That's A Wrap - Gruibem and Somerville Lead The Way
That brings an end to a rapid-fire first day of Event #52: $25,000 No-Limit Hold'em Six-Handed Event. It was one of the most hyped events of the 2010 World Series of Poker with the online kids licking their lips at the prospects of a big buy-in, short-handed tournament.
Only the best of the best were in attendance as 191 took to the felt at noon this afternoon. After ten levels of check-raises, triple barrels and five-bet bluffs, our field has been reduced to around 70 players; a rather high number of bustouts for a tournament which started with a massive 75,000 start bank. The ruthless aggression of our fearless players would have something to do with that. From the moment Tom Dwan was eliminated by a cruel river blow after Alex Roumeliotis made a move on him, it set the tone for the day of fast-paced play and exciting eliminations - perhaps none more memorable than Danny Wong's devastating one-outer.
Those who fared better include Daniel Negreanu who was with the chip leaders all day, Sam Trickett was dominant throughout the later stages and Isaac Haxton who surged towards the close of play. However it was Alexander Gruibem who bagged up the chip lead with 548,000, closely followed by Jason Somerville with 516,600. We'll have the full updated chip counts of the field for you shortly.
We'll recommence at 2:30pm tomorrow as the players will inch their way towards the money and a day three berth. We look forward to your company then!