Event #65: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em MAIN EVENT - World Championship

In the past five weeks, the 2014 World Series of Poker has seen 64 events begin, new and repeat bracelet winners crowned, and millionaires made, but the marquee event of the series began on Saturday with Day 1a of the $10,000 Main Event taking center stage.

With this year seeing the WSOP celebrating 10 years at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, 2005 Champion Joe Hachem sent the cards in the air. Fellow Main Event Champions led players into the field with both Ryan Riess and Greg Merson finding themselves located on the feature table, while Chris Moneymaker, Tom McEvoy, and Johnny Chan were also in the field alongside bracelet winners Jason Mercier, Phil Laak, Ted Forrest, Hoyt Corkins, John Monnette, Billy Baxter, Antonio Esfandiari, David Singer, and Layne Flack.

It would take until midway through the second level until the first few bust outs started to occur as Steven Sanzone was bounced out the door before Bruno Fitoussi, Steven Gee, "All-American" Dave Swanson, Jean-Robert Bellande, David Chiu, and Marc-Etienne McLaughlin were just a handful of the players eliminated throughout the day as the first flight's starting field of 771 was cut down to 505 by the end of play.

Although the chip lead rotated between the likes of Aaron Wilt, Mukul Pahuja, Ken Einiger, Jon Broderick, and Nick DiVella throughout the day, it would be no-limit hold'em beast and Swede Martin Jacobson ending the day as chip leader with 200,100.

Wilt (157,650), Seamus Cahill (150,775), Andy Hwang (118,875), Pahuja (114,800), and Alex Simic (110,675) all round out the top few chip counts while the likes of Flack (75,450), Riess (70,225), Moneymaker (69,850), Esfandiari (59,775), and Annette Obrestad (54,625) all sit with healthy stacks.

The PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be back on deck at 12 p.m. (PDT) on Sunday to provide all the Day 1b action live from the 2014 World Series of Poker, so be sure to tune back in.

After a player limped in from middle position, Martin Jacobson raised to 1,600 from middle position. Action folded back to the limper, and he called to see the     flop come down. The first player checked, then Jacobson bet 1,500. His opponent called.

The turn was the  , and the first player checked. Jacobson bet 4,000, and his opponent called.

Then, after the   completed the board on the river, the first player checked, Jacobson bet 10,000, and his opponent snap-called.

Jacobson tabled the    for two pair, aces and fives. His opponent showed the    for a weaker two pair, but thought he had won the pot for a brief moment before realizing he actually didn't.

Jacobson scooped the pot and moved to 200,000 in chips.

Martin Jacobson

200,000

20,000

German super star Ole Schemion has just locked up a big stack near the end of the day and one of our colleagues explained to us what happened.

On a     flop the action was checked to Schemion who bet 1,650 and one of his opponents raised to 3,675. The third player folded and Schemion called. On the turn another   popped up and Schemion called a 4,200-chip bet.

The river was the   and Schemion's opponent bet 8,000 with about 11,000 chips left behind. The German pro moved all in and he was called by   . Schemion tabled    for a bigger full house and he raked in the pot.

Ole Schemion

75,000

33,000

The tournament director has just paused the clock with 10 minutes remaining and announced that there are just five more hands of play for the evening.

Nachman Berlin has just been knocked out from the Main Event by Guohui Xu. On a       board it was Berlin who checked to his opponent who bet 3,900. There was about 15,000 already in the pot and Berlin moved all in for about 23,850 chips.

Xu went into the tank for about four minutes and while it seemed like he was close to folding at times he eventually made the call.

Berlin showed    but it was Xu's    who took this big pot down.

Guohui Xu	92,000	92,000
Nachman Berlin	0	-51,000

A massive hand went down a few moments ago involving Dario Sammartino and Craig Varnell.

We joined the hand where Varnell was on the button with 2,375 chips in front of him and Sammartino in the small blind having made it 6,500 to continue. Varnell then put in an additional raise to 18,375 and after a minute or so Sammartino moved all-in, covering Varnell.

"Show me, one time?" asked Varnell, but Sammartino made a gesture that suggested maybe he would or maybe he wouldn't.

Varnell looked genuinely pained in his decision making; calling and losing would see him bust on Day 1, while folding would see him preserve 17,000 chips.

He eventually opted for a fold and was shown   .

"I know I was priced in, but what can you do there?" said Varnell, who claimed to have held pocket queens.

Dario Sammartino	60,500	29,700
Craig Varnell	17,000	0

Following a raise, Layne Flack three-bet the hijack to 3,600 only to have the original raiser make it 8,000 to go. Flack made the call as the dealer fanned a     flop with the original raiser betting out 8,000.

Flack went into the tank for close to two minutes before announcing all in for a total of 25,800 to now put his opponent into the tank before he reluctantly folded.

Layne Flack

50,625

29,625

Chamath Palihapitiya reraised to 3,500 after Roger Teska opened to 1,100. Teska moved all in, and Palihapitiya called it off for around 12,000 with the   . Teska had the   .

The flop, turn, and river ran out      , and Palihapitiya was eliminated.

Roger Teska	70,000	700
Chamath Palihapitiya	0	-12,950

Aaron Wilt was one of the big stacks already here on Day 1a of the 2014 World Series of Poker Main Event, but his day just got a bit better. Wilt was just involved in a pot of around 140,000 that saw him vault up to 166,500 in chips.

Picking up the action on the     flop, Wilt had check-raised his opponent's bet to 19,000, only to have the player come back with a reraise to 32,000. After a minute of thought, Wilt moved all in. His opponent tanked for a little bit, then called it off for around 65,000 total.

Wilt tabled the    for bottom set of fives, and his opponent rolled over the   .

The turn was the  , and the river was the  . Wilt's set of fives stayed the best hand, and he eliminated his opponent while shooting up and into the chip lead.

Aaron Wilt

166,500

81,500