With the board reading on the turn, Luca Pagano moved all in for 35,000 and Wayne Brown made the call. It was a set-over-set cooler, with Brown holding to Pagano's . The river was the and the young Italian hit the rail while Brown's stack passed 133,000.
A student at Michigan Tech, Brown won his seat to the Main Event in an $8 super-satellite on Full Tilt Poker. He turned 21 only a month ago and both of his parents made the trip out to Vegas to sweat him.
A late-position player raised to 1,200 and Maya Antonius called from the big blind. The flop was . Antonius checked, the LP player bet and Antonius called. The turn was the . Antonius check-called another bet from her opponent. The river was the . Antonius checked a third time, the LP player moved all in and Antonius insta-called.
Antonius showed for the flush and her opponent mucked, saying he'd made a smaller flush. Antonius is now up to 80,000.
On a flop of , Michael Craig bet out 10,000 from the big blind, Suhail Falchouri moved all in from the cutoff and Craig made the call.
Falchouri:
Craig:
The turn was the , the river was the , and Craig doubled up to 60,000. Falchouri was left with only 800.
On the next hand Ryan Jones limped in, Falchouri moved all in for 800, the big blind called and Jones called. The flop was . The big blind bet out and Jones called. The turn was the . The big blind bet 10,000, Jones moved all in and the big blind called.
Jones:
Big Blind:
Falchouri:
Though Jones had flopped top set, the big blind turned a flush. Jones couldn't fill up on the river and he was knocked down to 40,000. Falchouri was eliminated.
The hijack raises to 1,300 and Jordan Morgan calls on the button. The flop is and the hijack bets 3,050. Morgan raises all in to 6,050 and the hijack calls.
Morgan:
Hijack:
The turn and river are and the flush over flush takes out Morgan's opponent and increases his stack to 28,000.
With the board reading on the river, Mark Garner bet 50,000, and his opponent called all in. Garner turned up for the win and increased his stack to 210,000.
A three-way pot just emerged with one player all in and Vince Van Patten and Jared Okun fighting it out for a healthy side pot. The hand had reached the river stage and the board was .
Van Patten bet big, forcing Okun to leave a lot of chips in the pot for Van Patten, who tabled for the flopped full house. He didn't win the main pot though as the all-in player showed for the rivered bigger full house.
Van Patten is on 55,000 now.
Okun manged to double up the next hand though, when he managed to win a race with A-K versus the pocket nines of an opponent. An all-important ace fell on the turn. He's on 44,000 right now.
We're closing in on the end of Day 1a, and for a lot of players making it through to another day of poker means realizing a significant achievement.
One player, Michael Gold, an eighth-grade schoolteacher who made his way here via PokerStars' steps tourneys, is hoping to do just that. In addition to his regular teaching load, Gold, a father of three, tutors for free in his spare time.