Event 1 - Casino Employees No Limit Hold'em Day 1 | 2009 World Series of Poker

Event 1 - Casino Employees No Limit Hold'em

Day 1 Completed

05-27-2009 20:08 UTC-12

Day 1 Concludes

[user66118]

With the elimination of our bubble boy, we have reached the money and the conclusion of Day 1. Play began some 13 hours ago with 866 hopefuls shooting it out in the opening event of this 2009 World Series of Poker. Play progressed at a lightning-fast clip, with more than half of the field sent packing in the first 4 hours.

Amidst the sea of relative unknowns, there were a few notable faces who stuck out from the crowd. Pat Poels came and went quickly, exiting within the first 90 minutes of play. Legendary Tournament Director Jack McClelland would do a bit better, but he too would bow out just after the dinner break. Marsha Waggoner and Kyle Morris were among the others who failed to reach the money.

After a late charge, Cesar Chavez will take the overnight chip lead, bagging up 107,700 chips. It appears that there is only one other player above the century mark; Casey Kuhn was at 101,300 just before play ended. These two men have set themselves ahead of the field, but there is a big group chasing them. About two dozen players will start Day 2 in the 80,000-chip range.

That wraps up Day 1 from the World Series of Poker. Only 48 more to go. Until tomorrow, goodnight from Las Vegas!

Tags: Cesar Chavez

05-27-2009 20:02 UTC-12

Bubble Bursts

[user22113]

The shortest stack in the room just busted. Down to his last 100 chips, the all-in player held {6-Hearts}

against his opponent's {A-Spades}

. The board ran out {J-Diamonds}

and with that, play ends for day 1.

05-27-2009 19:50 UTC-12

The End... Almost

[user66118]

We've reached the end of our scheduled ten levels of play for the day, but we're not done quite yet. With 82 players remaining, play has been dealt hand-for-hand for close to 15 minutes now. We'll play on for our bubble elimination, and everyone who returns tomorrow will be guaranteed a payday.

Tournament Director Steve Frezer is doing his part to incite action. "Okay players," came the voice over the P.A. system. "Remember, this is No-limit Hold'em. You can move all in at any time!"

A nervous chuckle made its way across the room.

05-27-2009 19:36 UTC-12

Cohen Calls the Clock

[user66118]

A player in middle position opened the action with a raise to 2,700. The bet came around to big stack Andrew Cohen, and he popped it up to 9,000 total. This sent his opponent deep into the tank, and he would take several minutes to decide on his action. In fact, he took so long that Cohen called the clock on him. The floor person counted all the way down through 5...4...3... before the raiser moved all in for an additional 43,200.

Now it was Cohen's turn in the tank. He eyed up his own stack and labored for a minute over the decision. Shooting a glance across the table, he mumbled, "I don't think I'm good enough to lay this down," contemplating a big decision for a huge chunk of chips. Finally, after much deliberation, he flicked his cards back into the muck, choosing to save his hard-earned chips for a more promising spot.

Tags: Andrew Cohen

05-27-2009 19:27 UTC-12

No More Morris

[user66118]

We spotted Kyle Morris pushing his way to the outside of the ropes, and that's never a good sign come bubble time.

Based on his own account, Morris was holding pocket fives, and he was tangled up in a battle with Ramy Zakaria. The flop brought a welcomed set for Morris but it gave Zakaria a flush draw in the process. The two men got it all in, with Morris being the shorter of the two stacks.

Unfortunately for him, Zakaria hit his flush on the turn, and Morris was unable to pair the board for salvation. With that, he's headed toward the exit in 83rd place.

The remaining 82 players are now squarely on the bubble. There will be just one more unhappy exit before we reach the money.

Tags: Kyle Morris

05-27-2009 19:20 UTC-12

Bubble Boy?

[user66118]

We pick up the action in a four-way pot with a flop of {5-Spades}

spread in the middle of the table. Action was on Ramy Zakaria, and he led out into the table with a bet of 5,000. Next door, Osmel Castro stacked out re-raising chips, pushing out what appeared to be 18,000 of them. The other two players quickly ducked out, but Zakaria reached for more checks. He slid out two big multicolor towers, enough to cover Castro, who had just about 10,000 behind his initial raise.

"Man, why you gotta do this to me?" lamented Castro, looking at the clock and seeing that we are just two players from the money. Finally, seeing no other choice, Castro made the call, putting his tournament life on the line just inches from the money.

Showdown
Zakaria: {6-Spades}

Castro:

Zakaria was behind, but he was a slight favorite to win the hand with his open-ended straight flush draw! The turn card actually took away two of his outs though, as the {A-Hearts}

made Castro aces up. Still needing to dodge a myriad of bad cards, Castro somehow willed the {6-Hearts}

off the deck on the river, a safe rag.

With that massive pot, Osmel Castro has vaulted up the scoreboard, going from having one foot out the door to a top five stack in one fell swoop. He's sitting on close to 80,000 now.

Tags: Osmel Castro Ramy Zakaria

05-27-2009 18:48 UTC-12

Casey Kuhn Storms Back Up

[user22113]

The board read {K-Diamonds}

and Casey Kuhn had bet 1,800. After a little thought, his opponent raised to 7,300. Kuhn seemed unfazed, re-raising to 18,000. His opponent immediately went all in for 28,000 and Kuhn sighed, "You must have flopped the flush", before making the call.

Indeed, his opponent tabled {A-Diamonds}

and had Kuhn's {K-Hearts}

drawing thin. That all changed when the {K-Clubs}

landed on the turn to make a full house for Kuhn. His opponent quietly stood up and headed to the rail as the meaningless {8-Spades}

fell on the river.

After the hand, one player at the table noted that the eliminated player had not played a hand in two hours.

With the win, Kuhn has chipped back up to 90,000.

05-27-2009 18:41 UTC-12

Moving Chips

[user66118]

We strolled past Casey Kuhn's table about an hour ago to find him bleeding chips profusely. He had dusted off some 60,000 during a span of about 90 minutes of play, dropping himself down into the middle of the pack. The last walk-by finds him working toward good chip health once again though. He's still down from his high point earlier on, but his stack of 56,000 puts him well above average.

Andrew Cohen (who was fighting for the early chip lead with Ramy Zakaria) has now taken the overall chip lead in the room. Still, with 91,000, he's not as far ahead of everyone as he might like to be. There are about a dozen players clustered right behind him near the 70,000-chip mark as nobody can quite pull away from the pack.

Tags: Andrew Cohen Casey Kuhn

05-27-2009 18:30 UTC-12

Williams Moves In

[user66118]

Before the flop, an older gentleman on the button started the action with a raise to 3,800. Next to act was small blind Jon Williams, and he announced a re-raise, stacking out 10,500 chips. When the big blind folded, the button re-checked his hole cards and made the flat call.

Heads up then, the flop came out {8-Spades}

. Without hesitation, Williams moved all in for his remaining 21,600 chips. His opponent furrowed his brow and shot a glance over at Williams. Catching his eye, Williams quietly said, "I think we have the same type of hand." That seemed to do it, as his opponent took one last look at his hole cards, flashed them to Williams, and passed them back to the dealer face-down. It's not clear what two cards he showed, but Williams turned over {7-Clubs}

, and his opponent nodded knowingly.

Jon "Lips" Williams is up to 44,000.

Tags: Jon Williams