Gaelle Baumann grabbed everybody's attention with an early knockout, Richard Dubini finished with the chip lead
July 10, 2017 (Las Vegas, NV) - Another 2,164 players flooded the Rio to play the second starting flight of the 2017 World Series of Poker Main Event. There were 1,643 players survived the five, two-hour levels, but everybody left talking about what happened in the first level.
On the feature table that was broadcasted live on ESPN2, Gaelle Baumann eliminated Vanessa Selbst in a hand that will go down in Main Event history. Selbst raised to 400 and was called by Baumann on the button and Noah Schwartz out of the big blind.
The flop was and Schwartz checked. Selbst bet 700, Baumann called and Schwartz folded. The turn was the and Selbst checked. Baumann bet 1,700 and Selbst check-raised to 5,800. Baumann called and the river was the . Selbst bet 16,200 and Baumann moved all in, covering Selbst's remaining 20,000.
Selbst thought for a while before calling with , but was eliminated during the first level of the day by Baumann's .
"Yeah, she took a tricky line," said Baumann after the fourth level of the day. "She made it really big on the river. Like 16K into a 14K pot. So yeah, I know she has a full house. I was hoping she has aces."
After Selbst called, she said that she thought Baumann would shove ace-seven, which is a hand she could beat. On the stream, Baumann responded that she would've shoved that hand, but afterwards, she thinks that she would've just called with almost her entire range.
"It's really hard to fold," said the French pro. "It's a really tough spot to be in and she thought I was shoving ace-seven, so if I shove ace-seven, it's ok. I said yes, but no, I don't think [I shove ace-seven] after thinking about the hand. With that bet size, she could easily have a better full than I do with that size."
This isn't the first time that Baumann has been the focal point of the Main Event's action. During her deep run and eventual 10th place finish in the 2012 Main Event,there was the memorable shove by Andras Koroknai after not realizing that Baumann had raised in front of him.
Koroknai mucked his hand before Baumann could call with pocket kings and Koroknai was only forced to lose the initial raise from Baumann.
"Every year there is something else," joked Baumann. "I mean, yeah, it's always fun. There was the 'You lost bro' hand too. I don't know if you remember that. I don't mind. I don't really like being the center of attention, but that's because I'm a shy person. If I win, I'm ok with the attention."
After a good start with quads against Selbst's top full house, she didn't have the easiest of days. She trended downward and finished with 87,100.
"Pretty bad actually," said Baumann about how her day went after that. "After such a good start, I went down to 50K again. I lost every pot I played. I lost quite a few big pots with top pair and two guys hit their flush in a 40K pot and otherwise, just a couple of small pots."
Baumann grabbed the headlines, but it was Argentinian pro Richard Dubini that grabbed the most chips. Dubini finished the day with 254,500 and earned the title of Day 1B chip leader. Through two flights, he is second in chips overall, behind Morten Mortensen, who finished Day 1A with the heaviest bag.
Dubini is a regular in the European high roller events, but prefers the Main Event to anything else he has a chance to play.
"This event has the best structure," said Dubini after bagging up his chips. "So here, I love it."
Dubini picked up most of his chips near the end of the day when he eliminated Abe Mosseri and another player with top two pair. Mosseri tabled top pair and the second nut flush draw, while the third player showed a gutshot and the nut flush draw. Dubini turned a full house and had both players drawing dead to the river.
"I ran like god, really," said Dubini. "I think I play good. I didn't lose so many pots, so I have a good day."
He's not a generally a fan of playing big pots early in the tournament, but in this specific instance, he felt forced to put the chips in the middle.
"I don't really play a lot of big pots," said Dubini. "Just the last one. That one was a hard call for me, but the two players were so aggressive that I have to call. I'm so happy. Really."
It was another day in which the Main Event saw growth from last year. Day 1A saw a slight increase from 2016's numbers with its 795 players, but Day 1B really saw the field grow. There were 1,733 players in 2016's Day 1B compared to this year's 2,164.
Through the first two flights, there are 2,959 players with what is expected to be the biggest of the three flights, Day 1C, kicking off on Monday at 11 a.m.
Last year, Day 1C drew 4,240 players, which was the largest single-day field in Main Event history, which would make it tough for an increase this year for the third and final flight, but if more than 3,778 players show up, the Main Event will see a bump in overall attendance from 2016.
Other notable players to finish atop the 1C chip counts include Brandon Meyers (215,700), Brandon Adams (205,000), Tex Barch (200,000), Albert Daher (198,500), Justin Young (168,100), Thomas Muehloecker (152,700), Matt Glantz (147,000), Barry Greenstein (146,800), Ismael Bojang (142,800), Nick Schulman (131,200), Adrian Mateos (129,000) and Scott Seiver (123,900).
Joining Selbst and Mosseri on the notable eliminations list include 2012 Main Event Champion Greg Merson, Dan O'Brien, Jesse Sylvia, Craig Varnell, Ben Yu, Ivo Donev and Justin Bonomo.
The first three levels of Day 1C will be broadcast live on PokerGo. The survivors of today's flight will return on Tuesday at 11 a.m. for Day 2.