Saturday, July 9, 2011 1:05 PM Local Time
Yevgeniy Timoshenko | 48,000 | 0 |
Simon Borg | 41,500 | 11,500 |
Shane Warne | 41,500 | 11,500 |
Kenneth Friis | 40,000 | 10,000 |
Pramesh Bansi | 37,000 | 7,000 |
Samantha Cohen | 35,000 | |
Fabrice Soulier | 34,000 | 4,000 |
Jordan Morgan | 33,000 | 3,000 |
Humberto Brenes | 32,000 | 2,000 |
Tyler Bonkowski | 31,700 | 1,700 |
Mark Schmid | 30,200 | 200 |
Eric Baldwin | 29,000 | -1,000 |
Hoyt Corkins | 28,200 | -1,800 |
Zohair Karim | 27,500 | -2,500 |
Jeffrey Fenech | 26,000 | -4,000 |
Allen Kessler | 25,500 | -4,500 |
Chris Moorman | 24,500 | -5,500 |
Justin Schwartz | 19,000 | -1,500 |
Jolmer Meelis | 18,000 | -12,000 |
Ryan Young | 17,400 | -12,600 |
Thomas Middleton | 6,700 | -23,300 |
Saturday, July 9, 2011 1:03 PM Local Time
Not a lot of noise from the main feature table during the first level of play. Defending champion Jonathan Duhamel has lost a few chips in the early going, and presently sits with about 23,000.
Michael DiMichele has also gotten off to a slow start. Just now he was trying to get things going with a raise to 250 from the cutoff, getting one caller in William Kassouf from the button. The flop came , DiMichele checked, then quickly folded to Kassouf's bet of 550.
DiMichele has just over 22,000 at present.
Saturday, July 9, 2011 1:02 PM Local Time
You may not have heard the name Braden Murphy, but the 21-year-old is making his mark here in the WSOP. Born with cerebral palsy, Murphy traveled across the United States as a wheelchair billiards player before turning his hand to poker. Despite his struggles through childhood and undergoing an operation to have his spine fused in 2007, his bubbly personality and his passion for the game shine through.
He's even blogging his adventures here in the WSOP, but the PokerNews team are keeping an eye on him too; five players, including Murphy, limped into a pot before the dealer spread a flop of , which they all checked before the turn of the .
The action checked around to Murphy who bet 225 from the button, but only the UTG player called before he and Murphy checked down the river . Murphy showed and the UTG player mucked his hand.
Braden Murphy | 26,700 | -3,300 |
Saturday, July 9, 2011 12:55 PM Local Time
Chad Brown was under the gun and opened for 250. He gained three callers and the the small blind raised to 1,100. The big blind released and Brown reraised to 3,000. The three callers behind Brown folded and the small blind gave his cards another check before tossing them back to the dealer.
Saturday, July 9, 2011 12:53 PM Local Time
A player in early position raised to 250 and got four callers -- two behind him, including Silvio Crisari, and both blinds. The flop came , and the player in the small blind fired out a bet of 1,050 into the field. All folded except Crisari.
The turn was the , putting a second ace on the board. This time Crisari's opponent bet 1,550. Crisari rechecked his cards, and after a few seconds began to nod slightly. Finally he folded. As his headphones-wearing opponent gathered the chips, Crisari tried to communicate to him that he'd played a good hand, but the winner didn't hear. Finally Crisari caught his eye and gave him a thumbs up and grin.
It's been a thumbs-up level for Crisari thus far. He's chipped up over 50,000 as we approach the first break.
Saturday, July 9, 2011 12:53 PM Local Time
It's always fun to keep an eye on former World Champs, which is exactly what we've been doing with 1998 WSOP Main Event winner Scotty Nguyen. In a recent hand, Nguyen bet 475 on a flop of . His opponent in the cutoff made the call and it was off to the turn.
This time Nguyen checked, the cutoff bet 750, and Nguyen snap-raised to 4,000. The cutoff made the call only to face a bet of 12,000 from Nguyen on the river. Perhaps it was the pressure of playing in the "Big One," but the cutoff was clearly distraught. He put both hands on his head and stood from his chair as he wondered what to do.
"Sir, you have to sit down," the dealer informed the player. The player was shaking his head as he took his seat, eventually making the call with his .
"I know that what you have, baby," Nguyen said before showing the winning . Nguyen is up to 47,000.
Scotty Nguyen | 47,000 | 17,000 |
Saturday, July 9, 2011 12:52 PM Local Time
As we were walking by Maria "Maridu" Mayrinck's table we heard her lamenting the fact that she already has had to "lay down jacks twice" since play began. Another player at the table then said "I had aces twice against you!" but that didn't seem to make Maridu feel any better.
Maridu is obviously a bit upset over the fact that she hasn't won a big pot yet, but she seems to be managing her losses well as she is only down to 28,800.
Maria Mayrinck | 28,800 | -1,200 |
Saturday, July 9, 2011 12:52 PM Local Time
Over on Table 290 in the Blue section, we find a gentleman using a golf ball in a clear, plastic display case as a card capper. We recognize him as Paul Pritchett, and he's here with one of the more interesting stories we've heard today.
Pritchett plays golf about 100 days a year, which is tough to do when you live in Ontario, Canada. On September 24th of last year, the Turnberry Golf Club hosted an 80-player golf & poker tournament, and Pritchett was in attendance. There were two Main Event seats up for grabs, one to the winner of the poker tournament, and the other to the first hole-in-one of the day.
Pritchett finished fourth in the poker tournament that evening, but he was already freerolling the seat. A 188-yard Par 3 had bene no match for his 4-Iron earlier in the day, and Pritchett put his tee shot dead in the cup, punching his ticket to Vegas today.
The lucky golfer is sitting at a table that includes Jan Fisher and Bill Gazes, and our gorilla math tells us that he has to be one of the favorites to win.
Odds of getting a hole in one: ~1 in 10,000
Odds of winning the Main Event: ~1 in 7,000
See?
Saturday, July 9, 2011 12:50 PM Local Time
With the board reading and 1,150 already in the pot, the under-the-gun player bet 450 and Ali Eslami called from the button. The turn was the and both players checked. When the fell on the river the first player checked the action over to Eslami who bet 500. The other player folded and Eslami won the pot.
Eslami's stack was up to 34,200 after the hand.
Saturday, July 9, 2011 12:45 PM Local Time
More People Spotted in White.
JP Kelly | 30,000 | |
Erik Seidel | 30,000 | |
Liz Lieu | 30,000 | |
Saturday, July 9, 2011 12:44 PM Local Time
Action folded to the player in the hijack and he raised to 250. Shaun Deeb called from the cutoff and the big blind came along for the ride as well. It was three-handed to the flop, which checked around to Deeb. The man known online as "tedsfishfry" took the opportunity to bet 450.
The big blind folded, but the hijack called, eventually leading to another check-call of 1,100 on the turn. Both players checked the river and the hijack sheepishly turned over , which was no good against the of Deeb.
Shaun Deeb | 29,000 | -1,000 |
Saturday, July 9, 2011 12:38 PM Local Time
A player in the cutoff seat raised to 250, then Andrew Robl, sitting to his left in the cutoff, reraised to 800. The blinds got out, and Robl's neighbor announced he was reraising again to 1,900 total, slowly tossing out the chips for the announced raise one at a time. Robl made the call.
The flop came . "2,500" said Robl's opponent, tossing out an orange chip. Robl considered for a few seconds, then let his hand go.
Robl has been active in the early going, but cautious as well. He sits with about 28,500 at present.
Saturday, July 9, 2011 12:37 PM Local Time
Erm, we sort of forgot about this other featured table over here in the Purple section, and we just scoped it out for the first time. It's got a pair of familiar faces, including a former WSOP bracelet winner. It's Andrew Brown in the seven seat, and David Steicke in the nine, and it figures to be a good one to watch today.
Saturday, July 9, 2011 12:36 PM Local Time
We just spotted Praytush Buddiga over in the black section. He may not be a household name in the poker world just yet, but that's because he's only 22 years old.
Buddiga was pretty famous as a 13-year-old though when he won the Scripps National Spelling Bee in 2002. He won $12,000 for correctly spelling the word "prospicience" which means foresight.
We actually had the prospicience to peg Buddiga as a player to watch when he played in his first WSOP event of the summer, the $ 1,500 No Limit Hold'em Shootout. He made it to the second round of that shootout good for a cash of $4,998 and has cashed in two other events this summer including a 40th place finish in a $1,500 No Limit Hold'em event good for $14,914.
We'll be keeping our eyes on Buddiga and perhaps we'll even test his spelling skills if we get the chance.
Saturday, July 9, 2011 12:36 PM Local Time
Dan Harringto raised to 300 from late position and was called by the cutoff and the small blind to see a flop of which was checked around, as was the turn.
On the river, it was checked to the cutoff a third time and he bet 550, the small blind folded but Harrington made the call - only to be shown for a rivered two pair. Not a great start for the former Main Event champion but there's a long way to go yet.
Daniel Harrington | 28,300 | -1,700 |
Saturday, July 9, 2011 12:35 PM Local Time
Action folded to the player in the cutoff and he raised to 300, which Ted Forrest called from the big blind. When the flop fell , Forrest check-called a bet of 350, and the appeared on the turn.
Both players checked to see the follow on the river. Forrest was first to act and bet 950, which was quickly raised to 2,750 by the cutoff. Forrest made the call only to muck when the cutoff showed for a flopped full house.
Ted Forrest | 14,000 | -5,500 |
Saturday, July 9, 2011 12:35 PM Local Time
Yevgeniy Timoshenko has been seen scooping a pot nearly every time we walk by his table.
Just now, the board read and the player in the small blind led into two opponents, including Timoshenko in the big blind position, for 625. Timoshenko thought for a bit before raising to 2,400. The opponent in position got out of the way and the initial bettor folded as well.
With that pot Timoshenko chips up to 48,000.
Saturday, July 9, 2011 12:33 PM Local Time
Jason Potter had taken a small hit to his stack early on in this level, but he's now back up to just over 28,000 after this hand played out on 284.
The player in the UTG +1 position raised to 250 and another player in middle position called, as well as Potter from the hijack position and the player in the small blind to make it four-handed to the flop of .
The other three checked to Potter, who led out for 750, but only the small blind came along to the turn of the , which both players checked before the small blind checked again on the river of the , but folded after Potter opened for 750.
Jason Potter | 28,400 | -1,600 |
Saturday, July 9, 2011 12:31 PM Local Time
We're not sure of the details, but David Singer recently passed by our desk and through the exit doors. We did a quick check of his former seat, and we can confirm that Singer has been eliminated from the Main Event.
David Singer | 0 | -30,000 |
Saturday, July 9, 2011 12:27 PM Local Time
The action folded around to 2008 WSOP Ladies Event champion Svetlana Gromenkova on table 288, who raised to 350 from middle position. Another player in late position called, but then Roberto Romanello re-raised to 1,600.
Gromenkova came back with a four-bet worth 3,350, forcing the late position out of the way before Romanello called, making it heads-up to the flop of . From there, Romanello folded after Gromenkova fired out 6,000.
Svetlana Gromenkova | 27,800 | -2,200 |
Roberto Romanello | 24,800 | -5,200 |