Wednesday, June 3, 2015 3:05 AM Local Time
The first Limit Hold'em event of the 2015 World Series of Poker attracted 660 players to the Amazon Room Tuesday.
After ten levels of play in Event #11: $1,500 Limit Hold'em, Francois Vigeant and Vasili Firsau appear to be neck-and-neck for chip lead with around 65,000 each as play ended early Wednesday.
For Day 2, 225 players will return to the Rio seeking the $196,055 first place prize and a WSOP gold bracelet. Overall, the $891,000 prize pool will be distributed to the top 72 finishers with a minimum cash netting players $2,512.
The event drew a number of pros, including Phil Hellmuth, Barry Greenstein, Antonio Esfandiari, Daniel Negreanu, Huck Seed, Todd Brunson, Jonathan Little, Joseph Cheong, Michael Mizrachi, and Jonathan Duhamel.
Of those, only Brunson and Greenstein advanced to Day 2.
Last year's champion, Dan Kelly, bought into the event in Level 6, but bowed out shortly after.
Play will resume at 2 p.m. Tuesday for another ten levels of play with blinds starting at 400/800 and 800/1,600 limits. Live updates throughout Day 2 will be available on WSOP.com.
Wednesday, June 3, 2015 3:01 AM Local Time
Vasili Firsau has been beating opponents swiftly, without taking it to the turn.
Two hands in a row, Firsau forced opponents to fold on the flop.
In the first hand, Firsau raises to 1,200 in the cutoff and the big blind calls.
The flop falls . The big blind checks, Firsau bets 600 and the big blind folds, leaving Firsau with the pot.
In the second hand, Firsau, in the hijack, raises to 1,200 and the cutoff and big blind call.
The flop falls . Firsau bets 600 and both his opponents fold, leaving him with the pot.
Vasili Firsau - 62,000
Wednesday, June 3, 2015 2:27 AM Local Time
Mark Burford limps from early position and Vasili Firsau limps as well before the cutoff makes it 1,200 to play. Both Burford and Firsau call and the flop comes .
Burford and Firsau call before the small bets 600. Burford gets out of the way and Firsau calls.
Both players check the turn and the river .
Firsau takes down the pot with and is now on top of the leaderboard with 47,200 as day 1 nears a close.
Wednesday, June 3, 2015 2:07 AM Local Time
Mike Hack, in middle position raises to 1000 and Shannon Shorr, on the button, reraises to 1500. Hack four-bets and Shorr calls.
The flop falls and Shorr calls.
The turn card is the . Hack bets 1000 and Shorr calls.
The river is the . Hack bets 1000 and Shorr folds.
Hack shows giving him three Aces.
Mike Hack - 17,100
Shannon Shorr - 15,500
Wednesday, June 3, 2015 2:02 AM Local Time
Level: | 10 | | Blinds: | 300/600Limits:600/1,200 | |
Wednesday, June 3, 2015 1:58 AM Local Time
Following four-bet action preflop, three players see a flop. In the small blind, Mark Burford leads out and both players behind call.
The turn is the and Burford leads out again. The next player folds before the button three-bets. Burford four-bets and the button calls. On the river, Burford bets once again and is called by the button. Burford turns over for a flopped set, and scoops the pot.
Mark Burford - 43,000
Wednesday, June 3, 2015 1:43 AM Local Time
Tyler Bonkowski in the cutoff raises to 1000 and Andre Akkari in the big blind calls.
The flop falls and both players check.
The turn is the and Akkari bets 1000. Bonkowski calls.
The river is the and both players check.
Akkari shows and Bonkowski turns over winning with a pair of sevens.
Tyler Bonkowski - 14,800
Andre Akkari - 21,500
Wednesday, June 3, 2015 1:24 AM Local Time
Three-time WSOP bracelet winner Antonio Esfandiari has been bust out of the tournament by Paul Cogliano who made a final table in the 2014 WSOP.
The board was .
Esfandiari held . He was beaten by Cogliano's which gave him two pairs.
Paul Cogliano - 21,600
Antonio Esfandiari - eliminated
Wednesday, June 3, 2015 1:21 AM Local Time
On a flop of , Huck Seed bets 500 and is raised by Andre Akkari. Seed calls, and the two see a turn.
Seed leads for 1,000, and Akkari calls. On the river, Seed moves all in, and Akkari calls. Akkari flips and Seed shows .
Andre Akkari - 17,000
Huck Seed - Eliminated
Wednesday, June 3, 2015 1:11 AM Local Time
Bracelet winner Aaron Steury raises before the flop and his opponent calls all in. Steury shows which is slightly ahead of the all in player's .
The flop of puts Steury firmly in front and the remainder of the board runs out blank and Steury spins his stack to 21,300.
Wednesday, June 3, 2015 1:01 AM Local Time
Level: | 9 | | Blinds: | 300/500Limits:500/1,000 | |
Wednesday, June 3, 2015 12:47 AM Local Time
Players are currently on their last break for Day 1. They will come back and play levels 9 and 10 then bag for the night.
Wednesday, June 3, 2015 12:35 AM Local Time
In light hearted banter around the table, two-time bracelet winner Bill Chen describes poker as: "Hours of boredom, punctuated by moments of boredom."
Chen's table mates include 2014 WSOP finalist Allen Kessler and WSOP bracelet winner David "ODB" Baker. Talk turns to what the "O" in "ODB" stands for, with Baker's opponents needling him that the "O" is for "old".
Wednesday, June 3, 2015 12:33 AM Local Time
David Chiu, in the small blind, calls his opponent's raise of 800 from the cutoff.
The flop falls and both players check.
The turn card is the and again both players check.
The river is the . Both players check and Chiu shows winning the pot with a pocket pair.
David Chiu - 24,800
Wednesday, June 3, 2015 12:28 AM Local Time
An interesting hand just developed over at Jimmy Fricke's table. Both Fricke and his opponent had the stone nuts holding on a board of .
Fricke's opponent called the fourth bet that was made by Fricke. In this tournament, five bets is the cap, but the other player thought it was unlimited so he just called, because as he said, both players likely had the nut straight.
After the cards were revealed, Fricke pointed this out and mentioned that technically the player who called should be issued a penalty, but then said the quote written above.
Following this strange hand, Fricke sits with 15,500.
Tuesday, June 2, 2015 11:59 PM Local Time
Mark Ivan raises to 600 and three players call.
The flop falls . Ivan bets 300 and the next player to act raises to 600. Two players fold and Ivan calls.
The turn card is the . Ivan checks, his opponent raises to 600 and Ivan calls.
The river card is the . Ivan checks, then calls his opponent's 600 bet.
Ivan's opponent shows and Ivan shows winning him the pot with two pairs.
Mark Ivan - 16,400
Tuesday, June 2, 2015 11:57 PM Local Time
On a flop, Matt Molinari bets, and Phil Hellmuth moves all in for 600.
Molinari calls, and flips . Hellmuth shows , and the board runs sending Hellmuth to the rail.
Matt Molinari - 16,500
Phil Hellmuth - Eliminated
Tuesday, June 2, 2015 11:56 PM Local Time
There will be a new $1,500 Limit Hold 'Em bracelet winner this year as Dan Kelly has been eliminated.
Tuesday, June 2, 2015 11:47 PM Local Time
Level: | 8 | | Blinds: | 200/400Limits:400/800 | |
Tuesday, June 2, 2015 11:40 PM Local Time
With a friend sitting on the floor beside Antonio Esfandiari, admittedly waiting for him to bust out, Esfandiari calls a raise from the hijack in the big blind.
On a flop, Esfandiari checks, and the player in the hijack bets. Esfandiari three-bets and is called. On the turn, Esfandiari bets, and is raised. He calls, and the pair see the river. Both players check and Esfandiari shows to take down the pot.
Meanwhile, his friend pleads for someone at the table to bust Esfandiari, and Esfandiari replies that he's trying to leave by playing 8-5 off suit.
Antonio Esfandiari - 9,000