"New chip leader every thirty seconds?" just cracked a staff person walking by our station.
It's true . . . chip counts during these first three levels (the rebuy period) are wildly fluctuating -- much too fast to track. We are adding names to the "Chip Counts," though, and updating chip totals there when we can.
Sorel Mizzi, Peter Gould and an unnamed player have been going all-in blind every hand so far at their table in an attempt to get chips early. This tactic has been working very well so far for Mizzi. On the very first hand he more than tripled up after hitting quads.
A few hands later he managed to win another blind all-in encounter, making two pair with three-deuce to stack Gould and the unnamed player again.
Over on the far side, we're seeing Jan von Halle, Alex Kravchenko, Paul Magriel, Nenad Medic, Andy Black, Jordan Morgan, Humberto Brenes, Jeff Madsen, Mike Gracz, Sirous Jamshidi, and Katja Thater.
At the tables along the wall are Terrence Chan, Ted Lawson, Scott Clements, Jamie Gold, Jerrod Ankenman, David Grey, and Jared Hamby.
Dave "Devilfish" Ulliott led out for 1,200 on a flop of , and a late-position player repopped it all in to 3,600. Ulliott called. The LP player showed 8-8-x-x for a set of eights, while Ulliott had for a straight draw. The turn brought an ace, sealing the hand for Ulliott's opponent.
Ulliott dropped down to 1,400 there, but will surely be rebuying.
On a flop of , Thomas Wahlroos checked from the big blind, Lee Watkinson bet 650, and Wahlroos called. Both checked the on the turn and the on the river. Wahlroos showed -x-x for the small flush and Watkinson mucked
At the moment, 219 have registered for the event. With over thirty tables set up, it appears they are starting out seating for seven-handed play. More should be showing up, though.
The announcement has been made, although several players have yet to make their seats. Some tables have only two seated, but the cards are in the air nonetheless.