2012 World Series of Poker

Event 50: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em
Day: 1
Event Info

2012 World Series of Poker

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
aj
Prize
$952,694
Event Info
Buy-in
$5,000
Prize Pool
$4,704,700
Entries
1,001
Level Info
Level
33
Blinds
80,000 / 160,000
Ante
15,000

Event 50: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em

Day 1 Completed

A Huge Day Sees Maimone Lead the Pack

Level 10 : 400/800, 100 ante
Nick Maimone is in command heading into Day 2
Nick Maimone is in command heading into Day 2

What a huge day of poker! The action on Day 1 of Event 50: $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em has exceeded expectations to become the largest field this event has ever seen, with 1,001 players creating a prize pool of $4,704,700. That’s 136 more players than participated in this event last year when Allen Bari took the down the bracelet. Who will join Bari as a champion of this event? Well, as of right now it is Nick Maimone who has the best chance, as he finished up the day as the chip leader with 196,600 in chips.

We are not exaggerating when we say that every single table in the field today had multiple big names from the poker world. Of course that just means that dozens of the most prominent players in poker were eliminated throughout the day and some of those include the likes of Jason Mercier, Fabrice Soulier, Layne Flack, Christian Harder, Joe Serock, Vanessa Rousso and Antonio Esfandiari.

Another player who couldn’t last more than a couple of hours was Lex Veldhuis. The last hand of Veldhuis’ tournament saw him put in five bets to be all-in holding {8-Spades}{6-Spades} on a {6-Hearts}{8-Clubs}{k-Hearts} flop. His opponent called him off holding {q-Hearts}{8-Hearts} and when a heart fell on the river, it was all over for Veldhuis.

Some of the other players that joined Veldhuis on the rail later in the day include Justin Bonomo, Bertrand Grospellier, Jennifer Tilly, David “Doc” Sands, Brian Rast and Daniel Negreanu. Also finding the exit door was Viktor Blom as he busted just a short while after he registered. Blom was short stacked within an hour of entering the tournament and then got his stack all in holding {10-Clubs}{8-Clubs} on the turn of a {6-Clubs}{q-Clubs}{10-Hearts}{q-Hearts} board. He asked his opponent if he had trips and then the player obliged by turning over {a-Spades}{q-Diamonds}. With no club on the river, it was all over for Blom.

A player who managed to do far better than the above players was Galen Hall. One of the biggest hands of the day saw Hall win a huge amount of chips when he held {10-Spades}{10-Diamonds} and turned a set against a player who held an over pair. Hall finished off the day with 129,800 in chips and full details about Hall’s massive hand can be read here.

Joining Maimone and Hall at the tables tomorrow with a huge amount of chips include Michael Drummond (158,000), Gordon Vayo (147,500) and Thiago Nishijima (135,200). Also returning with enough chips to scare are Stephen Chidwick (128,600) and Tommy Vedes (107,100), while notable names Jackie Glazier (94,700), Andrew Lichtenberger (78,300) and Alexander Kravchenko (77,000) also have plenty of chips.

Phil Ivey and Phil Hellmuth are also still in with a chance in Event 50, bagging up 72,200 and 79,000 respectively. Some of those who are clinging to life and will need some help tomorrow are Adam Friedman (6,600), Andy Frankenberger (11,200) and Jennifer Harman (16,300).

A total of 303 players will be taking part in Day 2 action and each and every one will be hoping they can make a run at the huge $952,694 first place and of course, the World Series of Poker gold bracelet. It is all set to kick off at 1:00 PM Friday and PokerNews will again be on the floor providing you all the live coverage.

Top Chip Counts at End of Day

Player Chips Progress
Nick Maimone us
Nick Maimone
196,600
600
600
StakeKings
Michael Drummond us
Michael Drummond
158,000
-22,000
-22,000
WSOP 1X Winner
Gordon Vayo us
Gordon Vayo
147,500
77,500
77,500
Thiago Nishijima br
Thiago Nishijima
135,200
48,200
48,200
WSOP 1X Winner
Galen Hall us
Galen Hall
129,800
12,800
12,800
WSOP 1X Winner
StakeKings
Stephen Chidwick gb
Stephen Chidwick
128,600
80,600
80,600
$25K Fantasy
WSOP 1X Winner
Christopher McClung
Christopher McClung
128,600
Erik Aude us
Erik Aude
121,900
Christian Jeppsson se
Christian Jeppsson
119,100
Dutch Boyd us
Dutch Boyd
115,800
115,800
115,800
WSOP 3X Winner
Foster Hays us
Foster Hays
112,100
-7,900
-7,900
WSOP 1X Winner
Tommy Vedes us
Tommy Vedes
107,100
7,100
7,100
Sam Stein us
Sam Stein
105,500
5,500
5,500
Cary Katz us
Cary Katz
100,100
$25K Fantasy
Jordan Young us
Jordan Young
95,000
28,000
28,000
Jackie Glazier au
Jackie Glazier
94,700
77,700
77,700
WSOP 1X Winner
Will Failla us
Will Failla
92,275
49,275
49,275
Jordan Smith us
Jordan Smith
90,500
45,500
45,500
Rocco Palumbo it
Rocco Palumbo
85,000
WSOP 1X Winner
Chris Bell us
Chris Bell
84,500
29,500
29,500
Phil Hellmuth us
Phil Hellmuth
79,000
66,700
66,700
WSOP Main Event Champion
$25K Fantasy
WSOP 17X Winner
Poker Hall of Famer
StakeKings
Andrew Lichtenberger us
Andrew Lichtenberger
78,300
17,300
17,300
$25K Fantasy
WSOP 1X Winner
Shankar Pillai
Shankar Pillai
77,700
-7,300
-7,300
Alexander Kravchenko ru
Alexander Kravchenko
77,000
50,000
50,000
Allen Kessler us
Allen Kessler
75,000
41,000
41,000
$25K Fantasy
StakeKings

Read full

The Definition of a Rush

Nick Maimone just approached us and told us about his wild ride. Just a few levels ago he was nearly felted when he ran into a flush holding a set. He was left with just 400.

Maimone just bagged up 196,000 and looks to be in the lead.

Player Chips Progress
Nick Maimone us
Nick Maimone
196,000
95,000
95,000
StakeKings

Tags: Nick Maimone

Just Three More

Level 10 : 400/800, 100 ante

The tournament clock has been paused and the call for three more hands has been made. Stay tuned for a wrap up of all the day's action, along with some notable end-of-day chip counts.

Greens Out

Level 10 : 400/800, 100 ante

The green 25-denomination chips are now being taken out of play as we prepare for the tournament clock to be stopped towards the end of the night. There are currently 342 players still in contention to make it through the day.

Hinkle Doubles Through Frankenberger

We missed the exact preflop action, but it appeared that Blair Hinkle raised from under-the-gun and was called by Andy Frankenberger in the big blind.

The flop came {8-Spades}{7-Hearts}{J-Spades} and Frankenberger check-called a bet from Hinkle.

The turn brought the {6-Clubs} and this time, Frankenberger led out for 2,700. Hinkle responded by raising to 5,400 and Frankenberger pushed all in. Hinkle called for his last 14,300 and hands were revealed.

Frankenberger: {J-Clubs}{K-Spades} for top pair.
Hinkle: {4-Spades}{5-Spades} for a straight with a flush redraw.

A meaningless {10-Spades} landed on the river and Hinkle doubled through Frankenberger to 36,000.

Frankenberger is down to his last 10,000.

Player Chips Progress
Blair Hinkle us
Blair Hinkle
36,000
WSOP 1X Winner
Andy Frankenberger us
Andy Frankenberger
10,000
WSOP 2X Winner

Tags: Andy FrankenbergerBlair Hinkle

Chan Wins Some Late

When we arrived at Terrence Chan's table, he was busy opening up the pot to 2,000 on the button. The small blind then three-bet to 5,500 and after some thought, Chan made the call.

On the {a-Spades}{5-Diamonds}{k-Clubs} flop, both players checked and the {10-Clubs} was dealt on the turn. The small blind again checked and this time Chan bet 6,000. That was too much for his opponent as Chan raked in some new chips.

Player Chips Progress
Terrence Chan ca
Terrence Chan
42,000
30,600
30,600
WSOP 1X Winner

Tags: Terrence Chan