Saturday, October 19, 2013 6:24 PM Local Time
Dave “Devilfish” Ulliott doubled up one of the Team 888 Pros at his table a few levels ago but now he eliminated 888 qualifier Maria Isabel Lopez.
It started with a raise to 700 from Dan Kelly. Three players called and the flop came Ulliott and Lopez got all their chips in the middle while Kelly and the big blind folded.
Lopez turned over while Ulliott tabled
Lopez was in the lead with aces but the a came on the turn to give Ulliott a flush. A completed the board and Lopez hit the rail while Ulliott chipped up to about 35,000.
Saturday, October 19, 2013 6:15 PM Local Time
On a flop Dan O’Brien just got all the money of his opponent into the pot. O’Brien tabled and was in great shape against The turn brought the and the river the eliminating O’Brien’s opponent.
O’Brien, runner up in the $5,000 Mixed Max event two days ago, added 9,600 chips to his stack and is back up to 30,000 chips.
Saturday, October 19, 2013 5:55 PM Local Time
Another 20-minute break is in the record books.
We are back for the fourth 90-minute level of the day.
After this level there will be a dinner break.
The tournament area on Day 1a of the WSOPE Main Event
Saturday, October 19, 2013 5:39 PM Local Time
The players are now taking another break following the conclusion of Level 3. Back in 20!
Saturday, October 19, 2013 5:38 PM Local Time
Adrien Allain and Grant Levy have something in common – they’ve both won major championships in Asia. They are sitting directly next to each other but perhaps aren't even aware of each other's success. For Levy, it was the APPT Sydney in 2007 where he became the first Australian to win a million dollars on home soil. While Allain burst onto the scene with a huge win at the 2009 APT Macau event before following up with a WPT victory in 2011.
The two tangled in a recent pot with Levy opening with a raise to 700, before Allain three-bet to 1,800 in the cutoff position. Action folded back to Levy who made the call. The flop landed and Levy check-called for 1,300 before both players checked the turn. The river was the and again both players checked.
Levy showed which was the best hand as Allain mucked. Levy is back up to around 28,000.
Saturday, October 19, 2013 5:32 PM Local Time
Making the World Series of Poker Main Event final table involves quite a bit of luck. Players that have been there, and are there, are therefor considered lucky, but what happens when two of those clash?
You would almost assume that the player currently a part of the November Nine is luckier than the one from 2011, but runner-runner cards just turned things around on that theory.
The universe did not implode because these two guys had all their chips on the line, but we did say goodbye to Marc-Etienne McLaughlin.
McLaughlin moved all in for 5,000 chips preflop and Sam Holden, ninth place finisher in the 2011 WSOP Main Event for $782,115, made the call.
McLaughlin showed and was up against Holden’s The board ran out and Holden made a straight to knock the French Canadian out.
Saturday, October 19, 2013 5:27 PM Local Time
The UK’s Stephen Chidwick has more than US$1.5 million in live tournament results and more than $3 million in online tournament results. One thing he doesn’t have? A WSOP gold bracelet. Not from lack of trying though - he has made five WSOP final tables. His deepest run was 3rd place in a $1,500 H.O.R.S.E in 2012, while his biggest result was a 4th place in the $25,000 Six-Handed event this past summer in Las Vegas.
Chidwick is in today’s field and will be looking to make another WSOP final table and maybe this time, bring home the gold.
We recently watched Chidwick take down a handy little pot on a board. He was up against one opponent and we arrived at the action on the river, with around 9,000 already in the pot. Both players checked and Chidwick showed which was enough to scoop up the pot.
Stephen Chidwick
Saturday, October 19, 2013 5:17 PM Local Time
Dave “Devilfish” Ulliott was moved to Shane Warne’s table and then he doubled up the Australian cricket legend.
The clashing between the two was exacerbated by large pocket pairs. Warne raised to 750 from early position and Ulliott re-raised to 1,500 to Warne’s left. Action folded back around to Warne who four-bet to 3,500.
Ulliott peeked over at Warne’s stack and saw that he had about 15,000 left. Ulliott then put the majority of his stack in the pot and Warne called all-in. Warne turned over and was drawing slim when Ulliott tabled
But then the flop came and Warne took the lead. The turn was a and then a came on the river to give Warne the double up.
Ulliott was down to about starting stack while Warne went up to about 36,000.
Shane Warne
Saturday, October 19, 2013 5:12 PM Local Time
Jean Montury and Ronan Montfort were just fighting over a pot on the flop for well over ten minutes. There were only a few chips in the pot when the flop showed but that soon changed.
We arrived on the scene when Montury put in a raise to 18,250 while Montfort had 9,575 out in front of him. Our French colleagues that were present said that there had been some previous action that this was a four-bet from Montury.
Eventually, after countless minutes, Monfort folded giving Montury this big pot. Monfort was left behind with 26,500 while Montury now has 54,000 chips.
Saturday, October 19, 2013 5:05 PM Local Time
Daniel Alaei just three-bet from 600 to 1,600 from the button and Stephane Girault in the big blind called quickly. Girault made the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event final table last year and finished in seventh place for €108,864. The initial raiser folded and Alaei and Girault went heads up to the flop.
The flop brought and Girault checked to Alaei who bet 1,500. The Frenchman from Paris called immediately and on the turn the popped up.
Both players checked.
On the river the hit and Girault checked again. Alaei looked at Girault’s stack and then bet enough to put him all in. Girault only had 3,950 chips left but called instantly.
Alaei tapped the table as he mucked his cards and Girault turned over The dealer showed Alaei’s and the Frenchman doubled up with ace-high.
For some players a double up, especially when having a short stack, feels like a relief or at least generates some sort of happiness but Girault stared angrily at both the dealer and Alaei throughout this whole process.
Girault’s back up to 15,000 chips while Alaei still has 46,000 chips.
Saturday, October 19, 2013 4:46 PM Local Time
He must have a massive hand.
That’s what we thought when Jean Yves Labbe called off all his chips against Dominik Nitsche’s shove on a flop.
We didn’t catch all the action, but when we arrived at the table, Labbe had a bet of 12,100 in front of him and Nitsche had shoved, having Labbe covered. Labbe had more than starting stack and after tanking, called all in.
When Labbe tabled some of the players at the table were a little shocked, seemingly at the fact that Labbe had got so many big blinds in, so early in the day, with just top pair.
Nonetheless, at this point, that hand was ahead of Nitsche’s However, Nitsche did have plenty of outs, with any diamond, any ace or any five giving him the winning hand.
At this point an hit the turn and Labbe got out of his seat.
Then a completed the board on the river and with that, Nitsche had scooped up the massive pot and now has around 80,000 in chips.
Nitsche, from Germany, has cashed for just shy of $2.5 million in tournament results over his career, including a WSOP gold bracelet he won in 2012.
This is a good start to adding even more results to that resume here in the WSOPE Main Event.
Saturday, October 19, 2013 4:41 PM Local Time
Marvin Rettenmaier was a late arrival to Day 1a of the Main Event, but he may be making an early exit after a crippling blow against James Alexander.
We only arrived on the turn, but we were told that Alexander had squeezed preflop from the small blind, bet the flop and then fired another 7,000 on the turn on the board of Rettenmaier was in position and made the call as the completed the board on the river.
Alexander bet out for 12,500 and Rettenmaier shrugged before tossing out the call.
“Flush,” said Alexander as he revealed a creative Rettenmaier shook his head and tossed his cards to the muck.
Alexander finished in 19th place in the WSOP Main Event this year and will be looking to match that deep run in Europe as he climbs up to 60,000, leaving Rettenmaier with just 7,400.
Saturday, October 19, 2013 4:37 PM Local Time
Jessica Dawley sports an 888 Poker patch today but it hasn’t been lucky for her so far. We just saw Dawley involved in a pot with Adrei Konopelko who managed to bet her of the hand in the river.
Dawley raised preflop to 650 and one player called after which Konopelk put in the chips from the button.
The flop brought and Dawley bet 1,200, her first opponent called and Konopelko called. The turn brought the and Dawley quickly bet another 2,100.
Konopelko called as if he was in a hurry and the river brought the
Dawley now checked and folded as soon as Konopelko threw out 4,000. Dawley still has 31,000 while Konopelko is up to 44,000 right now.
Saturday, October 19, 2013 4:04 PM Local Time
We’re back from the break and into Level 3 of the day. The blinds are up to 150/300. We’re still waiting for confirmation of the final numbers but looks like it will be around 160 players for Day 1a.
Saturday, October 19, 2013 3:44 PM Local Time
The players have completed the second level of the day and are now enjoying a 20-minute break.
Saturday, October 19, 2013 3:44 PM Local Time
Bear in mind that the following hand and conversation involving Dave “Devil Fish” Ulliott who’s not known for his politeness. Also bear in mind that Kevin Song had a very hard time breathing, as he was laughing throughout this entire hand. It’s all in good fun ladies and gentleman.
Like every hand in poker this one started out pretty normal. Ulliott limped under the gun for 200 and the player on his left three-bet to 550. The next player to act called the 550 and after this it was quickly folded to Kevin Song in the big blind.
Song four-bet to 1,750 and Ulliott started moping around that he had to fold his hand.
“You think I’m scared when you put 200 under the gun?” Song said with a smile as he and Ulliott went back and forth.
The three-bettor did not hesitate and moved all in for 9,800 and the third player quickly folded. Song had the dealer pull in the bets and after a while he said, “I think I have the best hand,” and called.
“Pretty good read you got there,” Ulliott snapped at Song when his opponent showed Song burst out in laughter again as he showed his
“Maybe not right now, but in the end I will,” Song said.
The flop brought and Song was drawing to running sixes or running straight cards.
“Eight-ten,” Ulliott said pointing out that Song needed a miracle to win this hand.
Turn:
River:
“What the f*ck is going on here?” Ulliott burst out while the unlucky French player slammed the table before exiting the room, “This is so sick!”
“I’m a fortune teller, I know what’s coming,” Song said in a thick accent as he continuously laughed.
“It’s good for him, he only had 8,000. When I have 8,000 chips I want to go home or go see the Eiffel Tower. Now he can go see the Eiffel Tower,” Song said as Ulliott got really fired up
“Or jump off the f*cking thing,” Ulliott snapped as the entire table burst out in laughter.
“Who calls there with pocket sixes? If it wasn’t for this Japanese monkey getting lucky on his ass he would’ve had 20,000 chips again,” Ulliott added as Song, a South-Korean national, almost died of laughter.
Song is up to around 43,000 chips and as long as he’s sitting side by side with Ulliott we’re going to be lingering around this table. Another clash, both verbally and in a poker hand, between these two is pending.
Saturday, October 19, 2013 3:39 PM Local Time
Depending on where you live in Australia, the distance between Paris and the land down under is more than 10,000 miles – or more than 16,000 “kilometres”, as the Aussies would say. That distance hasn’t stopped plenty of Australians from playing in the World Series of Poker Europe this year. A few of those Aussies in Kyle Cheong and Aaron Lim are at the felt today.
Lim might be from Australia, but the majority of his results have been in Asia and throughout Europe. He finished 3rd in the Partouche Poker Tour Main Event in 2012 for €417,499 and this year finished 2nd in an EPT Berlin High Roller event for another €240,100. He did have plenty of success in his home country this year though, winning Australia’s only gold bracelet at the inaugural WSOP APAC.
Like Lim, Cheong has had success in both Australia and throughout the world. This year Cheong finished 9th in the EPT Grand Final High Roller for €85,400 and finished 3rd in the APPT Macau High Roller for just under US$60,000. Cheong even finished 9th in a WPT event right here in Paris back in 2012.
We recently watched Lim lose two small pots against the same player over on his table, first folding to a bet on a board and then folding to a bet on a after three-betting preflop. It’s only level two though and so Lim has plenty of time to grow a stack.
We watched Cheong scoop up a pot against one opponent on a board. We caught the action on the river, with more than 2,000 already in the middle and with Cheong flicking out a bet of 1,800. His opponent thought for a while and then let it go.
It’s still only early days, but maybe Cheong and Lim will join Jackie Glazier on the winner’s podium at the WSOPE
Saturday, October 19, 2013 3:34 PM Local Time
If there’s one thing that has evolved as rapidly as the game of Texas Holdem over the past decade, it’s the technological delights of hand-held devices. Gone are the days of poker being a social game. Oh no, they don’t come here to make friends any more. Nowadays, if you’re not multi-tasking on a smart phone, tablet, iPad or laptop, then you’re not being time efficient.
We’d have to say that the WSOPE has arguably produced one of the highest densities of personal devices at a poker tournament that we’ve ever seen. There would be an average of four or five players on every table using some sort of device to distract them from the grind of a long poker day.
So what are the players up to? Scott Clements has been streaming the NFL football all week on his laptop, Jay Farber is watching movies on his, while Phil Ivey has been grinding four tables on his own Ivey Poker site all week (yep, it’s really him playing apparently). Shane Warne is busy on Twitter, while Dan O’Brien brought a brand new, unwrapped Kindle to the table and is now busy trying to figure out how to use it. And everyone else is of course, following the live updates on PokerListings!
Saturday, October 19, 2013 3:19 PM Local Time
There are lots of 8s over at table 5.
November Niner and Team 888 pro Jay Farber is in the one seat while Shane Warne is also patched up with several blue 8s.
While these two players are fairly used to WSOP Main Events -- Farber is even passing the time by watching something with gratuitous love making on his computer -- there’s another 888 patch at the table who’s playing her first WSOP Main Event.
Maria Isabel Lopez is in the four seat and has a blue shirt with a blue 88 patch. Lopez won a side event package and a satellite to the Main Event on 888 and now she’s playing against some of the site’s top players.
In one hand, Lopez raised to 725 from the cutoff and got a call from the button. Warne was in the big blind and had to remove his limited edition One Drop Beats headphones that he won at last night’s charity event to ask what the bet size was.
Warne called and then checked the flop. Lopez continued for 1,650 and both the button and Warne called.
Lopez then led out again on the turn for 2,100 and Warne and the button called again. An completed the board and Lopez bet 5,100 when checked to. The button folded and Warne tanked.
After some time Warne folded and Lopez showed Lopez took down the pot but lost another one to Jay Farber a few hands later.
In that one, Lopez also showed her hand when she mucked, a pair of fives. She's not afraid to go against the best and she's not afraid to show it.
Saturday, October 19, 2013 3:15 PM Local Time
Over the last decade, Daniel Alaei has posted 61 recorded tournament cashes in events all around the world. Of those cashes, 28 are in WSOP tournaments. Mathematicians out there will realise that this means roughly 45% of all of Alaei’s lifetime results are in WSOP events.
Alaei has won four bracelets among seven WSOP final tables. His most recent WSOP success was this past summer when he won the $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha Championship.
Alaei clearly has an affinity with the WSOP. Well more likely, Alaei likes success and maybe even money the money that comes along with said success.
We haven’t seen Alaei at this year’s WSOPE until today’s Main Event, but now that he is here we will be keeping an eye on him.
Recently Alaei played out a hand against Romain Paon on a board. Alaei was in the big blind and had called a raise to 400 from Paon preflop from the cutoff. The two players checked it down to the river and Alaei picked up the pot with It was only a small pot, but tournaments have to start somewhere.
Daniel Alaei at the 2013 WSOP Europe