Last year, Hoai Pham took home over $70,000 for his victory in this event. So far in his title defense, things have been going quite well as he's now up to 8,100 in chips from a starting stack of 3,000. On the following hand, Pham increased his stack after getting an opponent to lay down a pocket pair.
The hand began with a player in early position raising to 300. Pham attacked with a reraise to 600 and the original raiser made the call. The flop came down and the first player checked to Pham. He bet 1,100 and was called.
The turn card added the to the board. The first player checked and Pham bet enough chips to put his opponent all in. The player folded pocket sevens face up, not wanting to tangle with the defending champ.
Han Hoai of the Sun Coast Casino in Vegas picked up a nice pot at the end of the first level of play. He raised in the cutoff position to 300 with three limpers ahead of him. The under-the-gun player re-raised all in for 425. Under the gun plus one called, the hijack folded, and Hoai called.
The flop showed . The first player checked, Hoai bet 850 and his opponent folded, leaving Hoai heads up with the all-in player. Hoai flipped up and his opponent showed . The board ran out , .
Hoai's nines held up and he sits with around 3,100 chips in front of him.
A player under the gun raised to 275 and then Sony Lee reraised to 800 from the cutoff seat. The button moved all in for 2,100 and action folded back to Lee. The call was made and the cards were turned up.
Lee:
Opponent:
The board ran out and Lee won the pot to improve to over 5,000 in chips.
We missed the pre-flop action but after a flop of a player in middle position bet 500. Steve Farshid raised to 1,275 and the middle position player re-raised all in. Farshid made the call and showed for a flopped set which was way ahead of the other player's . The turn and river gave the other player no help and he was eliminated.
We caught up with the action to see Ty Stewart bet about 1,500, enough to put his opponent all in on a board of . His opponent quickly called, flipping up . Stewart meekly flipped over .
The turn and river were no help to Stewart as they fell and . His opponent doubled up, leaving Stewart with 2,600.
WPT Tournament Director Matt Savage just doubled up. We caught up with the hand on a flop that read with 3 way action. Savage in the big blind checked, a player in middle position bet 450, another player in middle position folded and Savage moved in for his last 1,375. The bettor didn’t take too much time to call and Savage flipped over to have his opponent who held out-kicked. The board ran out and to safely doubled up Savage to just more than 3,000.
Jean-Robert Bellande had a short-lived tournament as he was quickly knocked out shortly after sitting down. From middle position, Bellande raised to 300 and the small blind, Ben Fishman from Michigan, called.
The flop showed . Fishman checked-called the flop after Bellande bet out 500. The turn brought the . Fishman check-raised Bellande all in after Bellande bet 1,200. Fishman showed , Bellande flipped up . Bellande needed an ace or king to stay alive, but the river turned up and Bellande was eliminated.
Former WSOP tournament director Jack McClelland, decked out in Ohio State gear, just got a double up after being chipped down to under five big blinds. Facing two limpers, McClelland shoved the button with for 475 and got one caller. His opponent showed . McClelland got a piece of the flop when it came , and dodged the turn and river when it came and , respectively. McClelland now has 1,100.
When we caught up with the action, two players were all in with the board showing . Bobby O'Mara held the for top pair but was trailing to his opponent's . Another player at the table mentioned that she had folded a jack preflop leaving only one in the deck that could save O'Mara. Lo and behold, the turn brought the giving O'Mara three of a kind and the win. He now has around 6,300 in chips.
We caught up to see Logan Robbins get it all in preflop with against his opponent’s . His opponent’s cries for a king were futile, as the board was of no help and he was eliminated. With the aces holding up, this brings Robbins’ stack to about 12,000.
![[user68268]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
and the first player checked to Pham. He bet 1,100 and was called.
to the board. The first player checked and Pham bet enough chips to put his opponent all in. The player folded pocket sevens face up, not wanting to tangle with the defending champ.
. The first player checked, Hoai bet 850 and his opponent folded, leaving Hoai heads up with the all-in player. Hoai flipped up 
and his opponent showed 
. The board ran out 
, 
.
a player in middle position bet 500. Steve Farshid raised to 1,275 and the middle position player re-raised all in. Farshid made the call and showed 
. The turn and river gave the other player no help and he was eliminated.
. Stewart meekly flipped over 
.
with 3 way action. Savage in the big blind checked, a player in middle position bet 450, another player in middle position folded and Savage moved in for his last 1,375. The bettor didn’t take too much time to call and Savage flipped over 
to have his opponent who held 
out-kicked. The board ran out 
to safely doubled up Savage to just more than 3,000.
. Fishman check-raised Bellande all in after Bellande bet 1,200. Fishman showed 
and Bellande was eliminated.
and 
, respectively. McClelland now has 1,100.
