Saturday, November 18, 2017 12:23 AM Local Time
Day 1A of the $1 million guaranteed Planet Hollywood Main Event is in the books. Play lasted 15 levels and saw 56 players out of the 314 registered survive. Bagging the biggest stack was Ali Imsirovic with 383,000 chips. He and the remainder of the survivors from this flight and tomorrow’s Flight B will return Sunday at noon for Day 2 of the tournament. Day 2 will start at the beginning of Level 16: 1,500/3,000 with a 500 ante. Starting at Level 16, the levels are increased to one hour in length for the remainder of the tournament.
The end of the night saw two Circuit regulars get hot to finish with a full bag of chips. Both two-time bracelet winner Scott Clements and Joe Reddick went from the bottom of the chip counts to above average stacks in the final level of the night. Reddick went on KO spree in the final level eliminating recent bracelet winner Chris Moorman and eight-time Circuit ring winner Robert Hankins to finish second in chips and bag 274,000. Clements doubled up with 15 big blinds by winning a flip and then found a great spot with pocket kings to more than double up again with a just a few minutes left in the night. He finished the night with 141,500 chips. Other notables to find a bag in Day 1A include, this event’s defending champion, Sean Yu (225,000), Jonathan Dimmig (185,000), Wendy Freedman (168,000), Jon Turner (165,000), Jeremy Ausmus (110,000), Sorel Mizzi (87,500) and Jack Duong (28,500).
Anyone not fortunate enough to bag today will have the option to return tomorrow to play in tomorrow’s Flight B, which starts at noon. Just like today, everyone will be allowed a maximum of one re-entry in Flight B. Registration will remain open until the start of Level 13.
Top Five Chip Counts:
1st: Ali Imsirovic – 383,000
2nd: Joe Reddick – 274,000
3rd: Ankush Mandavia -228,000
4th: Mike Del Vecchio – 226,000
5th: Sean Yu – 225,000
Complete Flight A chip counts can be found above under the “Reports” tab.
Friday, November 17, 2017 11:48 PM Local Time
Wendy Freedman opens to 5,300 from early position and Homan Mohammadi calls from middle position.
The flop comes and Freedman leads out for 6,800. Mohammadi calls.
The turn is the and both players check to the on the river.
Freedman checks, Mohammadi bets 11,500 and Freedman wastes no time calling. "Nice hand" says Mohammadi as he tables for a busted flush draw. Freedman tables for a pair of jacks with an ace kicker and rakes in a late pot.
Wendy Freedman - 140,000
Homan Mohammadi - 65,000
Friday, November 17, 2017 11:42 PM Local Time
The tournament staff has just announced that each table will play four more hands before bagging up for the night.
Friday, November 17, 2017 11:39 PM Local Time
Scott Clements raises to 6,000 from the hijack and action folds to the player in the small blind. He moves all-in for 19,400. The player in the big blind thinks for 30 seconds and then moves all-in for more. Clements has less than the big blind, but more than the small blind. He quickly calls and all three players table their hands.
Clements:
Big Blind:
Small Blind:
"A an ace always comes on the flop when I have kings," says the player in the big blind.
The board runs out . Clements' kings hold and he wins the main and side pot to more than double up.
Scott Clements - 100,000
Friday, November 17, 2017 11:31 PM Local Time
Action folds to Robert Hankins on the button and he moves all-in for 23,400. Joseph Reddick is in the small blind and thinks for a moment before deciding to call. The player in the big blind open-folds eight-seven off-suit.
Reddick quickly tables , and Hankins is the player at risk and well behind with .
Hankins starts to gather his things and put his backpack on as the board runs out to send the chips to Reddick and Hankins to the rail.
Joseph Reddick - 165,000
Robert Hankins - Eliminated
Friday, November 17, 2017 11:30 PM Local Time
Scott Clements moves all in for 17,600 in the cutoff, and the player in the big blind calls to put him at risk.
Clements:
Big blind:
Clements wins the race ace the board comes , doubling up with tens up.
Scott Clements - 40,000
Friday, November 17, 2017 11:20 PM Local Time
Joe Reddick raises to 5,500 from under the gun and action folds to Chris Moorman in the big blind. He calls and the two players see a flop of . Moorman checks and Reddick bets 9,500. Moorman raises to 19,000 and then Reddick moves all-in. Moorman calls for less and put his tournament life at risk. Both hands are tabled.
Reddick:
Moorman:
The turn is the and river is the . Reddick's hand holds up he eliminates Moorman in the final level of Day 1A.
Joe Reddick - 125,000
Chris Moorman - Eliminated
Friday, November 17, 2017 11:14 PM Local Time
Ill Awful opens to 7,200 under the gun, and Jack Duong three-bet shoves for 29,800 in the small blind. Awful calls, committing close to half his stack to put Duong at risk.
Awful:
Duong:
The board runs out , and Duong's jacks hold to earn him a double-up.
Jack Duong - 65,200
Ill Awful - 35,000
Friday, November 17, 2017 11:10 PM Local Time
Level: 15
Blinds: 1,000/2,000
Ante: 400
Friday, November 17, 2017 11:09 PM Local Time
Action folds to the player in the small blind and he shoves all-in, putting Scott Clements to the test for his remaining 14,800 chips. Clements calls.
Clements is the player at risk with , up against the small blind's .
The board runs out and Clements makes trip aces to double up.
Scott Clements - 32,000
Friday, November 17, 2017 11:07 PM Local Time
A player in middle position limps, and Chris Carey moves all in for 24,400 in the cutoff. Jim Willerson re-shoves for 34,300 in the small blind, and the limper folds to leave Carey heads-up for his tournament life.
Carey:
Willerson:
The board runs out , and Willerson's pair holds to earn him the knockout. Carey is eliminated.
Jim Willerson - 64,800
Chris Carey - Eliminated
Friday, November 17, 2017 11:04 PM Local Time
Todd Rodgers raises to 4,400 from under the gun and action folds to Steve Foutty in middle position. Foutty moves all-in for about 40,000. Action folds back to Rodgers and he calls. Both players table their hands.
Rodgers:
Foutty:
The board runs out and Rodgers earns the pot to eliminate Foutty from the tournament.
Rodgers promotes sendmeonvacation.org which hosts a poker tournament which helps raise money to send cancer survivors on vacation.
Todd Rodgers - 105,000
Friday, November 17, 2017 10:57 PM Local Time
Action folds to Garrett Utt in the small blind and he moves all-in, putting JJ Liu to the test for her last 25,000 chips in the big blind. Liu wastes no time and decides to call.
Liu is at risk with , flipping against Utt's .
The flop comes and Utt pulls ahead with a pair of aces. The turn is the and the river is the , sending Liu to the rail late on Day 1A.
Garrett Utt - 85,000
JJ Liu - Eliminated
Friday, November 17, 2017 10:56 PM Local Time
Kurt Jewell moves all in for about 27,000 under the gun, and Jonathan Dimmig calls in the cutoff, putting Jewell at risk.
Jewell:
Dimmig:
The flop is a disaster for Jewell, and he can not catch up on the turn or river. The five-time Circuit winner is eliminated late in the day, sending his chips over into Dimmig's growing stack.
Jonathan Dimmig - 130,000
Kurt Jewell - Eliminated
Friday, November 17, 2017 10:50 PM Local Time
There's about 60,000 in the middle on a board reading and Jon Turner checks from middle position. The player in the cutoff moves all-in, putting Turner to the test for his last 36,100 chips.
Turner goes into the tank for about a full minute, clearly in agony over the decision. Eventually, he calls.
The cutoff sheepishly tables for a pair of eights, and Turner tables for a pair of aces with a ten kicker. Turner doubles through.
Jon Turner - 135,000
Friday, November 17, 2017 10:40 PM Local Time
Action folds to Ill B Awful (pictured) in the cutoff and he raises to 6,000. Josh Turner is in the small blind and three-bets to 10,300. Awful asks, "How much? Ten-three? That's weird" and eventually calls.
The flop comes and Turner shoves for 22,000. Awful snap-calls.
Turner is at risk with for a single pair of aces, while Awful reveals for two pair nines and sevens. The turn is the and the river is the to send the pot to Awful. Turner calmly slides his chips forward and leaves the table.
Ill B Awful - 125,000
Josh Turner - Eliminated
Friday, November 17, 2017 10:35 PM Local Time
Level: 14
Blinds: 1,000/2,000
Ante: 300
Friday, November 17, 2017 10:34 PM Local Time
The player in the cutoff raises to 3,200. John Morgan calls in the small blind and Robert Hankins calls in the big blind.
The flop comes and action checks to the preflop raiser. He bets 4,500. Morgan and Hankins both call. The turn brings the and action is checked around. The river is the and Morgan checks. Hankins bets 6,000 and the preflop raiser folds. Morgan calls.
Hankins shows for a rivered straight and Morgan sends his hand to the muck.
Robert Hankins - 73,000
John Morgan - 52,000
Friday, November 17, 2017 10:29 PM Local Time
Kyle Cartwright raises to 3,300 from under the gun and action is on Ali Almedin Imsirovic in middle position. He three-bets to 10,000 and Cartwright four-bet shoves for 48,000. Imsirovic quickly looks back at his cards and calls.
Cartwright tables , but was well behind the of Imsirovic.
The board runs out and Cartwright is eliminated.
Imsirovic is now the clear chip leader.
Ali Imsirovic - 240,000
Kyle Cartwright - Eliminated
Friday, November 17, 2017 10:28 PM Local Time
"I gave him all of his chips back," Allen Kessler says, stopping by the desk on his way out the door.
The "him" is Jeremy Ausmus, who appears to have been Kessler's villain on more than one occasion.
"I had queens and he called with ace-jack," Kessler says. "Ace right on the flop. I had 21,000."
There's not much else to add.
Jeremy Ausmus - 80,000
Allen Kessler - Eliminated