boatman raised to 1,800 in the big blind and both opponents called. On the flop, all three players checked and an appeared on the turn. Boatman bet 1,800 and Parvizi raised to 7,000, Floyd folded and Boatman called.
After the river, Boatman checked and Parvizi bet 15,000 before Boatman moved all in and was called. Boatman showed for a straight and Parvizi had pocket eights for a set to hit the rail.
Xiangdong Jiang had busted earlier on the table and Boatman also dominated the last few hands of the first level. Boatman defended his big blind to a raise by Floyd on the button and bet the flop for 600, Floyd called and Sergon Toma in the small blind folded. On the turn, Boatman bet 1,100 and was called before betting the river for 3,000. Floyd called and was shown for trips fours by Boatman.
Last but not least, Boatman bet the turn for 1,300 and Toma called before Toma bet the on the river for 1,000. Boatman raised to 3,000 and Toma called, showed a jack. Boatman had that beat with for trips tens and raked in another pot.
| Barny Boatman | 139,500 | 69,500 |
| Iraj Parvizi | 0 | -33,000 |
| Xiangdong Jiang | 0 | 0 |
Saturday, July 8, 2017 1:04 PM Local Time
Spinella Slips
Three players saw a flop of and Marquez Nazarro checked from the big blind to the under-the-gun player who bet 650. Anthony Spinella called from the button and Nazarro called as well.
The turn brought the and Nazarro checked. The under-the-gun player bet again, 1,400 this time. Spinella called and Nazarro called.
The river was the and Nazarro checked. The under-the-gun player bet 3,900, sending Spinella into the tank briefly. He ultimately folded, and after a few moments of consideration, Nazarro called. The under-the-gun player showed for ace-king high, Nazarro flipped over for a pair of sevens, which was good enough to win the pot. Spinella mumbled a few words of disbelief as Nazarro collected his newly-acquired chips.
| Maquez Nazarro | 68,000 | 68,000 |
| Anthony Spinella | 32,050 | -17,950 |
Saturday, July 8, 2017 12:59 PM Local Time
A Round of Quotes from Mike Matusow
Mike "The Mouth" Matusow has long been known for his loquacious ways at the table. He has a seat at the edge of Amazon Purple, and with the lull in early-level action, we thought we'd hang around his table for an orbit and see if he would drop any choice quotes. He didn't disappoint, as he had plenty to say.
In the first hand we saw, Matusow was in the big blind and someone opened early. While waiting his turn, Matusow reflected on the modern chip structure of the WSOP Main Event, which sees 50,000 starting stacks, up from 30,000 recently and 10,000 before that.
"That was the best part of the old days," Matusow said. "People lost a few chips and thought they were short. They'd have 10,000 and lose 700 and start panicking."
Matusow added that he didn't think there was any need for the 50K stacks.
The Mouth continued to fold the next few hands, engaging in conversation with Pratyush Buddiga.
"You've had a pretty good summer, right?"
Buddiga said he has, and they discussed Buddiga's sixth-place finish in the $300K Super High Roller Bowl for $1 million and then his fourth-place finish in a $1,500 event here at the WSOP for $124,615.
"I knew I had a good table when I saw you were here," Matusow mused. "Old school wizard, Donkey Kong bomber, and new school wizard."
Matusow was referencing Tom "DonkeyBomber" Schneider, who is in Seat 1 at their table.
Shortly after that, Matusow played the only hand he voluntarily entered while we were at his table. He opened for 400 in middle position and got callers on his immediate left and in the big blind. Everyone checked the flop, and Matusow bet 1,000 on the turn. That won him the pot.
With his big blind coming up, Matusow discussed his thoughts on the Main Event at large.
"It's the only tournament in the history of poker you never have to bluff," he said, folding his under-the-gun hand. "You just have to stay alive and wait for the idiots to give you their chips."
| Mike Matusow | 44,400 | 900 |
Saturday, July 8, 2017 12:57 PM Local Time
Matt Savage Enters the Field
Matt Savage has entered the field in Day 1a of the WSOP Main Event. Savage is a world-renowned tournament director having officiated the World Series of Poker from 2002-2004. Savage has also worked at stops throughout the WPT and founded the Tournament Directors Association.
Savage has five WSOP cashes in his career and is looking for another here in the 2017 Main Event. He got off to a strong start when he raised to 350 from the cutoff. The small blind reraised to 1,275 and Savage made the call. The flop was and the small blind checked to Savage who bet 1,500. His opponent folded and Savage raked in the pot.
| Matt Savage | 54,000 | 54,000 |