Event 15 - $5,000 No Limit Hold'em Day 1 | 2009 World Series of Poker

06-06-2009 10:19 UTC-12

Antonio Esfandiari is Barely Alive

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Antonio Esfandiari had his last 25 chips in the middle versus David Inselberg in middle position. On an ace high flop, Inselberg was holding ace-king off and lost to Esfandiari, who went runner-runner for a straight.

In the next hand, Esfandiari got all against Jesse Chinni and was hoping not to bust because the two have a $5,000 bet on busting one another.

Chinni raised to raised to 1,000 to isolate Esfandiari and showed {9-Clubs}

versus Esfandiari's {J-Spades}

When the board ran out {9-Hearts}

, Esfandiari doubled again to stay in alive.

The table now has a crowd of players gathered around watching the action.

06-06-2009 10:04 UTC-12

Official Numbers

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655 players registered for today's tournament, creating a total prize pool 3,078,500. 63 players will get paid, with first place worth $692,658.

06-06-2009 09:59 UTC-12

Matt Graham Trying to Rebuild

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A short stacked Matt Graham raised to 350 from under the gun and got called by the button.

Graham bet another 350 on the flop of {2-Spades}

and both players checked the {A-Hearts}

on the turn. Graham led for 850 more when the {2-Hearts}

hit the river and his opponent said "You're a nice guy, I'll give you 850," before making the call.

Graham turned over {K-Hearts}

for second pair and took the pot. He's now got just over 5,000 chips.

06-06-2009 09:51 UTC-12

Jeff Madsen Eliminated

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Madsen, who doubled up to 5,000 chips just before the break, has now been eliminated from the tournament.

06-06-2009 09:48 UTC-12

Some Other Notable Stacks

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Here are some more chip counts from around the room.

David Pham - 21,000
Victor Ramdin - 19,500
Peter Eastgate - 16,500
Eric Liu - 23,000
Hevad Khan - 13,000
Steve Brecher - 13,000
Jerry Yang - 20,000
Vanessa Rousso - 24,000
Gavin Smith - 12,800

06-06-2009 09:48 UTC-12

Andy Black's Running Well

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Praz Bansi raised to 350 preflop and got called by Andy Black.

Black called another 550 after a flop of {Q-Clubs}

and both players then checked the {3-Diamonds}

on the turn. Bansi checked the {A-Clubs}

on the river and folded to Black's 1,000 chip bet.

Black now has a stack of about 32,000.

Level: 3

Blinds: 75/150

Ante: 0

06-06-2009 09:30 UTC-12

Play Resumes

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After a moment of silence for the 65th anniversary of D-Day and the day's bracelet presentation, play has resumed in our event.

Blinds are now at 75/150.

06-06-2009 09:07 UTC-12

Break

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We've reached our first break of the day. Players will be back in 20 minutes.

06-06-2009 09:07 UTC-12

Madsen Doubles Up His Short Stack

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Jeff Madsen got short stacked early on, but is managing to hold on.

After the cutoff raised to 400 preflop, Madsen pushed all in for 1,975 more from the button. He got the call and the hands were shown.

Cutoff: {Q-Spades}

Madsen:

When the board ran out {J-Clubs}

, Madsen held on and built his stack back to 5,000.