On the board of 
, Melissa Hayden was all in for 13,800. Her opponent tank-called with bottom set, the 
. Hayden turned the nuts with the 
. The river completed the board with the 
and Hayden was able to double up. She's up to about 30,000 now.
![[user75032]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
Jamie Gold gave an interview to PokerNews this morning, which will be edited tonight and posted on the site tomorrow. Meanwhile Gold is trying his best to go deep today. He got a little bit of value on a board of 
, Gold's lone opponent checked. Gold bet 350 into a 900-chip pot, then opened 
for trip jacks after being called.
That small pot pushed Gold just above the 20,000-chip mark, but there's still a long way to go.
From under the gun, Andrew Moreno raised to 300. Action folded all the way around to James Van Alstyne in the big blind and he made the call before the dealer placed the 
on the board. Van Alstyne led for 500 into the 650-chip pot and Moreno made the call.
Fourth street was the and both players checked to see the 
pair the board on the river. With the pot at 1,650, Van Alstyne over-bet with a wager of 2,000. Moreno tanked for a minute and then gave it up.
The field has crested the 400 mark as late arrivals continue to take their seats. New faces in the field include Chad Brown and David Steicke. It's always amazing to see players bust in the first level or two of a big buy-in tournament with a starting stack of more than 400 blinds; ten players have already managed that feat today.
We don't expect too much more movement in Level 2, but in 15 minutes the blinds will be up to75/150. That's still small in relation to the starting stack but stack fluctuations since then should start producing some eliminations.
With 750 in the pot, a paired board of 
laid in the middle of the felt between two players, one of whom was David Pham. The first player checked and Pham bet 750. His opponent called.
The turn brought the 
and action checked to Pham again. He bet 950 this time and was once again called. The river completed the board with the 
and the first player bet 1,100. Pham raised to 4,000 and his opponent made the call.
Pham tabled the 
for a full house, deuces over queens. His opponent had flopped trips with the 
, but it wasn't good enough and Pham scooped the pot.
Level: 2
Blinds: 50/100
Ante: 0
Eric Froehlich raised to 150 from the button and the small blind made the call to see the flop come down . After the small blind checked, Froehlich continuation bet 250. His opponent called.
The turn brought the 
and both players checked to see the 
fall on the river. After the small blind checked, Froehlich bet 625. His opponent called and Froehlich turned over the 
for a rivered flush to win the hand. His opponent didn't show.
Asheesh Boyapati has only two entries in the Hendon Mob database -- but both are final tables. In March, he finished 7th in the $3,125 Main Event at the Chicago Poker Classic in Hammond, Indiana, earning about $30,000. Then earlier this month he was the runner-up in the Main Event of the WSOP-C Circuit Stop in St. Louis, pocketing an additional $87,000.
He's off and running here in Las Vegas. He was one of six people to pay 150 pre-flop. On a flop of 
, a middle-position player bet 750. Boyapati's raise to 1,800 cleared everyone else out of the pot, with only the middle-position player calling. That player check-called 3,000 more on the turn and 8,000 on the 
river. Boyapati showed 
for a set of 4s to collect a healthy pot and jump to 32,000.
Last year this tournament had a $5,000 buy-in that attracted only 150 players. This year, with the buy-in lowered to $1,500, the field has swelled proportionally. The entire back tournament room of the Caesars poker room is in use, as are more than half of the tables in the front of the room. Registration is open until Level 7, and with players continuing to wander in the total purse for the tournament should be significant.
We're spending our time right now looking for notables. Check out the Chip Counts page to see who we've already spotted.
Nancy Todd Tyner raised preflop and Nadya Magnus were in action on the board of 
. Tyner bet 225 and Magnus raised to 600. Tyner made the call.
The river completed the board with the and Tyner checked. Magnus slid out a bet and Tyner quickly folded 
face up.
