Friday, June 12, 2015 10:15 PM Local Time
A player in middle position raises to 2,000. James Hughes moves all in for his remaining 12,600. The player in the small blind moves all in and has the table covered. All other players fold.
Hughes shows and his opponent has .
The board runs out to give Hughes the double up.
James Hughes - 29,000
Friday, June 12, 2015 10:11 PM Local Time
Jason Fisher goes all in with 8,500 from the small blind. A player in middle position calls.
Fisher shows and his opponent turns over .
The board is .
Fisher takes the pot with a pair of queens and an ace kicker.
Jason Fisher - 18,700
Friday, June 12, 2015 9:57 PM Local Time
Level: 10
Blinds: 400/800
Ante: 100
Friday, June 12, 2015 9:35 PM Local Time
Players are now on their final break of the night as tournament directors color up the green chips. They will return in 20 minutes and play two more levels before those remaining will bag chips for Day 2.
Friday, June 12, 2015 9:34 PM Local Time
A player in middle position goes all in for approximately 7,500. Thomas Hanes, the next player, calls.
Hanes shows and his opponent turns over .
The board is .
Hanes scoops the pot with a straight.
Thomas Hanes - 29,500
Friday, June 12, 2015 9:34 PM Local Time
Six players see the flop after an early position raise of 1,600.
The flop is . All six players check.
The turn is a and the original raiser bets 3,800. Michael Palo calls and the rest of the players fold.
The river is the and the raiser checks to Palo. Palo bets 13,000. His opponent calls and Palo turns over for four of a kind, jacks.
"I should have bet folded," says his opponent while he mucks his hand.
Friday, June 12, 2015 9:33 PM Local Time
Seated in the big blind and first to make a move, Maya Geller pushes all her chips into the middle on a board of . Her opponent, a player under the gun, is tanking as he thinks about his next move.
He eventually does find a call and tables , only to see himself drawing dead to Geller's with one card yet to come.
The river is the meaningless and Geller scores a double up to just under 50,000 before the post Level 9 color up break.
Friday, June 12, 2015 9:32 PM Local Time
Two players go all in with a 45,000 pot already at stake after a flop of . Adam Kipnis shows while his opponent has .
The turn and river are giving no help to Kipnis' opponent and Kipnis doubles up.
Adam Kipnis - 93,000
Friday, June 12, 2015 9:30 PM Local Time
Vanessa Selbst is known as one of the most aggressive players in the poker world, and a quick look at her chip stack right now would indicate just that. Selbst has about 50,000 in big chips, but it's her collection of 25 and 100 chips that truly tell the tale of domination for her. The floor staff asked her to buy up the 25 chips, because she has what appear to be two 50 stack towers of green chips, and two additional 40 stacks of 100 chips.
Showing how she got those chips, Selbst, who can barely check her cards around her towers, raises it up to 1,400 from the cutoff, and only the button calls. The flop comes , and Selbst bets out 900. Her opponent calls, and the hits the turn. Selbst bets again, 2800 this time, and her opponent tosses in his hand.
The pot gets pushed to Selbst, and before she can even finish stacking up her new chips, she raises to 1,400 on the next hand. Everyone folds around, and she collects more antes to add to her towers. It's safe to say that Selbst is in cruise control right now at her table.
Vanessa Selbst - 68,000
Friday, June 12, 2015 9:25 PM Local Time
Under the gun, Steve Billirakis raises to 1,500.
The player in the cutoff moves all in for 1,675 and the small blind calls. Billirakis throws in the additional 175 and players see a flop. The small blind checks, Billirakis raises 2,600 and the small blind quickly folds.
Billirakis tables his and is way ahead when his opponent shows .
The turn and river change nothing and Billirakis gets a small chip up while sending one to the rail.
Steve Billirakis - 64,000
Friday, June 12, 2015 9:24 PM Local Time
A player in late position raises to 1,700. He's called by the hijack and Scott Weidema in the small blind.
The flop is . Weidema bets 2,500, the player in late position goes all in for 3,875, the hijack calls and so does Weidema.
The turn is the and all the players check.
The river is the . All the players check.
The player who's all in shows , Weidema shows and the other player mucks his cards.
Weidema wins the pot with a straight.
Scott Weidema - 55,400
Friday, June 12, 2015 9:21 PM Local Time
Cristinel Sandu opens to 1,700 from middle position and action folds to Nicholas Palma in the cutoff.
The pro out of The Bronx three-bets to 4,300 to fold the button and blinds, while Sandu calls to see the dealer drop a flop.
Both players knuckle the felt and the falls on fourth street. Sandu leads out for 4,000 and Palma pauses a beat before calling, with the river coming to complete the board.
The action goes check-check, and when Sandu shows down Palma can only grimace in acknowledgement, take a last look at his own hand, and slide his cards to the dealer in defeat.
Cristinel Sandu - 69,000
Nicholas Palma - 47,000
Friday, June 12, 2015 9:11 PM Local Time
Vanessa Selbst calls in the under the gun position and so does the player next to act, Joe Temple in the cutoff, and the small blind. The big blind checks and all five players see on the flop.
Four players check to the player in the cut-off position who bets 2,500. The small blinds calls and the big blind raises to 5,500. Selbst tanks for a bit and folds as does the under the gun +1 player. Joe Temple in the cutoff goes all in for his remaining 9,400 and the big blind calls. Temple shows while the big blind shows .
The board runs out giving Temple straight and double up.
Joe Temple - 23,000
Friday, June 12, 2015 9:05 PM Local Time
Eddy Sabat has his last 19,875 moved into the middle and the small blind also has his stack, sitting at a touch over Sabat's, pushed forward.
The small blind has a big ace with tabled, but he brought a knife to a gunfight and Sabat brought the bullets.
The pro's is well out in front, although as the flop comes down the someone at the table sucks his breath in at the sight of two diamonds on board - as the small blind is gifted the first half of a flush.
When the falls on fourth street the diamond drama ends, but somehow Sabat is still left with a sweat. From his perch in the 10-seat Sabat is in perfect position to peek at the river card as the dealer delivers, and he winces for a second before the card hits the felt.
River:
"Thought that was the king," says Sabat, pointing out that paint was not what he wanted to see.
As the dealer separates the small blind from most of his stack one of his friends picks the perfect time to stop by for a chat from the rail.
"So you gave your chips to this guy Eddy?" he asks the small blind, who doesn't seem to be in the mood for further conversation. "Gave 'em to the aces over here, huh?"
Sabat just smiles and tells the needling onlooker that he earned the pot, saying happily "he didn't give me a thing."
Eddy Sabat - 41,000
Friday, June 12, 2015 9:01 PM Local Time
On a board of , Ayan Ghosh has all his chips in the middle against an opponent in middle position.
His is way ahead of his opponent's .
The turn and the river both brick out, the and respectively.
Ghosh doubles up to just over 45,000 early in Level 9.
Friday, June 12, 2015 9:01 PM Local Time
Shlomo Ovadia raises to 1,200 in middle position. Another player in middle position calls, then Jamie Westenburg calls from the small blind.
The flop falls . Westenburg checks, Ovadia bets 18,000, the next middle position player folds and Westenburg calls.
The turn is the and both players check.
The river is the . Both players check.
Westenburg shows and Ovadia turns over giving him aces to scoop the pot.
Shlomo Ovadia - 36,700
Jamie Westenburg - 113,300
Friday, June 12, 2015 8:36 PM Local Time
Level: 9
Blinds: 300/600
Ante: 75
Friday, June 12, 2015 7:11 PM Local Time
Players are now going on their dinner break and will return in 90 minutes. They will play three more levels to close out the night before those remaining will bag chips for Day 2 on Sunday.
We have seen some big stacks develop over the last few levels. Chris Lindh is sitting atop the leaderboard with just over 100,000. 2014 WSOP Main Event champion Martin Jacobson is playing with a stack just above 65,000, as is 2006 Main Event champion Jamie Gold. Many big names are still alive and well as they head into their extended break.
Late registration will remain open until the start of Level 9, at which time tournament directors will release an official entree number for Day 1A.
Friday, June 12, 2015 7:04 PM Local Time
The board reads and at least 22,000 is already piled in the pot.
The big blind checks over to David Woods, who responds by shoving the rest of his 31,000 into middle with authority.
This sends the big blind into a long tank and he asks for a count despite having only 21,500 behind. As several minutes pass the player apologizes to the table and asks for a little more time, but once his additional 30 seconds or so have been consumed, a third player at the table quietly calls for the clock.
A floorman arrives and administers the usual speech, and the big blind begins staring straight at Woods, scanning and searching for a tell while Woods sits still as a stone.
Finally, with the countdown almost over and the floorman intoning gravely, "five, four, three, two...," the big blind blurts out "call!"
Woods's poker face cracks at the sound of the call and he pounds his to the felt in triumph, declaring "I have the nuts."
He actually holds the second-nuts at this point, trailing quad fours, but that distinction is rendered irrelevant when the big blind fails to table , the only cards that would beat Woods. Instead, he glumly moves his stack forward for the dealer, before walking away from the table without saying a word.
David Woods - 75,000
Friday, June 12, 2015 7:01 PM Local Time
Eddy Sabat goes all in with 8,500 from middle position. A player in early position calls, showing . Sabat turns over .
The board is .
Sabat takes the pot with eights.
Eddy Sabat - 16,900