Matt Crooks opened for 350, JC Tran called in late position and the big blind called as well. The flop came , the big blind checked, Crooks bet 850 and Tran called. The big blind folded and the turn came and Crooks bet 2,050. Tran called and the river fell and Crooks bet 3,050. Tran thought for a minute and then decided to muck his cards.
Crooks flipped over and Tran got some free information.
The player on the button opened with a raise, and both Stan Quinn and Alexandru Masek called from their respective small and big blinds.
The flop brought , and Masek check-folded. Qunn check-called a bet of 675, though, and the landed on fourth street. Quinn checked again, but he check-raised from 1,350 to 3,350 this time. His opponent was unimpressed, reraising all in with his covering stack of more than 16,000. Quinn passed, slipping back to about 8,500.
In the last 24 hours here in Lake Tahoe, we've run across a few players we recognize who aren't yet in the field. Mike Matusow was at the bar a few minutes ago, so we'd expect to see him in the field either soon or for the Day 1b flight. We also saw Mark "P0ker H0" Kroon and Gary "Debo34" DeBernardi on the rail of the prelim final table earlier in the day, but they've since vanished.
One more name: Donna Jetter. She's the lady who final tabled this event last year, and she just came waltzing past our media table a moment ago. Word on the street is she'll play the 7pm session tonight.
Mark "Pegasus" Smith -- we mentioned him briefly before -- is the Circuit's all-time leader with five gold rings. He's here at a table full of players we don't recognize, and the quest for number six has begun.
In middle position, JC Tran opened to 250, and both blinds came along with him to the flop.
Three-handed, the dealer spread out , and the small blind led out with 300 of his own chips. The big blind and Tran both flatted, and the appeared on fourth street. Not slowing down now, the small blind continued out with another 700, and the big blind called again. Tran raised, though, making it 2,600 total. The small blind called, the big blind made a frustrated fold, and it was heads up to the river. The small blind check-called a bet of 3,800, and he turned up .
It was no good. Tran's was the best hand, and he dragged the pot to move up to about 34,000.
"Just show up and pick up aces," someone at the table said. "They just follow you around?"
Seemingly every time we walk past Grant Hillman's table, he's involved in a pot, and we just picked up the tail end of the last one.
The board showed , and there was 2,100 in the pot. When it checked to him heads up, Hillman bet 1,100 and was eventually called. Hillman said something and tabled his , and his opponent showed for the miss. Mr. Opponent apparently misunderstood Hillman's statement as a declaration of weakness, but top pair was good, and Hillman dragged the pot.
He's still hovering around his starting stack with 20,500 now.
The periwinkle T500 chips and the light blue T5,000 chips are pretty close in color, and the room is very dimly lit. That's a recipe for betting troubles, and we've just seen our first mistake in that regard. A player at one of the near tables just bet 5,200 -- rather than 700 -- into a pot of about 1,000. His opponent folded ace-king, and the bettor fessed up to his mistake as he dragged the pot.
Nope, it's not Jesus Christ Or even Jesus Ferguson. It's J.C. Tran.
With more than $8 million won in his poker career, it's quite possible that Tran has the rest of this Day 1a field covered in that regard. Either way, there's a new shark in the waters. Tran has two bracelets, one WPT title, and two final tables in $10,000 WSOP-C events, too.
This Circuit stop has a history of drawing a few extra women to the felt, and today is no exception. We count at least 10 women in the field already, and that makes them more than 5% of the starting field.
You may remember that we had a lady make the final table here last year as well. The charming Donna Jetter finished in seventh place, but we've yet to see her in the field today. Perhaps we'll have one (or more) of these other ladies at this 2011 final table in three days.
![[user196975]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
, the big blind checked, Crooks bet 850 and Tran called. The big blind folded and the turn came 
and Crooks bet 2,050. Tran called and the river fell 
and Crooks bet 3,050. Tran thought for a minute and then decided to muck his cards.
and Tran got some free information.
, and Masek check-folded. Qunn check-called a bet of 675, though, and the 
landed on fourth street. Quinn checked again, but he check-raised from 1,350 to 3,350 this time. His opponent was unimpressed, reraising all in with his covering stack of more than 16,000. Quinn passed, slipping back to about 8,500.
, and the small blind led out with 300 of his own chips. The big blind and Tran both flatted, and the 
appeared on fourth street. Not slowing down now, the small blind continued out with another 700, and the big blind called again. Tran raised, though, making it 2,600 total. The small blind called, the big blind made a frustrated fold, and it was heads up to the 
river. The small blind check-called a bet of 3,800, and he turned up 
.
was the best hand, and he dragged the pot to move up to about 34,000.
, and there was 2,100 in the pot. When it checked to him heads up, Hillman bet 1,100 and was eventually called. Hillman said something and tabled his 
, and his opponent showed