Thursday, May 28, 2015 1:57 AM Local Time
After the final four hands of Level 15, Day 1 of Event #1 Casino Employees No-Limit Hold'em is officially over.
Over 12 hours of poker was played today, starting with just under 690 entrants taking their seats in the Brasilia Room, all in quest of the first World Series of Poker bracelet of 2015.
Less than 10% of the original field remains and has advanced to tomorrow's Day 2 session, with the remaining 51 players all looking up to the Day 1 chip leader, Stephen Gilbert.
It was going to be a more or less wire-to-wire performance by Blake Robbins, as he was pegged as an early chip leader and held that advantage for the majority of the last few levels. He finished with just over 230,000 but it was Gilbert who bagged the biggest stack, finishing with 236,000.
Also near the top of the Event #1 leaderboard are bubble burster Michael Kahn and Gary Kochalka who are both sitting near the 165,000 mark.
Coming back for Day 2 severely short, with 19,000 but with heaps of experience, is Corey Emory. He finished in 2nd place in this exact event last year and will need to spin up a stack quick if he hopes to repeat that performance in 2015.
That concludes the coverage from Day 1 of Event #1, with play restarting tomorrow at 1 PM in Amazon Gold where 51 players will return to play down to a champion.
A complete list of the outstanding Event #1 results are posted in the 'Results' tab above.
Thursday, May 28, 2015 12:32 AM Local Time
Johnny Gagelonia raises in the hijack to 5,500 and a player in the small blind raises all-in. Gagelonia takes a few minutes before calling and is at risk for his tournament.
Gagelonia:
Hijack:
The board runs out and Gagelonia doubles up with a pair of jacks.
"I really didn't care to come back tomorrow with 10 big blinds so I went with it," Gagelonia said.
He's now playing 50,000 chips as the tables play their last hands of the night.
Thursday, May 28, 2015 12:25 AM Local Time
Actions folds around to a player in the small blind who announces he is all in for his last 21,500. Lyle Woodbury, who has been referred to as "The Chupacabra" for the majority of this tournament, calls from the big blind.
Small Blind:
Woodbury:
The board runs out and Woodbury wins the pot as "Chupacabra" chants echo throughout the Brasilia room from both Woodbury and his rail.
Lyle Woodbury - 65,000
Thursday, May 28, 2015 12:06 AM Local Time
Craig Lahr is all-in, with his opponent covered, at risk and way behind as the big stack holds .
His opponent is drawing very thin, holding and needs to hit to stay alive. He picks up no help on the run out, scoring the knockout for Lahr.
His opponent had survived a few all-ins since the money bubble burst to outlast a dozen or so players but wasn't able to get another, as Lahr is now up and over the 110,000 chip mark.
There is just over a half hour remaining in Level 15 and Day 1, with just over 60 players still alive.
Wednesday, May 27, 2015 11:59 PM Local Time
As level 15 gets underway the tournament staff has informed the players this will be the last level of the night. 64 players from our original 688 remain.
Wednesday, May 27, 2015 11:58 PM Local Time
Level: 15
Blinds: 1,200/2,400
Ante: 400
Wednesday, May 27, 2015 11:48 PM Local Time
Michael Kahn opens from the cutoff to 5,000, with an opponent calling on the button to see the flop.
Kahn leads the board for 8,000, only to see the button reraise to 16,000. Kahn takes a few moments to decide on his action, calling to send both players to the turn.
The completes a straight and flush draw, but Kahn is undeterred, leading out again for 15,000.
Almost immediately, his opponent announces himself "all-in", with a total count coming to just over 35,000.
Kahn gets a count from the dealer and begins to take inventory of his own stack, spending close to two minutes in the tank, allowing the majority of the rest of the tournament area to congregate around Table 5.
With dozens of Event #1 players watching the action, Kahn calls. He'll have to hit to score the knockout as his opponent holds to Kahn's .
The groans say it all, as the onlookers all cringe as the completes the board and gives Kahn a winning straight.
His opponent can not believe it, darting from his seat not knowing where he's walking as his Event #1 run abruptly comes to an end just one spot shy of the money.
After pacing back and forth in the tournament area, he eventually leaves the Brasilia Room and the rest of this tournament field behind, all of whom have locked up the first cash of the 2015 World Series of Poker.
There are just under 10 minutes remaining in Level 14, meaning there is under an hour remaining in this Day 1 session.
Wednesday, May 27, 2015 11:21 PM Local Time
After a slow half level, Derek Shoemaker scores a double knockout on Table 8 to bring Event #1 to hand for hand play.
With 74 players remaining, two more eliminations separate this field from the money, with updates up to and through the Event #1 money bubble.
Wednesday, May 27, 2015 11:18 PM Local Time
With a pot of more than 8,000 and the board showing , the player in the big blind checks. Blake Robbins bets 4,500 and the big blind instantly raises to 10,000. Robbins calls.
The turn is the . The big blind bets 15,000 and Robbins raises to 30,000. The big blind calls and a huge pot is underway heading to the river.
The dealer turns over the and the big blind checks right away. Robbins announces he is all in and the big blind takes more than three minutes before he painfully folds.
Robbins is now positioned to make a deep run in this event as he sits with over 185,000 chips.
Wednesday, May 27, 2015 11:15 PM Local Time
Level: 14
Blinds: 1000/2000
Ante: 300
Wednesday, May 27, 2015 10:57 PM Local Time
After a table break and a handful of eliminations, Event #1 is now just five players from the money.
The excitement and nervousness of the first World Series of Poker bubble is palpable, as some short stacked players dig in to make the money and big stacks look to use their advantage to continue to chip up.
When 73 players remain, hand for hand play will begin.
Wednesday, May 27, 2015 10:51 PM Local Time
Jesse Kertland opens in middle position to 4,200 and an opponent moves all-in for just over 15,000 from the cutoff.
The rest of the table folds and Kerltand calls, tabling .
He's racing against the of the short stacked player. While he doesn't match up either of his high cards, he gets the board to double pair on the runout of , counterfeiting his opponent's pocket pair.
On the turn, he was actually a favorite to score the knockout, as any five, ten, heart, queen, ace or king would do the trick.
He had nearly half the deck working in his favor and now has close to 55,000 chips working in his favor as Event #1 continues towards the money bubble.
Wednesday, May 27, 2015 10:49 PM Local Time
Moments after losing a massive hand, Sandra Phelps left with 2 big blinds. She told us that she had top set holding and Kochalka ran out a four card straight holding .
The hand left Phelps with just 4,000 in chips.
Action folds to Phelps in middle position and she moves all in for her last 4,000, both Gary Kochalk and the big blind call. The flop brought the and the big blind checks to Kochalk who fires a bet of 6,000. The big blind folds and the hands are tabled.
Phelps:
Kochalk:
The board ran out and Kochalk improves to a straight to send Phelps packing, just 7 spots shy of the money.
"What can I say i've had her number all day. Crazy how that works some times."
Gary Kochalk - 168,000
Sandra Phelps - Busted
Wednesday, May 27, 2015 10:47 PM Local Time
Blake Robbins raises to 3,600 under the gun and the player in the hijack raises all-in to 27,600. Robbins takes a few minutes before slowly moving his chips forward to call.
Robbins:
Hijack:
The board runs out clean for Robbins' eights and he takes down a massive pot early in level 13. He is now playing as the chip leader with 138,000.
Wednesday, May 27, 2015 10:34 PM Local Time
We are down to our final 86 players here in Event 1, the $565 Casino Employees. With the top 72 finishing in the money, the money bubble is on the horizon.
The final 72 will lock up $970, but everyone has their eyes on the $75,704 top prize along with the prestigious WSOP Gold Bracelet.
Wednesday, May 27, 2015 10:32 PM Local Time
Level: 13
Blinds: 800/1,600
Ante: 200
Wednesday, May 27, 2015 10:19 PM Local Time
The remaining Event #1 field has just been sent on their final break of Day 1, as players will take a 20 minute recess and then return to play three more levels tonight.
After those three levels, players that are still alive will bag up their chips and return tomorrow for Day 2, where they'll play down to a winner.
While today's session will end after Level 15, it will surely be with this field well into the money, as just under 15 eliminations separate this Event #1 field from pay dirt.
A complete list of those payouts can be found in the above tab.
Wednesday, May 27, 2015 10:17 PM Local Time
Zach Seufert bets 4,000 on a flop of . His opponent in the hijack raises to 10,000. Seufert wastes almost no time before he announces himself all-in. The hijack calls and shows after what the table thought was takes a surprisingly long time. Seufert is well behind holding .
The turn and river would be the perfect combination for Seufert.
The dealer brought the on the turn and the on the river, good enough for Seufert to take the pot with his running full house.
"Now you can go and write about how I pulled off another suck out," Seufert said.
Either way, he is now sitting with just over 90,000 as players are in the post level 12 break.
Wednesday, May 27, 2015 10:09 PM Local Time
With the board reading Nghia Nguyen faces a bet of 3,000 from Mike Dietrich, in a blind versus blind encounter.
Nguyen then raises to 10,000 even, leaving himself just over 20,000 behind. Dietrich calls to see the river.
The completes the board, while completing both flush and straight draws.
Dietrich checks and Nguyen again bets 10,000. Dietrich begins to talk himself through the hand and calls after a minute of thought, only to see Nguyen table for flopped trips.
Dietrich shakes his head and claims "ace-queen" before mucking, sending a sizable portion of his stack across the table to Nguyen.
Nghia Nguyen - 58,000
Mike Dietrich - 19,000
Wednesday, May 27, 2015 10:00 PM Local Time
With over 15,000 in the middle on a board reading Sandra Phelps fires out a big bet of 12,000 and Gary Kochalka calls. The completes the board and Phelps wastes no time in betting 16,000. After a few moments Kochalka announces all in and Phelps sits forward in her seat with her hand on her head, debating what to do.
After a few minutes she folds telling Kochalka she had .
Kochalka rakes in the big pot as he now sits with one of the biggest stacks in the room with over 135,000, while Phelps takes a hit and drops back down to around 50,000.