Just before the level went up, we watched Everrett Carlton open for 250 from the cutoff and receive a call from the small blind. The big blind then exercised his option with a three-bet to 750, both his opponents called, and the flop fell 
. The small blind checked, the big fired out 750, and Carlton raised to 1,700. It proved enough as both the blinds got out of the way.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
22,000 |
Level: 3
Blinds: 75/150
Ante: 0
With 1,750 in the pot and a board reading 
, an unknown player in the big blind checked and Scott Clements followed suit from late position. The former revealed 
for a missed flush with a pair of sixes, which was no good against Clements' 
.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
22,000
2,000
|
2,000 |
|
||
We caught up with this hand on the turn after Jeff Fielder tossed in a sloppy, uncountable call from the flop. The board showed 
, the small blind bet 1,200 on the turn and Fielder called. The river came 
and the small blind bet 1,600. Fielder asked to double check the amount due tot the T500 and T100 chips being very similar in color.
Judging the by the heavy sigh and deflated expression Fielder appeared to think he was beat but tossed in a call anyway. The small blind tabled 
and Fielder tabled 
.
The dealer grabbed Fielder's hand and flipped it over to muck his hand. "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Fielder said, alerting the dealer that he had won the hand. The dealer immediately recognized her mistake and shipped Fielder the pot.
In order to give you an idea of what happened in Event #2, we thought we'd let WSOP media guru Nolan Dalla tell you through one of his official recaps, which went in part as follows:
Jerry Ard, from Monticello, MS won the latest poker competition. To say he had this victory coming would be an understatement.
“I have been playing seriously for about six years,” Ard said moments after achieving his first major tournament victory. “I’ve played in more events than I can count.”
Indeed, Ard has very much paid his dues as an amateur poker player who aspires to play more tournaments poker and eventually join the ranks of the game’s elite.
He began playing major events in 2006 and spent the next three years traveling throughout the South and Midwest hoping for a breakthrough score. But the cards back home were unkind to Ard, who discovered that his wife had a serious illness in 2009. He quit playing altogether to be with her.
It took a few years for Ard’s wife to finally recover and when she did, that seemed to energize his drive to compete and win. Two months ago, Ard finally achieved what he considered to be a breakthrough, coming in third place in the WSOP Circuit’s Million Dollar Guarantee event held the Palm Beach Kennel Club, in Florida. That achievement paid $86,611. It seemed that Ard was rewarded for the sacrifices he made and for the commitment he demonstrated to his family above everything else.
But that was just the start. Ard made two more final tables (finishing eighth and third) and then arrived in St. Louis where he entered the $565 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em. He ultimately won the tournament and collected $32,147 in prize money. He was also presented with his first WSOP Circuit gold ring.
| Buy-in | Entrants | Prize Pool |
|---|---|---|
| $500+$65 | 279 | $135,315 |
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jerry Ard | Monticello, MS | $32,147 |
| 2 | William Arnold | Teutopolis, IL | $19,870 |
| 3 | Ruth Hagen | Troy, IL | $14,417 |
| 4 | Royce Cohen | Bensalem, PA | $10,637 |
| 5 | Dylan Thomassie | Champaign, IL | $7,978 |
| 6 | Kevin Azzariti | Antioch, TN | $6,079 |
| 7 | James Choquette | Austin, TX | $4,705 |
| 8 | Richard Hash | Maryville, TN | $3,697 |
| 9 | Gerald Paskert | Caseyville, IL | $2,950 |
An early-position player opened for 250 and Bernard Lee, who was next to act, made the call. A player in middle position came along for the ride as well, but then the button opted to put in a three-bet to 900. The original raise and Lee called, making it three-way action to the 
flop.
It went check-check to the button, who bet 2,100. The EP player folded, Lee called,and the dealer burned and turned the 
. Again Lee checked, allowing the button to bet 3,500. This time Lee sprung to life with a check-raise to 23,500, enough to put his opponent all in. The button tanked for a short period of time before releasing his hand.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
38,000
6,500
|
6,500 |
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
|
|
||
|
20,000 | |
|
|
20,000 | |
|
|
||
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
There are some notable players missing from the Day 1a starting flight including Tripp Kirk, Amanda Musumeci, Michael Schneider, AP Phahurat and Kyle Cartwright. The reason? Every one of those players are among the 22 survivors from yesterday's Event #10 $1,090, which drew 229 players and created a prize pool of $222,130.
That event will recommence here soon, so we expect each of those players are resting up to help make a push for the gold ring.
Level: 2
Blinds: 50/100
Ante: 0
There has been a long line at the registration window since 30 minutes before cards were in the air. We're nearly through the first level and there is still a steady line at registration.
