Friday, June 12, 2015 11:59 PM Local Time
Joseph Cheong is among the leaders after Day 1A
After last year's successful debut the $1,500 Monster Stack event returned to the schedule this year, and with thousands of amateurs turning out to play today's first starting flight, the special 15,000-chip starting stack tournament will likely become a fixture on the WSOP docket for the foreseeable future.
A total of 3,027 runners made their way to the Rio for an early bird special, showing up at 10 a.m. local time to try and improve on the massive 300 big blind starting stack. Owen Guest did just that on the first deal of the day, doubling up and sending one unfortunate soul to the rail after flopping top set against the nut straight. Even blessed with a Monster Stack coolers happen though, and those 300 bigs went into the middle in short order, with Guest filling up on the river.
This year's Day 1A turnout dropped off by about 1,000 entries from last year's mark of 4,020, but that's to be expected after the debut of the historic Colossus event and another Millionaire Maker extravaganza gave the recreational crowd more chances to taste the WSOP experience. By the time last year's Monster Stack event closed registration 7,734 players ponied up, so another 4,700+ unique entries will need to show up tomorrow at 10 a.m. local time to take their shot.
By the time chips were bagged and tagged it was Chi Truong who claimed the likely lead with 193,400, but he has close competition in Kevin Kung (193,100), Vitor Dzivielevski (187,100), Kiryl Radzivonau (185,000) and pro Joseph Cheong (184,400). Other big stacks to emerge include Patrick Cruse (171,900) and Thomas Butzhammer (169,600).
Plenty of big names secured a seat for Day 2, including defending WSOP Main Event champion Martin Jacobsen (116,600), Hoyt Corkins (132,400), Sofia Lovgren (88,800), and Vanessa Selbst (81,000), Ravi Raghavan (74,500).
Pros who went home early include Allen Cunningham, Faraz Jaka, Ari Engel, Jared Jaffee, Antonio Esfandiari, Aaron Massey, Scott Davies, Cliff Josephy, Joe Kuether, Carlos Mortensen, Nancy Birnbaum, and plenty of others.
They won't have a second chance in this single-entry event, so check in with WSOP.com Saturday at 10 a.m. local time to see who shows up to do the Monster Stack mash on Day 1B.
Friday, June 12, 2015 11:58 PM Local Time
It's the last hand of the night on this table and a player in middle position raises to 2,300. WSOP bracelet winner Greg Ostrander goes all in with 15,500. He's called by the player next to him and the first player folds.
Ostrander tables and his opponent shows .
The board is .
Ostrander scoops the pot have flopped a set of aces.
Greg Ostrander - 33,000
Friday, June 12, 2015 11:45 PM Local Time
Sofia Lovgren is at risk for her tournament life holding against two others players. One of the other players is at risk holding , the second player holding .
It didn't take long for the leader to swing and Lovgren to be in great position to not only triple her stack, but put herself well above the average chip stack heading into Day 2.
The dealer spread out an ace on the flop and continued building on Lovgren's lead with another ace on the turn. She escaped a jack and a queen on the river and pulled in a huge pot worth just over 75,000.
Lovgren has one cash so far this summer here at the WSOP, a 178th place finish in a $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em event for $2,813. She'll be looking to add to that total here in the Monster Stack event as she bags up for Day 2.
Friday, June 12, 2015 11:45 PM Local Time
A player raises to 2,200 and Jason Mirza reraises to 6,800. The original raiser goes all in and Mirza calls. Mirza shows while his opponent shows . The board runs out . Mirza gets there on the river and his opponent walks to the rail stunned.
Jason Mirza - 95,000
Friday, June 12, 2015 11:40 PM Local Time
The board is . Taylor von Kreigenbergh is all in for 20,300 on the button.
His opponent, in middle position, is tanking. Eventually he folds, saying: "Show bro!" Von Kreigenbergh flips over and says: "Yeah I was bluffing, it doesn't matter."
Von Kreigenbergh's opponent says he had two pairs. Von Kreigenbergh says: "You bluffed me earlier, I had to get you back!" His opponent says: "That's so sick man!"
Taylor Von Kreigenbergh - 46,000
Friday, June 12, 2015 11:30 PM Local Time
A player under the gun opens to 2,000 and action folds around to Min So on the button. So three bets, only to see his opponent toss out a giant stack of orange 5,000 chips on the four bet.
So counts his stack and re-checks his cards before calling and turning over . Under the gun shows and will need a ton of help to switch the leader in this one.
The board runs out clean for So's kings and he doubles up to just over 64,000, putting him well over the chip average and playing with one of the bigger stacks in the room at this point.
Friday, June 12, 2015 11:29 PM Local Time
Michael Lytle raises to 2,200 in middle position. A player in early position reraises to 6,000. Lytle four-bets 27,000 and his opponent calls.
Lytle shows and his opponent turns over .
The board is .
Lytle takes the pot with two pairs.
Michael Lytle - 43,100
Friday, June 12, 2015 11:20 PM Local Time
All players fold to the blinds. One of them says, "shall we go all in blind?". The other agrees and the table verifies that neither has looked at their cards. Both players go all in with Rob Kuhn in the small blind having his opponent covered.
Kuhn flips over while his opponent shows . The board runs out . Kuhn calls for a queen and gets on the river to knock out his opponent.
Rob Kuhn - 90,000
Friday, June 12, 2015 11:05 PM Local Time
Five players see a flop of . The action checks around to the player in the cutoff position who goes all in. Ryan Julius is the only player to make the call. Julius shows while his opponent tables .
The board runs out and Julius sends his opponent to the rail.
Ryan Julius - 34,000
Friday, June 12, 2015 11:05 PM Local Time
The board is showing and a player in the big blind starts the betting off at 2,800. Eliot Imhoff is seated under the gun and shoves all his chips across the line. A player in the cutoff folds his action back to the big blind.
He takes his time, counting and re-counting his chips before eventually sliding them out to signal a call.
Imhoff turns over as his opponent shows , good for top pair but well behind Imhoff's two ladies.
The turn and the river bring out the and the , neither doing any harm to Imhoff's hand.
He scores the double up to just over 40,000 chips as players start their final level of the night.
Friday, June 12, 2015 11:04 PM Local Time
The flop is . Action checks to the cutoff who bets 2,500. Joseph Cheong, on the button, calls. The big blind raises to 5,000. The cutoff folds and Cheong calls.
The turn is the . The big blind bets 10,000. Cheong indicates that he wants to see his opponent's chips, and having seen them, he calls.
The river is the and both players check. The big blind shows the and Cheong shows , taking the pot with kings.
Joseph Cheong - 119,700
Friday, June 12, 2015 10:56 PM Local Time
Level: 11
Blinds: 500/1,000
Ante: 100
Friday, June 12, 2015 10:49 PM Local Time
Rob Perelman calls two all ins with and has both players covered.
The two players have and .
The board comes and Perelman wins with a pair of queens. Both all in players are eliminated.
Rob Perelman - 134,000
Friday, June 12, 2015 10:49 PM Local Time
Brandon Cantu opens for 1,200 and action folds around to Joe Barnard, who three-bet jams for 12,000 on top.
Cantu asks for a count, shrugs slightly, and announces a call.
Barnard:
Cantu:
Cantu's king-high gives him the lead but Barnard has two live cards to work with. He pairs one of them on the flop to take the lead, and Cantu can't catch up on the turn or the river.
Joe Barnard - 26,000
Brandon Cantu - 45,000
Friday, June 12, 2015 10:41 PM Local Time
Before the last break, Vanessa Selbst was cruising with an above average stack of 70,000. But everything seemingly went downhill for her since then, as she has dropped to less than 25,000, until a timely double up just now.
Selbst is heads up on a flop. They get all the money in, and her opponent is more than happy to table for a likely leading hand. However, he's slowed down when Selbst rolls over for trip threes. The board completes and , and Selbst scores the double up to start rebuilding her stack to over 45,000.
Vanessa Selbst - 48,000
Friday, June 12, 2015 10:37 PM Local Time
The player under the gun raises to 1,900 and Jorge Ribeiro in middle position raises all in. His opponent calls and shows . Ribeiro shows and the race is on.
The board runs out to give Ribeiro the full house and send his opponent to the rail.
Jorge Ribeiro - 60,000
Friday, June 12, 2015 10:36 PM Local Time
The flop is . Three-time Circuit ring winner Scott Stewart raises to 1,300 from the hijack and Matt Reed calls from the cutoff.
The turn is the . Stewart bets 4,700 and Reed calls.
The river is the and both players check.
Scott Stewart shows and Reed turns over .
Reed takes the pot with a pair of nines.
Matt Reed - 81,400
Scott Stewart - 69,700
Friday, June 12, 2015 10:30 PM Local Time
A player in middle position opens to 2,500 and Jesse Capps is the lone caller holding the button.
The
flop comes and the preflop aggressor continues his line,
leading out for 5,000. Capps calls and the turn brings the to the
board. After another lead into him for 6,000 Capps calls a second time,
and the falls in on the river.
The opener fires a third
barrel, this time for 11,000, and Capps flicks in the calling chips only
to see his opponent roll over .
"Aces?" asks Capps,
before turning over his and spreading the cards apart with his
fingers, pointing out his two pair without saying another word.
Jesse Capps - 91,000
Friday, June 12, 2015 10:28 PM Local Time
Alexander Queen puts a short stack at risk preflop holding , and he is dominating the of his opponent. The board runs down , and Queen's eights stay the course, knocking out his opponent, and upping his stack to 75,000 in the process.
Alexander Queen - 75,000
Friday, June 12, 2015 10:24 PM Local Time
Scott Stewart opens the action from early position for 1,300. He gets one caller and the pair see a flop.
Following a check by Stewart, his opponent bets 1,500. Stewart calls and the turn is . Both players check and the river is the . Neither player takes a stab at the pot as they both check.
Stewart flips for a pair of kings and his opponent mucks his hand.
Scott Stewart - 86,000