The field is up to 53 entries, which has smashed the previous record of 38 coming from 2011. There are currently 36 players remaining, with the registration and reentry period remaining open until the start of Day 2.
The tournament staff just announced that nine levels will be played out today.
From the cutoff seat, Philipp Gruissem raised to 4,500. Phil Ivey reraised on the button to 12,000, then action folded to Antonio Esfandiari in the big blind. Esfandiari thought about it for a minute, then folded. Gruissem made the call.
On the flop, Gruissem checked. Ivey bet 12,000, and that was good enough to take the pot as Gruissem folded his hand.
On the flop, Martin Finger checked, and Mike Watson bet 6,000. Finger made the call, and the dealer brought the out on the turn. Finger checked, and Watson bet 15,000. Finger gave it up, and Watson won the pot.
The Winter Olympics in Sochi kicked off today, and Team USA will be out in full force hoping to bring home more gold medals than there are gold bracelets in several years’ worth of World Series of Poker editions. Many athletes competing at the Winter Games have worked hard to position themselves for Olympic glory, but they also enjoy competition outside of their respective sports, including playing poker.
Three of the Team USA Olympians — David Wise, Katie Uhlaender, and Nick Goepper — are a few of America’s best hopes for bringing home gold medals, and they aren’t shy about sharing their enthusiasm the game of poker. To them, poker may not require much physical athleticism, but it does require the same mental toughness that has helped push them to the forefront of their individual Olympic sports.
In a recent feature article on PokerNews, author Michael Friedman talked with Wise, Uhlaender, and Goepper. You can read the article by clicking here.
From under the gun, Phil Ivey raised to 3,000. Viktor Blom called from the next seat, then Philipp Gruissem called from the big blind. From there, the three players were prompted with an flop, and everyone checked. The turn brought the to pair the board, and everyone checked again. Then, the landed on the river. After Gruissem checked, Ivey bet 5,000. Blom and Gruissem both folded, and Ivey scooped up the pot.
On the flop, Mike "Timex" McDonald checked over to Phil Ivey. Ivey bet 4,000, and McDonald made the call to see the complete the board on the river. McDonald checked, Ivey bet 10,000, and McDonald folded.