WPT $25,000 Championship - Bellagio

Day 1b Completed

Day 1b of the WPT Championships have come to a close. It appears that Tim Phan will end the session as the chipleader.

Say tuned for official chipcounts. Both starting fields will combine on Monday at noon for the start of Day 2.

Ed Moncada Eliminated

Ed "Boliva" Moncada bused out when his 10-10 lost to his opponent who flopped a set of 5s.

Tags: Ed Moncada.

Antonio Esfandiari Eliminated

Antonio Esfandiari was just busted by Deepak Chatti. Both players were all in preflop. Chatti raised and Esfandiarire-raised all in. Chatti called with while Esfandiari said, "Nice hand." He flipped over . Chatti turned a set and Esfandiari was drawing dead.

Tags: Deepak Chatti, Esfandiari.

Three More Hands Tonight

Players will play three more hands to end Day 1b.

Joe Cassidy Makes a Big Call

On a board of , and about 20,000 in the pot, Joe Cassidy's opponent moves in for his last 24,500. Joe takes a solid 5 minutes to decide what to do, as a call would leave him with less than 15,000. Joe finally makes the call, and his opponent shows . Joe flips over , and gets rewarded for his good decision. Joe Cassidy is up to about 83,000 chips.

Tags: Joe Cassidy.

Hendon Double Dip

Joe Beevers of Hendon Mob fame doubled up with Big Slick. He flopped top pair and turned two pair. His opponent only had a pair of Aces.

Tags: Joe Beevers.

Negreanu vs. Praz, Round II

Daniel Negreanu and Praz Bansi were at it again. Bansi raised on the button to 1.6K. Negreanu called in the big blind. The flop was and both players checked. The turn was and Negreanu fired out 2K. Bansi called. The river was the and Negreanu bet out 7.5K. Bansi went into the tank for a few minutes before he folded. Negreanu flashed .

Tags: Daniel Negreanu, Praz Bansi.

Old School 1, New School 0

It was a battle between Billy Baxter and Bobby Bellande. Baxter flopped a straight with on a board of J-8-7. Bobby Bellande had J-7 and doubled up Billy Baxter.

Tags: Billy Baxter, Jean-Robert Bellande.

Recent Elimiantions

Layne Flack and Marco Traniello are both out.

Tags: Layne Flack.

Lots Of Action on Negreanu's Table

Just before the break Daniel Negreanu lost a lot of chips before winning them right back.

In the first hand Erica Schoenberg raised to 1,200 from the button, the small blind called, and Daniel Negreanu called from the big blind. The flop came , Negreanu checked, Schoenberg bet 2,000, and Negreanu called. The turn was , Negreanu checked, Schoenberg bet 3,100, Negreanu check-raised to 8,100, and Schoenberg called. The river was , and both players checked. Schoenberg turned over K-T for top pair, and Daniel mucked, claiming he had a pair of jacks.

In the second hand, Negreanu limped from the button. The flop came , and everyone checked to Negreanu, who bet 1,200. Everyone folded except for the under-the-gun player, who raised to 5,000. Negreanu called. The turn came , his opponent checked, Negreanu bet 7,000, and his opponent called. The river was and it was checked again to Negreanu who bet 8,000, and his opponent called. Negreanu showed for the straight, and his opponent mucked.

After both of these hands, Negreanu was sitting at 51,000.

Tags: Daniel Negreanu, Erica Schoenberg.