At one table we find Vanessa Rousso and Erick Lindgren sitting across from one another. Walk across the room and there's Ludovic Lacay, Isaac Haxton, and David "Bakes" Baker, sitting in a row at Table 14. And a couple of tables over from them Justin Bonomo, Alex Gomes, and Joe Cada were playing three-handed for much of the first level. The remaining three players have arrived to join that trio -- Eric Froehlich, Erik Cajelais, and a sixth player looking like he has sat in more comfortable chairs in his life.
We caught up with the action on a board of to find John Racener heads up in a pot of about 7,500 against his an opponent. Racener checked from the small blind and his opponent bet out 5,600.
Racener tanked before finally making the call. His opponent showed for a straight and Racener tossed his cards into the muck, reeling from the substantial hit to his stack.
We've seen a few eliminations already during this first level, among them Terrence Chan.
Chan's misfortune came when he held and saw a flop. Soon the martial arts fighter found himself with all of his chips in the middle, but unfortunately was faced with an opponent who held pocket nines. Two cards later, Chan was out.
A player on the button made it 150 preflop and was called by the small blind and David Benyamine in the big. The flop fell . The small blind and Benyamine checked and the button continued out for 300. The small blind folded and Benyamine made the call.
The turn came and Benyamine checked once again and the button fired out 600 this time. Benyamine called once again and the river fell . Benyamine checked a third time and the button bet 1,600. Benyamine sent his cards into the muck, losing a bit to his opponent.
Antonio Esfandiari took a hit early on in the first level of play. A player in middle position raised to 200. Esfandiari called from the small blind and the player in the big blind called.
The flop ran out and Esfandiari bet 450. The player in the big blind folded and the original raiser raised to 1,100. Esfandiari reraised to 3,000 and his opponent called. The fell on the turn and Esfandiari bet 4,500, his opponent called.
The hit on the river and Esfandiari moved all in. His opponent quickly called and showed to take down a nice sized pot. Esfandiari is now well below the starting chip stack.
Owen Crowe opened with a raise to 175 from middle position and got one caller from the cutoff. The flop came , and Crowe continued with a bet of 250. His opponent called. The turn was the and Crowe pushed out another bet, 775 this time. Again his opponent made the call.
The river brought the . Crowe gathered chips once more and set out a bet of 1,325, and one more time his opponent called. Crowe flipped over for tens and fours, but his opponent showed for a better two pair. Crowe still sits with 14,400, just under the starting stack.
The seats are starting to fill up, with lots of fearsome players coming to occupy them. Among those arriving thus far are Terrence Chan, Isaac Haxton, Justin Bonomo, Joe Serock, Prahlad Friedman, Thomas Fuller, Faraz Jaka, Shane Schleger, Phil Laak, Dave "Devilfish" Ulliott, and Jonathan Little.
When we reached the table, the board read , and Antonio Esfandiari was heads up with an opponent. Esfandiari led out for 1,625, and his opponent called. The Magician opened , his opponent mucked, and Esfandiari raked in the pot.
Team PokerStars is well represented today. Lex Veldhuis, Alex Gomes, Joe Cada, Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Chad Brown and Vanessa Selbst are all here, and we expect even more team members to filter in during the first four levels of play.