On a flop of , an under-the-gun player checked and Bill Chen bet 600 from the hijack. Greg Raymer was on the button and stared down his opponent, with hand over mouth of course, before making the call. The UTG player folded and it was heads up to the turn.
Chen again bet 600, but this time Raymer pushed back with a raise to 2,100. Chen didn't take long to release his hand as Raymer raked in the pot.
We didn't see all of the action, only walking up after the turn card on a board. Based on the positions, it looked like Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier had checked, then raised all in when his opponent bet. It was all 5,300 for his opponent to call, and he did so quickly.
ElkY showed for queens up, but his opponent's had turned the joint. There'd need to be a full house for ElkY to win the pot, but the river was a blank. Mr. Opponent still had two of his add-on lammers, so he's doubled back to about 23,000. ElkY was doing well early, and this loss knocks him back to a still-just-fine 16,500 chips.
Only four minutes remain in Level 1, meaning it'll be time for the first round of late registrants to take their seats. We've already spotted a few notables lingering around including Erik Seidel, Alan Sternberg, and Justin "Boosted J" Smith. Needless to say, the tournament is about to get a lot tougher.
Erick Lindgren raised to 200 in middle position, and Daniel Alaei called from the button. The big blind defended, too, but he'd check-fold the flop.
It came , and the first two checked to Alaei. He bet 375, and Lindgren called to go heads up to the turn. Check-check, and the filled out the board on fifth street. Lindgren check-folded to a bet of 900, and Alaei works his stack back up just a bit. He's down to 12,500 from his full starting stack of 15,000. Lindgren has about 14,000 now.
Matt Vengrin raised to 150 from middle position, and Andrey Zaichenko called in late position. The small blind squeezed in a reraise to 500 straight, but he'd check-fold the flop. Vengrin and Zaichenko called the reraise to see it.
The dealer spread out , and action checked to Zaichenko. He made it 1,100 to go, folding the small blind. Vengrin check-raised though, plunking out an uncounted stack chips that was more than the pot. Zaichenko tanked for a long while before folding.
Vengrin flashed the with a smirk, and he's doing good work early. He's turned his first bulled into 14,000, giving him 24,000 total.
We arrived at Ali Eslami's table just in time to see the small blind check a flop of , allowing Ali Eslami to bet 425 from middle position. The next player quickly got out of the way, but both the hijack and small blind opted to call.
When the dealer burned and turned the , the small blind took the initiative and bet 800. Eslami thought for a moment before putting in a raise to 1,800. It proved to be enough as both players folded to Eslami, who showed .
Let's start with a split pot, shall we? There'll be plenty of these over the next few days.
Scott Clements limped in from early position, and a player in middle position raised to 300. A third player and Clements called to see a flop.
It came , and Clements checked. The raiser continued out with 500 more chips, and now Clements was the only caller to go heads up to the turn. It was the , and it checked through to the river. Clements bet 500 now, and his opponent called.
Walking through the crowd presents a fairly homogenous mixture of pros and unknowns. Still, a few tables stick out as being particularly tough, and we have two separate murderers' rows.
Table 124 has Will Failla, Marco Traniello, and Daniel Negreanu right in a row in the six, seven, and eight seats, and Table 122 has Chino Rheem, Chris Bjorin, and Allen Kessler right in order as well. Table 137 looks pretty tough, too, with Shannon Shorr, Greg Raymer, and Bill Chen all in attendance there. Table 132 is where the defending champ, Chris Bell begins his day, sharing a table with Miami John Cernuto, Lee Watkinson, and Alex Kravchenko.
Table 125 might be the toughest, though. We spot James "Flushy" Dempsey, Alex Gomes, Mike Sexton, Claudio Rinaldi, and Roberto Romanello sitting together there.
, an under-the-gun player checked and Bill Chen bet 600 from the hijack. Greg Raymer was on the button and stared down his opponent, with hand over mouth of course, before making the call. The UTG player folded and it was heads up to the 
turn.
board. Based on the positions, it looked like Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier had checked, then raised all in when his opponent bet. It was all 5,300 for his opponent to call, and he did so quickly.
for queens up, but his opponent's 
had turned the joint. There'd need to be a full house for ElkY to win the pot, but the river 
was a blank. Mr. Opponent still had two of his add-on lammers, so he's doubled back to about 23,000. ElkY was doing well early, and this loss knocks him back to a still-just-fine 16,500 chips.
, and the first two checked to Alaei. He bet 375, and Lindgren called to go heads up to the 
turn. Check-check, and the 
with a smirk, and he's doing good work early. He's turned his first bulled into 14,000, giving him 24,000 total.
, the small blind took the initiative and bet 800. Eslami thought for a moment before putting in a raise to 1,800. It proved to be enough as both players folded to Eslami, who showed 
(nut low)