[user38971]
Liz Lieu
Greg Raymer, Liz Lieu, and Andy Black are all seated at the same table and have all been quite social from the get-go today. After a board of fell and Lieu took down the hand, Raymer made a comment about the way it played out.
Black: "Are you going to comment on every hand?"
Raymer: "No."
Black: "This isn't the WSOP Academy. This is a 5,000 buy-in no-limit event."
[user37786]
Scotty Nguyen just took his seat at Table #8, which now features Noah Boeken, Layne Flack, Terrence Chan and Scotty back-to-back-to-back. Pity the poor soul in the three seat.
[user37786]
Joe Hachem has just taken his seat at Table #4, the same table as Sorel Mizzi, Ryan Daut and 2006 Main Event final tableist Richard Lee. The TV cameras are buzzing around that table right now.
[user38971]
Thomas Wahlroos
Thomas Wahlroos arrived a little late this afternoon and believed he had caught a player bluffing on the river. Wahlroos told us he knew the player was bluffing and called his river raise with A-7. Wahlroos was right that his opponent didn't have a pair, but did have A-Q to take the pot down with a better kicker.
"Bad way to start," Wahlroos told us. "Called off a bluff with the worst hand."
[user37786]
Several players arrived late to their tables, including Nenad Medic, Eric Froehlich, and Vanessa Rousso. Another late arrival was Johnny Chan, who took his seat next to Amit Makhija and was settling in when the dealer barked, "I need to see your I.D., please." The poster of Chan on the back wall of the Amazon Room is not a legal form of identification.
[user38971]
From the button, Gavin Smith announced as the hand started "I have the button, so I'll have to blind raise," to which Jeff Madsen, seated in middle position, fired 1,200 into the pot first. Another player called Madsen's raise and Gavin bumped it up to 4,200. Both Madsen and the other player folded to Gavin, who turned over pocket kings.
"You really screwed up my action when I say I'm gonna blind raise and have pocket kings," Gavin told Madsen.
"I'm gonna screw up your action all day," Madsen joked.
[user37786]
Antonio Esfandiari is playing today, as are Shane "Shaniac" Schleger and Jimmy "Gobboboy" Fricke. Ryan Daut and Sorel Mizzi are seated at the same table, as are Alex Jacob and Rolf Slotboom. Also in the field today are Phil Laak, Scott Freeman, Jonathan Little, and Roy Winston.
[user37786]
In a $5,000 event you'd expect the field to be loaded with big names and that some of those big names would congregate at certain tables. One of those tables is #19, where Allen Cunningham, Lee Watkinson and T.J. Cloutier are battling it out.
[user38971]
On a board of Liz Lieu led out for 450 after Mark Newhouse checked his option from the small blind. Newhouse check-raised to 1,100 and Lieu bumped it to 3,000. Newhouse moved all in for around 6,000 and Lieu folded.
"That was interesting," said Andy Black after the hand.
"That was a good bluff," Lieu told Newhouse. "Made me fold a pair of aces."
[user37786]
Layne Flack and Terrence Chan are sitting next to each other at Table #8, and Minh Ly and Erik Seidel are both seated at Table #39. Dutch Boyd and Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier are both at Table #16, and Liz Lieu and Andy Black are both at Table #44.
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fell and Lieu took down the hand, Raymer made a comment about the way it played out.
Liz Lieu led out for 450 after Mark Newhouse checked his option from the small blind. Newhouse check-raised to 1,100 and Lieu bumped it to 3,000. Newhouse moved all in for around 6,000 and Lieu folded.