![[user75032]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
The tough table in the room now appears to be Table 21, where Humberto Brenes, Leo Fernandez and Joao Nunes all find themselves. Cautious play seems to be the rule there at the moment. Fernandez recently three-bet pre-flop to 2,200. When the original raiser called the re-raise, both players checked all the way, 
. Fernandez had his opponent out-pipped, showing down 
against 
to take the pot.
After an early-position player raised to 400, Patrick Carron reraised from the cutoff seat to 1,125. The original raiser made it 2,400 to go quickly after action got back to him. Carron studied for a minute and then announced that he was all in, having his opponent covered for his last 11,400. The player tanked before making the fold and Carron scooped the pot to improve to 27,000.
With about 1,200 chips in the middle, three players werein action including PokerStars Team Online player Fredy Torres and World Series of Poker bracelet winner Max Stern. The flop read 
and action checked around to see the 
fall on the turn. After the first player bet, Stern raised to 1,500. Torres got out of the way and the first player made the call.
The river paired the board with the 
and the first player bet 3,000. Stern raised to 8,000 and his opponent moved all in for about 10,000. Stern quickly called.
Stern tabled the 
for a full house, nines over sevens, and beat his opponent's 
for a straight. The player had turned the straight and Stern rivered a full house as the board paired on the end. Stern's up to about 55,000 now.
It took us a while to find Jose "Nacho" Barbero, who is hidden in a far corner of the Sheraton ballroom. Barbero is a player for Team PokerStars Pro (Argentina) who had a banner 2010. In addition to shipping the EPT London High Rollers Event for a cool GBP556,000, Barbero captured back-to-back LAPT titles at Punta del Este and Lima to add another $500,000 to his bankroll.
He's already off on the right foot here in Sao Paulo, having doubled his stack to 40,000 in the first hour.
Hobart Adkins is headed into the first break a happy man. He's managed to almost triple up, to about 57,000, in the first two levels. We watched him play a hand out of the small blind, calling a middle position raise to 525. The big blind also called to a three-way paired flop, 
. All players checked to the 
turn, a card that drew a bet of 700 from Adkins. Only the big blind called. Both players checked the 
river, where Adkins showed down to take the pot.
Two levels have been completed. The players are now on a 15-minute break.
Level: 3
Blinds: 100/200
Ante: 0
Here are a few photos from Day 1.
We came to Alex Gomes' table and caught the end of a big pot. With 15,000 already in the middle, Gomes was facing a bet (or raise back) of 5,000. All five board cards were already in the middle of the table, . Gomes absent-mindedly tossed a blue (5,000) chip across the betting line, then nodded as if to say "That's what I thought" after his opponent opened 
for three queens. Losing that hand dropped Gomes to 33,000.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
48,000
-1,500
|
-1,500 |
|
|
43,000 | |
|
|
42,000
2,500
|
2,500 |
|
37,000
17,000
|
17,000 |
|
31,000
-1,000
|
-1,000 |
|
||
|
27,000
7,000
|
7,000 |
|
||
|
|
26,500
6,500
|
6,500 |
|
|
24,700
4,700
|
4,700 |
|
|
23,600
3,600
|
3,600 |
|
|
||
|
22,000 | |
|
|
||
|
22,000 | |
|
|
||
|
|
21,000
1,000
|
1,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
21,000
1,000
|
1,000 |
|
|
19,900
-7,100
|
-7,100 |
|
16,600
-2,900
|
-2,900 |
|
|
||
|
|
7,400
-12,600
|
-12,600 |
|
|
||
|
|
4,400
-15,600
|
-15,600 |
