Event #11: $1,700 MAIN EVENT

 
Jeffrey Trudeau from his run in this year's WSOP Main Event

There were 409 entries through the first 12 levels of Day 1 in the Harrah's Cherokee Main event but at the end of the day only 80 players would make it through to Day 2. Leading the way at the end of the day was circuit regular Jeffrey Trudeau who bagged up 510,000 chips, over 100,000 more than his nearest competitor. Trudeau went on a heater right after dinner break, jumping from around 150,000 up to 400,000 in a short span of time before he finished the night as the chip leader. 

In one of the later hands of the night, Trudeau got it all in with another player who was holding pocket kings on a jack high flop. Trudeau was holding ace-queen with a flush draw and he would bink his flush on the river to scoop another massive pot and to move into the lead. 

Trudeau is hot off a deep run in the WSOP $10,000 Main Event where he finished 24th for $282,630 and he's looking to add to his list of poker accomplishments by adding a World Series of Poker Circuit Main Event title to the list. Trudeau is already a four-time ring winner with nearly $700,000 in tournament earnings. 

Among other notables who bagged up big stacks on Day 1A were the likes of Robert Hankins (340,000), Charles Johnson (334,500), John Richards (319,000), Josh Reichard (300,500), and Ryan Phan (293,500). Coming in second was John Owens who bagged 359,500. Other notables with not as large stacks, but still returning for Day 2 include Jason Good, Jonathan Hilton, Hank Sitton, Sean Yu, Irene Carey, Scott Davies, and Bob Mather to name a few. 

But for every hero who survived, there were many to fall. Some of those who didn't quite make it through to Day 2 yet include Bryan Devonshire, Marshall White, Kindah Sakkal, Will Berry, Ryan Jones, Ryan Leng, Mike Jukich, Vincent Moscati, David Pham and Kurt Jewell among others.

The remaining 80 players will return on Sunday, August 12 at noon where they will continue their quest to become the Harrah's Cherokee Main Event Champion. On Saturday, August 11, Day 1B will kick off where players will have a chance to register at least two more times. Action kicks back off at 11 a.m. local time and updates will be available throughout on WSOP.com. 

Chris Conrad opens from early position with a raise to 7,000. Kyle Cartwright iss next to act and he three-bets, making it 24,500. Action folds back to Conrad and he moves all in for 119,000. Cartwright thinks for a bit, then decides to call. 

Kyle Cartwright:   
Chris Conrad:    

The board runs out       which leaves Cartwright drawing dead on the turn and give Conrad some overkill on the river by making quads. Conrad takes down the pot and double up while Cartwright was left with right around 30,000.

Chris Conrad - 250,000
Kyle Cartwright - 27,000

Scott Davies and Jonathan Hilton are facing off in a pot on the river. There is roughly 20,000 in the middle and the board shows      . Davies is in the big blind and he puts out a bet of 13,000. Hilton is seated in the hijack seat and he thinks for a bit before raising and making it 38,000. Davies takes some time in the tank, riffling between what looks like a call and a fold, but after a little more than a minute, he opts to fold. Hilton takes the pot with no showdown and moves to around 175,000 chips. 

Jonathan Hilton - 175,000
Scott Davies - 72,000

Jeffrey Trudeau opens with a raise to 5,200 from early position and he's called by one player in middle position before a third player makes it 22,200. Trudeau calls as does the other player in the hand, making three-way action to a flop. 

The flop is     and Trudeau and the first player check to the second player who puts out a bet of 51,400. Trudeau then moves all in with a covering stack. The first player folds quickly but the second player drops into the tank.

"Do you really have aces back to back?" He asks. Eventually the player puts in the chips to call, putting himself at risk for over 100,000 chips. 

Jeffrey Trudeau:   
Opponent:   

The turn is a brick for Trudeau when the   rolls off but the river is the   completing his flush. That earns him another big pot and chips him up to nearly 500,000. 

Jeffrey Trudeau - 495,000

With about 10,000 already in the pot, Kindah Sakkal checks over to Jason Gooch who puts out a bet of 4,700. The flop shows     and Sakkal calls. 

The turn is the   and Sakkal checks again. Gooch fires a bet of 15,000 and Sakkal calls once more. 

on the   river, Sakkal checks for a third time. Gooch puts out a stack of grey T5,000 chips, enough to put Sakkal all in for about 35,000 effective. Sakkal calls relatively quickly. Sakkal shows her    but it's no good as Gooch is holding    for an overpair. Sakkal is eliminated while Gooch climbs to around 160,000. 

"Gooch requests for that one not to be in the blog," Steve Snyder says after the hand.

"That's my best friend's girlfriend," Gooch says after the hand. "I might want it in there so I can needle her later."

Jason Gooch - 158,000
Kindah Sakkal - Eliminated

John Richards leads out with a bet of 9,000 into a pot of roughly 12,000 on a flop of    . Richards is in the small blind and the player in the big blind calls. Another play in middle position then moves all in for 38,800 and Richards drops into the tank. He thinks for a while before just calling but the big blind folds quickly. 

John Richards:   
Opponent:    

It is a set over set cooler in favor of Richards and he fades the one outer on the   turn and the   river. With that pot, Richards is now rapidly approaching 300,000 chips. 

John Richards - 295,000

Josh Reichard opens to 4,500 from middle position and Jason Gooch calls in the hijack seat. 

The flop is     and Reichard leads out with a bet of 6,000. Gooch calls. 

Both players check on the   turn and again on the   river. Reichard shows down his    and it's good enough to earn him the pot as Gooch mucks. 

Josh Reichard - 72,000
Jason Gooch - 90,500

Players are now on their last break of the night. The field has ballooned to 409 players so far with registration open until the end of the break. 

Picking up the action on a flop of     a player in the blinds checks over to Woody Van Stratum in late position. Van Stratum puts out a bet of 4,000 and his opponent calls. 

Both players check on the   turn and on the   river, the player in the blinds makes it 15,000. Van Stratum calls quickly but his opponent shows his    for a flopped flush. 

"I hit the two out to pay you even more,"  Van Stratum says, implying he was holding a seven. After dropping the pot, Van Stratum was left with just under 70,000.

Wood y Van Stratum - 66,000