Sunday, July 5, 2009 5:47 PM Local Time
Kent Senter is 55 years old. He has four children, a loving wife, and only six months to two years to live after being diagnosed with Multiple Myleoma, a degenerative cancer of the spine. Once a manager at Lowe's, Senter began experiencing back pain about three years ago, but doctors and specialists alike told him it was just arthritis. Senter lived with the pain and treated it the best he could until this March, when he was hit in the back by some freight he was unloading off a truck. It was then that he received the correct, but ultimately fatal diagnosis. Now, with mounting medical bills and a family to provide for, Senter thought he'd never get to live his dream-- to play in the WSOP Main Event.
Senter's wife Patty, however, is one determined woman. She sprung into action and contacted Bluff Magazine publisher Eric Morris to see if he could help. Morris, in turn, contacted PokerStars who immediately agreed to sponsor him into the Main Event.
Today, Senter is ensconced at Table 1, Seat 2. The ESPN cameras have been hovering around all day, not to capture hands played by current chip leader Yan Chen or to check on J.J. Liu's progress, but with their lenses trained on his face. Hopefully, his appearance on the WSOP broadcast can bring some attention to Multiple Myleoma as well as the Jimmy V foundation, a charity Senter supports.
Senter is currently sitting on 18,000 in chips as we approach the dinner break.
Sunday, July 5, 2009 5:47 PM Local Time
We walked over to the secondary featured table to check on Phil Hellmuth, and we caught three consecutive hands with him involved.
On the first hand, Hellmuth limped in under the gun, and the player to his left raised to 1,000. One more player plus Hellmuth called to see a three-handed flop. It came
. Hellmuth and the other caller would fold to a bet of 2,100 from the raiser. Hellmuth flashed
as he mucked. Not too exciting.
Hellmuth 34,000
*****
On the next hand, Hellmuth called a preflop raise and the flop came
. Hellmuth check-called a bet of 1,100, and the turn brought the
. Hellmuth checked again, then insta-called when his opponent bet 3,600. Both men checked when the
hit the river, and Hellmuth showed the winning
.
Hellmuth - 40,000
*****
On the third hand, a player under the gun limped in, and Hellmuth made a healthy raise to 2,200 from the small blind. That was enough to fold everyone out and win him the small pot.
He's got 41,000 now.
Sunday, July 5, 2009 5:42 PM Local Time
Fabio Coppola was just eliminated from the tournament on a board of
. His opponent held
for the nut straight.
Sunday, July 5, 2009 5:40 PM Local Time
Certain parts of the Amazon Room are noticeably colder than others. A quick peek at the tables makes it easy to see. Everyone on the far left side of the Orange section is bundled up in multiple layers of hoodies, jackets and long-sleeve shirts. As you move more into the center of the room, those hoodies and jackets start to disappear.
Sunday, July 5, 2009 5:38 PM Local Time
On a flop of
, Tracey Nguyen ended up all in for just over 20,000. She was in good shape for a double, holding
against her opponent's
. The turn and river blanked off with the
and the
, and Nguyen did indeed fade a queen to double up to 42,000.
Sunday, July 5, 2009 5:37 PM Local Time
We picked this hand up on the flop with 1,500 already in the pot.
The small blind bet 3,100 on a flop of
and a player in middle position moved all in for a total of 6,875. Action moved to Jeff Lisandro in late position, who moved his big stack all in.
The small blind tanked for nearly a minute before calling all in for his remaining 18,000 and the hands were shown.
Small Blind:
Middle Position:
Lisandro:
The turn brought the
, putting the pocket jacks in front, but the lead wouldn't last as Lisandro spiked the
on the river for Broadway, knocking both players out of the tournament.
Lisandro now has a stack of 125,000.
Sunday, July 5, 2009 5:29 PM Local Time
On a board of
and with 15,000 in the pot, Ylon Schwartz bet 8,000, eliciting a fold from James 'ZepHendrix' Vanderhaar.
After losing half of his chips early, former "November Nine" member Ylon Schwartz is at 33,400.
Sunday, July 5, 2009 5:29 PM Local Time
The final count is in, and 1,697 players came out for Day 1C of the 2009 WSOP Main Event. That brings the total number of registered players over the first three days to 3,686.
By comparison, 2008's Day 1C attracted 1,928 players. In 2007 1,743 players started on Day 1C and in 2006 there were 2,160.
Sunday, July 5, 2009 5:28 PM Local Time
Erica Schoenberg bet 400 on the flop of
from the small blind. Her opponent was in the big blind and made the call. The two players then took the turn card of the
. First, Erica checked. Second, her opponent checked.
The dealer added the
to the board on the river. Schoenberg bet out, making a wager of 1,200. Her opponent mucked, giving Schoenberg some hard-to-come-by chips. She has been down under 10,000 for most of the day, but is now back up to 12,000 chips.
Sunday, July 5, 2009 5:26 PM Local Time
A player limped in from under the gun and was followed by four other callers in the cut off, button, and both blinds.
The flop came
and action was checked to the under the gun player who moved all in for 3,550. The cut off folded and the button made the call. Ryan Hurst, in the small blind, check-raised to 9,000. The big blind got out of the way and the button was forced to muck his hand to the check-raise.
Hurst:
Under the gun:
The board ran out
allowing Hurst to take the pot and eliminate the player with aces.
Ryan Hurst - 29,200
Sunday, July 5, 2009 5:24 PM Local Time
Jamie Gold was all in preflop hold
and racing with his opponent's
. The flop came down
, providing no light for Gold.
The turn brought the
and officially ended the previous Main Event winner's chances of going any further this year. The river completed the board with the
.
Sunday, July 5, 2009 5:20 PM Local Time
Allie Prescott was all in with James Van Alstyne on the turn with the board reading
. Prescott held
against Van Alstyne's
. The river was the
to give Van Alstyne the win.
Van Alstyne - 28,000
Prescott - 10,075
Sunday, July 5, 2009 5:20 PM Local Time
Facing a raise in front of him, John Caldwell moved all in for his last ~15,000. When it folded back around to the initial raiser, he quickly called to put Caldwell at risk, flipping over
. Caldwell shook his head and flung his own
high into the air and onto the felt. "I've been coolered all day," he lamented.
There was no help coming for him either, as the board ran dry like the desert wind:
. Failing to improve, Caldwell is out.
Sunday, July 5, 2009 5:19 PM Local Time
A player in middle position raised to 825 and Di "urindanger" Dang made the call from the small blind.
Dang then check-called 1,050 on a flop of
, and both players checked down the rest of the board, which ran out
. When Dang showed
, his opponent mucked.
Dang has a stack of 30,000.
Sunday, July 5, 2009 5:15 PM Local Time
We join the action on the flop in a heads-up battle of the blinds with about 5,000 chips already in the pot. The dealer spread the first three cards
. The small blind led out with a bet of 3,075, and Al Barbieri made the call from the big.
The turn came the
to pair the board, and the small blind bet again. It was 5,800 to Sugar Bear, and he called once more. The last card off the deck was the
. Barbieri had 24,300 chips left, and the small blind bet enough to put him all in.
Barbieri stood up from his chair and began to pack his belongings as the table awaited his decision. "Anyone got a coin? Quarter?" he asked. Someone on the rail responded, "Coin or quarter?"
"Quarter. Gonna flip it." Barbieri grabbed the quarter from the railbird and flipped it high onto the felt. It landed heads, and Barbieri flipped it again. Heads again. "Jesus Christ," he said, shaking his head. With that, he quickly slid his cards into the muck. Before he sat back down, he asked the railbird, "Can I keep the quarter?"
"Yeah. Good luck!"
Sunday, July 5, 2009 5:14 PM Local Time
Action folded around to "Miami" John Cernuto who raised to 1,100 from the button. The small blind reraised to 5,100 and Miami John moved the small blind all in. The small blind called.
Small Blind:
Miami John:
The board ran out
allowing Miami John Cernuto's pocket kings to hold.
Miami John Cernuto - 39,800
Sunday, July 5, 2009 5:11 PM Local Time
The flop was
between Liv Boeree and Troy Hamilton. Hamilton was first to act out of the small blind and checked. Boeree checked behind from the cutoff seat.
The turn brought the
and Hamilton checked again. Boeree fired 1,100 and Hamilton called. The river was the
and Hamilton led out with a bet of 4,000. Boeree questioned, "You realize that's more than pot, right?" She also gave Hamilton a long stare down. She eventually made the call, but rolled her eyes and mucked, after Hamilton showed
for the wheel.
Hamilton - 49,000
Boeree - 16,000
Sunday, July 5, 2009 5:10 PM Local Time
Steve Diano limped from under the gun and action folded around to the small blind who completed. A women in the big blind raised to 1,000 and Diano moved all in for 1,950. The small blind got out of the way and the big blind called.
Big Blind:
Diano:
The board came
giving Diano a straight on the river to double up to 4,200.
Sunday, July 5, 2009 5:08 PM Local Time
We picked this hand up on the turn when Jeff Lisandro bet 2,100 on a board of
. His opponent made the call, and Lisandro bet 4,000 more when the
landed on the river. He got called again, and Lisandro scooped the pot after showing
.
The hand brought his chip count to approximately 80,000.
Sunday, July 5, 2009 5:05 PM Local Time
When we were down at the Aussie Millions this past January, we became well-acquainted with young Christian Heich. Heich is in today's Day 1c field. He's sitting behind 33,000 chips after a recent hand in which he bet 2,000 on the turn and 4,500 on the river of a
board. Heich's opponent check-called each bet but couldn't beat Heich's trip fours,
.