Monday, July 2, 2018 4:45 PM Local Time
Westenberg Chips Up Through Lewis and Hamati
James Westenberg raised preflop from late position to 800 and Toby Lewis called from the button. Big blind George Hamati called as well and the flop came down.
Hamati checked to Westenberg and he bet out 1,700. Both Lewis and Hamati called and the turn rolled off the deck. Hamati checked again and Westenberg fired again with a bet of 2,500. Both of Westenberg's opponents called the bet, as on the previous street, and the completed the board.
This time Westenberg made it 5,000 and both Hamati and Lewis folded. Westenberg took down the pot without showdown and started stacking his chips.
| James Westenberg | 60,000 | |
| George Hamati | 52,000 | |
| Toby Lewis | 32,000 | -9,000  |
Monday, July 2, 2018 4:44 PM Local Time
2017 Main Event Champion Scott Blumstein Playing on Day 1a
Monday, July 2, 2018 4:43 PM Local Time
Bruso Bounces Back With Cowboys
An opponent raised to 925 from late position and David Paredes made the call from the cutoff. Dallus Bruso bumped it up to 3,000 from the big blind, the initial raiser folded, and Paredes stuck around.
The dealer fanned out on the flop and both players checked. A fell on the turn, Bruso threw out 3,000, and Paredes made the call.
The river came the , both players checked, Bruso tabled for kings up, and Paredes mucked his hand.
| Dallus Bruso | 53,500 | 53,500  |
| David Paredes | 41,000 | -7,000 |
Monday, July 2, 2018 4:36 PM Local Time
Updated Chip Counts from Amazon Gold
| Steven Van Zadelhoff | 82,000 | 7,000 |
| Alec Torelli | 78,000 | 78,000 |
| Jameson Painter | 76,500 | 17,500 |
| Joe Hachem | 65,500 | 13,500 |
| Matt Waxman | 58,000 | 58,000 |
| Lexy Gavin | 57,000 | 57,000 |
| Ben Lamb | 51,500 | 1,500 |
| David Tuchman | 47,000 | -8,000 |
| Pratyush Buddiga | 45,900 | 6,400 |
| Andre Akkari | 42,450 | -7,550 |
| Nick Pupillo | 40,500 | -7,500 |
| Stephen Chidwick | 36,800 | -5,500 |
Monday, July 2, 2018 4:33 PM Local Time
Calvit Doubles Through Boyko
Yuriy Boyko opened to 750 under the gun. Shawn Calvit, in middle position, three-bet shoved for 3,175. Action folded back to Boyko who made the call.
Shawn Calvit:
Yuriy Boyko:
The board ran and Calvit found a double-up.
| Yuriy Boyko | 64,000 | -6,000 |
| Shawn Calvit | 6,500 | 6,500 |
Monday, July 2, 2018 4:31 PM Local Time
Assorted Post Dinner Counts
Among those to join the action after the dinner break was Tony Dunst and further assorted counts can be found below.
| Daniel Strelitz | 105,000 | 13,000 |
| Dylan Honeyman | 80,000 | 30,000 |
| Vincent Gabel | 73,000 | -3,000 |
| Andre Haneberg | 60,000 | 12,000 |
| Maria Konnikova | 54,000 | 13,000 |
| Tony Dunst | 50,000 | |
| Erik Seidel | 48,000 | 5,000 |
| Cary Katz | 45,000 | 2,000 |
| Toby Lewis | 41,000 | -9,000 |
| Jerry Yang | 36,000 | -54,000 |
| Richard Seymour | 28,000 | -2,000 |
| Ryan Yu | 22,000 | -28,000 |
| Julien Martini | 7,500 | 2,500 |
Monday, July 2, 2018 4:22 PM Local Time
Level 3 started
Level: 3
Blinds: 150/300
Ante: 25
Monday, July 2, 2018 3:33 PM Local Time
Dinner Break on Day 1a
Two levels of two hours each are done and the players have been sent on a 60-minute dinner break. When they return, another three levels are scheduled. So far, the field size has climbed to 863 entries and at least a dozen players have been eliminated.
Action will resume at approximately 4:20 p.m. local time.
Monday, July 2, 2018 3:32 PM Local Time
Daniels Looks Through the Bluff of Busquet
While most tables were already vacated with the players headed into the dinner break, one big pot was brewing in the purple section. There were 24,500 in the middle with a completed board showing and Olivier Busquet bet 12,000 out of the small blind.
Jake Daniels was in the think tank and checked his stack carefully before tossing in the call. Busquet, who had been staring at the middle of the table without saying any word, rolled over for a bluff and Daniels showed his for a pair of jacks, jumped out of his chair and high-fived a friend that was watching on the rail.
"Did you see that call?" he asked, stacked his chips and headed out to grab something to eat.
| Jake Daniels | 124,600 | 0 |
| Olivier Busquet | 16,000 | -28,000 |
Monday, July 2, 2018 3:23 PM Local Time
Kruk Eliminates Someone
Christopher Kruk saw a player push all in for 4,800 and he called. The rest of the players folded their hands and Kruk was in pretty good shape to eliminate his opponent with versus .
The board ran out and Kruk won a nice pot while eliminating a player from the Main Event.
| Christopher Kruk | 87,000 | 5,000 |
Monday, July 2, 2018 3:22 PM Local Time
Notable Chip Counts at Break
| Brian Yoon | 83,000 | 8,000 |
| Juha Helppi | 73,000 | 10,000 |
| Justin Bonomo | 62,500 | 2,500 |
| Chance Kornuth | 53,500 | -4,500 |
| Dejuante Alexander | 48,500 | |
| Scott Blumstein | 45,000 | -4,000 |
| Olivier Busquet | 44,000 | -12,500 |
| Leo Margets | 42,000 | -11,000 |
| Qui Nguyen | 17,500 | -32,500 |
Monday, July 2, 2018 3:18 PM Local Time
Chip Counts
| Kory Kilpatrick | 77,000 | |
| Albert Daher | 59,000 | 7,000 |
| Jordan Young | 57,000 | 7,000 |
| Brandon Bowyer | 53,000 | |
| Laurie Hilton | 48,000 | |
| Romain Lewis | 35,000 | -17,000 |
Monday, July 2, 2018 3:15 PM Local Time
Assorted Pre-Dinner Counts
Victor Ramdin has dropped all the way below the starting stack while Jared Bleznick, Marius Pospiech, and Matt Berkey all built their stack on the very same table.
| Marius Pospiech | 120,000 | 6,000 |
| Matt Berkey | 110,000 | 5,000 |
| Steven Van Zadelhoff | 75,000 | 18,000 |
| Jared Bleznick | 70,000 | 18,200 |
| Felix Schulze | 54,000 | 54,000 |
| Joe Hachem | 52,000 | -6,000 |
| Andre Akkari | 50,000 | 50,000 |
| Brandon Ageloff | 47,000 | -2,000 |
| Scott Margereson | 45,000 | 0 |
| Victor Ramdin | 40,000 | -68,500 |
Monday, July 2, 2018 3:10 PM Local Time
Soverel Bets the Turn
Sam Soverel raised to 600 from the hijack and Stacey Sullivan called from the big blind. They went heads-up to the flop and Sullivan check-called a bet of 700 from Soverel.
The turn was the and Sullivan checked. Soverel bet 2,000 and Sullivan quickly folded.
| Stacey Sullivan | 52,000 | -1,600 |
| Sam Soverel | 49,000 | |
Monday, July 2, 2018 3:10 PM Local Time
Updated Chip Counts
| Seth Davies | 90,000 | -20,000 |
| Christopher Kruk | 82,000 | 32,000 |
| Owen Crowe | 68,000 | |
| Mikiyo Aoki | 63,000 | 3,000 |
| Arne Ruge | 60,000 | 0 |
| Gordon Vayo | 59,000 | 4,000 |
| Art Papazyan | 45,000 | -7,000 |
| Erik Seidel | 43,000 | 1,000 |
| Richard Seymour | 30,000 | -30,000 |
| Julien Martini | 5,000 | -3,000 |
Monday, July 2, 2018 3:08 PM Local Time
Emmett Makes a Grand Entrance
Randall Emmett
A loud fanfare emerged and the entire Amazon room was preparing themselves for the entrance of what was expected to be Phil Hellmuth.
Instead, the group of musicians and girls in exotic dresses was led by Randall Emmett, an American film and television producer. He is the chairman and co-founder of production company Emmett/Furla/Oasis Films, and set the bar pretty high for Hellmuth's big show on July 4th.
Randall Emmett| Randall Emmett | 50,000 | 50,000 |
Monday, July 2, 2018 3:04 PM Local Time
Former Main Event Champion Yang Starts Well
Jerry Yang has almost doubled his stack early on and sits well above the average in the second level of the day. Just now he was spotted with a raise to 700 only to fold the face up against a big three-bet. Yang folded the next two hands on a table that also features Adrien Allain.
One table over, French bracelet winner and Omaha specialist Julien Martini is in trouble with just 8,000 remaining out of an initial stack of 50,000.
| Jerry Yang | 90,000 | 90,000 |
| Adrien Allain | 52,000 | 2,000 |
| Ran Azor | 50,000 | 50,000 |
| Stephen Woodhead | 36,000 | -6,000 |
| Ryan Leng | 30,000 | -5,000 |
| Julien Martini | 8,000 | 8,000 |
Monday, July 2, 2018 3:02 PM Local Time
Daniels Checks Behind of Busquet
Jake Daniels opened to 750 from late position, and the small blind and Olivier Busquet both called. The flop fell and all three players checked.
The hit the felt on the turn and action checked to Daniels who bet 1,3000, Busquet called. The river came the and Busquet checked to Daniels who decided to check behind.
Daniels showed for flopped trips and a rivered boat but Busquet turned over for a higher full house. Daniels smiled at his check behind, but Busquet smiled as he pulled in the pot.
| Jake Daniels | 100,200 | 4,600 |
| Olivier Busquet | 56,500 | 8,500 |
Monday, July 2, 2018 2:57 PM Local Time
Myers Turns a Full House; Gets Paid
Jesse Rockowitz opened to 700 from the hijack. Chuck Myers, in the small blind, and Maria Konnikova, in the big blind, called
A flop reading was dealt and checked through to the turn. Myers led for 800. Konnikova called. Rockowitz gave up his hand.
The river completed the board. Myers fired 2,300. Konnikova took a few seconds of reflection, looking at her opponent before throwing in chips, signifying a call. Myers tabled for deuces full of sevens. Konnikova sent her hand to the muck.
| Chuck Myers | 53,000 | 8,000 |
| Jesse Rockowitz | 47,000 | -2,000 |
| Maria Konnikova | 41,000 | -5,000 |
Monday, July 2, 2018 2:47 PM Local Time
Hata Bets Three Streets
The player in the cutoff raised to 800 and Aymon Hata re-raised to 3,000 from the small blind. The big blind folded and the cutoff player called.
They went heads-up to the flop and Hata continued with a bet of 2,100. His opponent called and the turn was the . Hata led out with a bet of 10,000 and his opponent called.
The river was the , Hata fired a third barrel of 11,000 and his opponent instantly folded.
| Aymon Hata | 90,000 | 30,000 |