Monday, July 12, 2010 2:25 PM Local Time
We walked up to a flop of just in time to see David Williams check-call a bet of 5,000 from his lone opponent. On the turn, Williams called another 12,000, and the filled out the board on fifth street. Taking the lead now, Williams shoved all in over the top for effectively the ~27,000 his opponent had in front of him. Snap-call!
Williams tabled for the small flush, and his hand was second-best. The other player tabled for the full house, and Williams has been knocked down to about 11,000.
Monday, July 12, 2010 2:22 PM Local Time
Adrien Allain opened to 2,500 from middle position only to have an opponent on his direct left take four minutes before bumping it to 7,200.
The blinds folded, and with the action back on Allain, he quickly tossed in three 5,000-denomination chips amounting to a four-bet of 17,200.
His opponent spent another four - potentially six - minutes in the tank before laying his hand down.
Allain tossed his cards into the muck and collected the pot to climb to 230,000 in chips.
Monday, July 12, 2010 2:22 PM Local Time
Scott Baumstein raised to 3,100 preflop and was called by a single opponent. Both players checked the flop and the came on the turn. Baumstein bet 4,400 and received a call.
The river was the and Baumstein bet 15,000. His opponent went into the tank for a very long time. So long in fact, that around the nine minute mark the dealer called the clock. The floorman was brought over and did the one minute countdown. The clock expired and the player's hand was declared dead.
Baumstein then showed for a six-high. He is sitting at 290,000.
Monday, July 12, 2010 2:21 PM Local Time
On a board of , Tony Dunst was all in on the river for a raise over his opponent's bet. The opponent made the call and Dunst tabled the to beat his opponent's .
"I guess I didn't want that club," said Dunst. "Cooler flop."
Dunst doubled on the hand and is up to 156,000 in chips.
Monday, July 12, 2010 2:19 PM Local Time
Craig Gray was all in and at risk preflop was and was unfortunately dominated by an opponent's
The board ran and Gray was eliminated.
Monday, July 12, 2010 2:18 PM Local Time
We've been trying to catch reigning champion Joe Cada in a hand for most of the day, but every time we go by his table he eludes us. We did catch him open a recent pot to 3,000 pre-flop. A player in late position called, but then folded for 4,000 more on a paired flop, .
That's the best we've been able to do so far for Cada, who's rocking s stack of about 75,000.
Monday, July 12, 2010 2:17 PM Local Time
Victorino Torres raised to 3,500 from middle position, and he was called by both the hijack and the button. From the big blind, Chris Moneymaker moved all in for his last 3,900. Torres announced a reraise, but he was forced to flat-call the extra 400, and his other two live opponents followed suit.
The flop came , and Torres' 7,000-chip bet was enough to force out the meddlers and get him heads up with a chance to knock out Moneymaker. He tabled, , and Moneymaker was behind but drawing live with his .
The turn and river did nothing to help either player, and Torres' kicker played to eliminate Moneymaker from the field.
Monday, July 12, 2010 2:17 PM Local Time
David "Devilfish" Ulliott was in early position and raised to 3,200. He received calls from both the cutoff and the button. The flop came down and the big blind checked. Devilfish bet 7,000 and the cutoff began thinking about it. "You thinking that long buddy, you're in bad shape," the Devilfish said.
The cutoff then cut out some chips and raised to 18,000. The big blind folded and action was back on the Devilfish. "If I throw it away are you going to show me?" he asked. There was no response so the Devilfish called and checked in the dark.
The turn was the and the cutoff bet 25,000. The Devilfish gave up on the hand and tossed his cards into the muck. The cutoff then showed for a simple pair of sixes. "Nice hand," was all the Devilfish said as he dropped to 68,000.
Monday, July 12, 2010 2:13 PM Local Time
The hijack opened to 3,200, and from the big blind, Dan Heimiller three-bet to 10,200. His opponent called, and the flop came out . He continued his story with a 10,600 bet. Once again, the other player made the call. The turn paired the board, and both players checked it. And the on the river got another check from Heimiller. His opponent saw he'd given up and fired 16,000. Heimiller snap-mucked with a sigh, dropping to 55,500.
Heimiller better pick it up if he wants to win WSOP Player of the Year. He's one of a few who could catch Frank Kassela, but he'd have to win the Main Event to do it.
Monday, July 12, 2010 2:13 PM Local Time
With around 20,000 in the pot after some heavy preflop action between Frank Kassela and two opponents, play was checked through to the river on a board of . Kassela led out with a bet of 10,000 and that's where things got interesting.
His opponent put in a raise to 43,000 to force a fold from the third player, as Kassela went into the tank. With ESPN cameras hovering Kassela deliberated before sliding calling chips into the middle.
His opponent wasn't happy and shook his head in frustration as he opened for just a pair of eights, but Kassela showed for a great call to collect the pot.
"When we checked the flop and turn, I just didn't think you had a big hand," explained Kassela, "Although I nearly threw up on my shoes making that call!"
Kassela is now up to 255,000.
Monday, July 12, 2010 2:08 PM Local Time
Darren Woods raised from early position to 2,800 and the small blind three-bet to 7,500. Woods made the call and the flop came down rainbow. The small blind led for 12,500 and Woods called.
The turn was the and the small blind fired 17,500. Woods called again.
The river completed the board with the and Woods raised to 89,000 after his opponent fired 20,000. The small blind mucked and Woods picked up the pot showing the for a busted draw.
Monday, July 12, 2010 2:08 PM Local Time
Nikolay Losev, who finished 28th in the WSOP Main Event in 2008, has increased his stack considerably over the course of play so far today. We just caught him involved in a three-way hand that also included John Racener.
Losev opened with a raise from under the gun to 3,200 and got two callers, including Racener in middle position. The group checked the flop. Then following the on the turn, Losev bet 6,000, Racener got out, and the third player called.
The river was the . Both players checked, Losev showed , and his opponent mucked.
Losev is now up to 406,000.
Monday, July 12, 2010 2:08 PM Local Time
Steve Billirakis opened to 3,000 and Kevin Gates made the call from the big blind.
The flop of was greeted with a 6,000-chip bet from Billirakis as Gates check-called to see the land on the turn.
Both players checked it through to see the land on the river and Gates check the action over to Billirakis.
Billirakis thought for a little before firing out 10,000 as Gates quickly mucked while slipping to 556,000.
Billirakis tabled his and collected the pot to move to 174,000 in chips.
"You did show absolute air right?" asked one of the players on the table.
"I flopped a flush" commented a blunt Billirakis.
Monday, July 12, 2010 2:06 PM Local Time
The gentleman in the cutoff raised to 3,000 and received three calls from assortedly the button, David Chiu in the small blind and the gent in the big blind.
They saw a flop and it checked around to the button who bet 4,500. Chiu called, and once the other two players had folded, they were heads up to the turn.
The turn was the and Chiu check-called another 5,500 before checking again on the river. This time his opponent checked behind, and they turned their cards over.
Button:
Chiu:
"Ooh, the eight plays," said Chiu, and indeed it did.
Chiu won another decent-sized pot the next hand as well, and is now at 160,000.
Monday, July 12, 2010 2:03 PM Local Time
Ricardo Fasanaro has been enjoying a nice rush here in the early going today. We recently passed by his table as he was stacking up yet another pot, enough to push him above the 500,000-chip mark.
A return trip found Fasanaro involved in a big hand with Jean Robert-Bellande. The hand had reached the turn when we arrived, with the board showing and about 55,000 already in the middle. Fasanaro checked, and Bellande took his time before betting 25,000. Fasanaro looked to see how much Bellande had left -- about 120,000 -- and made the call.
The river brought the . This time Fasanaro bet 16,300. Bellande sat with an anguished look, then began moving his chips around. "You have a straight?" he asked.
Finally Bellande carved out calling chips, then, announcing he was raising, added another 78,000 to his bet for a total of 94,300.
Now it was Fasanaro's turn to look anguished. After a minute or so, he made the call, tabling for the flush. But Bellande had him beat with for the full house.
"Whew!" said Bellande afterwards, saying he actually didn't want to see that river card. "If anybody can catch a straight flush, it's this guy," he said, alluding to Fasanaro's recent run-good.
After that one, Fasanaro falls back to about 375,000, while Jean-Robert moves up to 318,000.
Monday, July 12, 2010 2:03 PM Local Time
We got to the scene to see Edward Brogdon and an opponent involved in a hand with a board reading .
Brogdon's opponent checked, Brogdon bet and then called when his opponent moved all in.
Brogdon was happy with his call, showing , which was ahead of his opponent's . However the river came down and Brogdon's hand finished second-best, leaving him out of chips.
Monday, July 12, 2010 2:01 PM Local Time
From under the gun, Frank Kassela opened to 3,300 and was called in three spots as the dealer spread the flop.
The action was checked through to see the small blind fire out 10,500 when the turn landed the .
Kassela was the only caller as the river landed the and both players checked it through.
Kassela tabled his and the small blind mucked to see Kassela pushed the pot to climb to 180,000.
"Horrible river right there!" Kassela stated.
"I should be happy I won anyway!" he added before the next hand began.
Monday, July 12, 2010 1:59 PM Local Time
With the board reading , Sammy Farha was faced with an all in bet of 30,200 with about 30,000 in the middle already. Farha tanked for a bit, but eventually made the call and a third player behind him folded.
Showdown
Mr. Shover:
Farha:
Farha needed one of the three remaining nines to make a better straight, but the on the river paired the board and changed nothing. Farha is still very healthy though, sitting with 220,000 chips.
Monday, July 12, 2010 1:59 PM Local Time
A player in early position opened to 3,600 before the cutoff moved all in for 28,100. Not to be outdone, Chris Moneymaker reshoved his last ~33,000 from the button, and that was enough to fold the first raiser (who said he had an ace) and get Moneymaker heads up with a chance at the knockout.
Showdown
Cutoff:
Moneymaker:
The board frowned on the former world champ, coming . Ace-king is no good, and Moneymaker has been crippled all the way down to just 5,000 lonely chips.
Monday, July 12, 2010 1:59 PM Local Time
One player who's quietly worked his way to the top is double-bracelet winner Jesper Hougaard. With 345,000, the Dane (although he showcases a bizarre accent which has developed a British tinge) is right there within the chasing pack and certainly someone we'll be keeping a firm eye on as the day develops.