Sunday, July 5, 2009 12:45 PM Local Time
We caught two hands with Dennis Phillips from the blinds.
In the first, the cutoff raised to 300 and the button called. Phillips raised to 1,200 from the big blind, the cutoff folded and the button called.
Phillips led for 1,800 on a flop of
and forced the fold.
On the next hand, Phillips limped from the small blind and four players saw a flop of
. Action checked around and Phillips led for 600 when the turn brought the
. He got one call and went heads up to the river, which brought the
.
Phillips bet 1,300 and got called before turning up
for a full house. "Is that good enough?" he asked. He got his answer when his opponent tossed his hand into the muck.
Sunday, July 5, 2009 12:41 PM Local Time
Andy "BKiCe" Seth had chipped his way up to 48,000 here in the early going, and he'd find himself tangled up in a big pot just moments ago.
On a flop of
, Seth and his opponent engaged in a betting and raising war, and all of the chips finally went into the middle. Seth tabled
for top pair and the heart draw, looking to catch up to his opponent's
. The
on the turn was an airball, but the river brought the
and the flush for Seth. He's earned his first knockout of the day, and that's good enough to chip him up to 65,000.
Sunday, July 5, 2009 12:38 PM Local Time
Paul Tran is a character to say the least. he's been involved in tons of hands at his table, which is also where Maya Gellar is also seated, and running his mouth the entire time.
From early position, Tran raised to 225 and a player in middle position reraised to 825. Tran made the call saying, "I have tens, you better hope a ten doesn't hit." He then checked in the dark as the flop came down
.
"I'll be nice to you on this hand." Tran continued as his opponent checked behind. Before the turn was dealt, Tran fired 500 in the dark. The dealer then dealt the
on the turn.
"Uh oh, bad beat! Bad beat jackpot!" yelled Tran. His opponent made the call.
The river brought the
and Tran fired 500 again. His opponent called and Tran showed
for a full house to scoop the pot.
On the next hand, Tran raised to 225 again, with both the button and big blind making the call. The flop came down
, but not before Tran had fired 100 in the dark, even though the big blind was to act before him. The big blind checked, Tran's bet stood, and then the button raised to 200. The big blind folded and Tran made the call.
The turn brought the
and Tran checked. The button fired 600 and Tran called.
Tran then fired 100 after the river fell the
and his opponent called. Tran tabled a rivered two pair,
, and scooped in the pot.
Sunday, July 5, 2009 12:31 PM Local Time
Registration is still open for about three hours, and we can already see that Day 1c is fulfilling expectations and showing a big increase over the first two days in terms of numbers. Just under 1,700 players have been given seats so far today, and that number should continue to increase over the course of the next level. There's even a slight chance we might get to last year's Day 1c mark of 1,928. A slight chance.
Sunday, July 5, 2009 12:30 PM Local Time
Fabio Coppola strolled over to the media desk again and let us know how a recent hand went down on his table.
"Guys, guys, you gotta come report on my table, this is ridiculous." he said in his Italian accent. "This guy raises to 400, I reraise to 1,200, and I get four callers! The flop comes down, one guy bets 3,000 and the next guy raises to 6,000! I just muck my aces, this is crazy, I don't know, one must have a set. On the turn, a guy bets 10,000 and the other calls then on the river the guy shoves all in and everyone folds. This is crazy!"
A few hands later, Fabio jumped up and yelled "All in!" after the dealer yelled it as well. He then went on a little rant about his table again. "I can't play with these guys, give me some pros, this is nuts. The blinds are 50, 100 and these guys make it 2,000! I don't know what to do, this is nuts!"
Sunday, July 5, 2009 12:29 PM Local Time
Ben Fineman opened the pot for 300 preflop and was called by two players. Fineman bet another 600 on a flop of
but got no further action. Disappointed, he flahsed
for flopped quads.
Sunday, July 5, 2009 12:27 PM Local Time
Action checked all the way down in a battle of the blinds between Marcel Luske and the player on his left. At the river, there were five hearts on board. Luske announced he was playing the board; his opponent was too. Luske tabled his hand and watched in surprise as his opponent threw his cards to the dealer, face down.
The dealer did not immediately muck the hand. Luske and the dealer explained to the player that in order to be entitled to half the pot, he must open his hand, regardless of whether he's playing the board. A floor was summoned to the table who made the same ruling. Since Luske's opponent's cards were still clearly identifiable near the muck, the floor opened the hand.
The floor instructed the player that a future dealer may not be so kind as to not immediately kill the player's hand and to table his cards if he wants his share of the pot.
Sunday, July 5, 2009 12:26 PM Local Time
From the small blind, Andrew Jeffreys raised and then the big blind reraised. Jefferys called. The flop came down
and Jeffreys checked. His opponent fired 2,100 and Jeffreys made the call.
The turn brought the
and both players checked to see the river come the
. Jeffreys fired 2,200 and his opponent folded. Jeffreys was pushed the pot and showed pocket queens. He is now at 34,500.
Sunday, July 5, 2009 12:26 PM Local Time
On a flop of
, Tom McEvoy led out for 1,100, the big blind made it 2,600 to go, the UTG player folded and McEvoy called. The turn came the
and McEvoy checked to the big blind, who bet 2,500. McEvoy called and they went to the river which fell the
. McEvoy checked, the big blind bet 6,000 and McEvoy called.
The big blind showed
for trips and McEvoy mucked his hand. He's down to 16,700 after losing that pot.
Sunday, July 5, 2009 12:22 PM Local Time
On a board of
an player was all in with an overpair to the board in
. However, Yan Chen held
giving him a flopped straight and an unbeatable hand.
Drawing dead to the river, the player with queen is eliminated.
Yan Chen - 81,500
Sunday, July 5, 2009 12:21 PM Local Time
Matt Savage was back in action again, calling a 300 chip raise from the cutoff. When the small blind came along too, three players saw a flop of
.
Action checked to Savage who bet 525. The small blind folded and the remaining player made the call. When his opponent checked the
on the turn, Savage bet 1,100 more. He again got called and action checked to Savage again on the river, where he bet 2,500. This time, the bet was enough to induce a fold from his opponent, and Savage climbed to 34,000.
Sunday, July 5, 2009 12:20 PM Local Time
The flop read
with all three players checking. Jamie Gold was one of those players and after the turn came the
, he fired a bet of 500. The next player raised to 2,500 and the third player folded. Gold made the call, saying "O.K., I'll pay off your set of kings."
Gold check-called a bet of 3,800 from his opponent on the river of the
. He showed pocket tens,
, but just like he predicted, his opponent showed
for a better set.
Gold - 18,000
Sunday, July 5, 2009 12:18 PM Local Time
Justin Bonomo opened for 300 and the big blind called. The flop came down
and the big blind led out for 600. Bonomo called, and both players checked the
on the turn. The river was the
and the big blind fired 1,200. Bonomo made the call.
Bonomo showed
and the big blind mucked. He's currently on 31,200 in chips.
Sunday, July 5, 2009 12:18 PM Local Time
We caught this hand on the river as Scotty Nguyen's opponent bet 1,000 on a board of
.
Nguyen thought for a second before tossing three yellow chips into the middle, raising the action by an additional 2,000. His opponent quickly mucked and Nguyen let loose his trademark grin as he scooped up the pot.
Sunday, July 5, 2009 12:15 PM Local Time
The final board read
between Rumble Nowhere Near the Rio Champion Liv Boeree and her opponent. Attempting to land a similar blow to her opponent as she did to PokerNews' own Melissa Castello, Boeree called a bet of 3,100 from her opponent. Unfortunately for her, her opponent's hand was much stronger in this fight as he held
. Boeree mucked and would be the loser in this round, returning to her corner with only 21,000 chips in her stack.
Sunday, July 5, 2009 12:13 PM Local Time
Matt Savage called a raise of 300 from the small blind and check-called an additional 600 chips after a flop of
.
Savage and his opponent then checked down the rest of the board, which came
. When his opponent tabled
, Savage showed
and took the pot with top pair.
Sunday, July 5, 2009 12:12 PM Local Time
Noon really is 6:00am in the poker world. The initial buzz of excitement in the Amazon Room has worn off a bit now as the players have been stagnant in their chairs for just over an hour. In the green and blue sections, a big contagious yawn just swept through the tables like a parade as dozens of players unwittingly caught it in sleepy succession. Joe Bartholdi is rubbing his temples with his eyes half-open, and even the bubbly Bill Chen looks a little drowsy with his head propped up in one hand.
The cocktail servers are swishing around the room with trays full of coffee and Red Bull, and we hope a solid dose of caffeine will bring some life into this room before too long.
Sunday, July 5, 2009 12:10 PM Local Time
A player in middle position bet 1,100 and Paul Tran called on a flop of
. The other two players in the hand folded.
The turn brought the
and the middle-position player asked how much Tran had left. He mentioned that he had about 12,000 and then the player announced that he was all in. Tran called, holding bottom two pair with
. His opponent held
.
The river brought the
, allowing Tran's two pair to hold up and giving him the double up to 27,600.
"Thanks man, I needed it." Tran said.
Sunday, July 5, 2009 12:10 PM Local Time
When the cutoff made it 300 to play, Jeff Lisandro came along from the big blind.
Both players checked a flop of
and Lisandro check-called for 1,500 when the turn brought the
. Action checked to Lisandro when the river brought the
and he bet 1,300. He mucked when his opponent check-raised him to 3,500. Lisandro's stack has slipped to 27,000.
Sunday, July 5, 2009 12:05 PM Local Time
One of the notables we spotted in the Orange Section is Antonio "The Magic Man" Tarver. You might not have heard of Tarver if you've never followed boxing very closely. Tarver is a former light heavyweight champion who won a bronze medal in the 1996 Summer Olympic Games. He also has the distinction of being the first man to ever beat Roy Jones, Jr., who at one time was the king of all light heavyweight boxers.
Tarver, as you might expect for a light heavyweight boxer, is an intimidating presence in Seat 5 at Orange 76.