Andrew "BalugaWhale" Seidman can been seen in the field today, but it's not without a pair of crutches tucked underneath his seat. When we asked him what had happened, he informed us that upon getting in last night he was playing some basketball at a friend's house where he really busted up his ankle.
"And if that's not enough, my apartment burned down last week!" he added.
Rough times for Seidman, but he's still got a smile on his face. "I'm building up some real karma," he said.
Hopefull that karma kicks in during the WSOP Main Event.
Emmitt Smith and one opponent saw a flop of . Smith checked, his opponent bet 500, and Smith called. The turn brought the . Smith again checked, and his opponent bet 2,000. Smith check-raised to 4,000, and his opponent made the call.
The river brought the , pairing the board. Smith checked, and his opponent checked as well.
"Straight," said Smith. "Straight," echoed his opponent. They tabled their cards. Smith's opponent showed for the king-high straight. But Smith had -- not quite the straight he'd announced.
"That's what you call a turnover," said Smith with a grin. The football great slips to 25,000 here in the early going.
There was 1,125 in the pot preflop and three players to a flop of . Eddy Sabat checked and Shawn Sheikhan bet 800. The player on the button folded and Sabat made the call.
The turn was the and Sabat checked. Sheikhan's bet of 1,500 received a call and the bet on the river. Once again Sabat checked and Sheikhan threw out a bet, this time 3,300. It was enough to get Sabat to fold and Sheikhan is already up to 33,000.
On a board reading with around 4,000 in the pot, Antoine Saout led out for 3,025 with his lone opponent in the hand check-calling.
The river fell a third six - the - and after a check, Saout splashed the pot with three 5,000-denomination chips amounting to a bet of 15,000.
After a few moments of deliberation, Saout's opponent tossed his cards into the muck to see the 2009 November Niner collect the pot and move to 36,100 in chips.
That's the title Jeffrey Pollack gave to Wendeen Eolis in 2007 after she recorded her 5th cash at the World Series of Poker. Eolis was the first woman to ever cash in the Main Event, finishing 25th in 1986 for $10,000. In 1993 she cashed in the Main yet again, finishing 20th for $12,000.
We're going to keep our eyes on the Grand Dame today as she starts her quest for a third Main Event cash.
...That's how many famous oranges there are here today.
Yes indeed, the orange section of the Amazon Room is full of impressive names. As well as our pro-heavy feature table, we have a variety of familiar faces in here. German pro George Danzer is here, as is Irish Open runner up Kara Scott. Hendon Mobber Ross Boatman will be hoping to end the day with as big a stack as his brother Barny who played yesterday. Also in the running at this early stage are Sergey Pomerantsev, Lyle Berman, Martin Wendt, Andrew Chen, Mandy Card and Jean Francois Talbot.
Just one corner of the Pavilion is currently home to a number of notable players. So far we've spotted:
Vanessa Selbst
Trishelle Cannatella
Nichoel Peppe
Eric Buchman
Noah Boeken
Andy Bloch
Kelly Kim
Hevad Khan
Allen Bari
Zach Clark
Jason Potter
Josh Arieh
Here are just a few of the names we've spotted in the Pavilion Room:
Jonathan Little
Humberto Brenes
Barry Greenstein
Shawn Sheikhan
Ylon Schwartz
Jack Ury (97 years old)
Jason Mercier
Shannon Elizabeth
Matt Brady
Joe Serock
Sorel Mizzi
Bruce Buffer
Eddie Sabat
Eric Mizrachi
Eric Blair
Although the Orange section is somewhat light on notable players, we do boast a star-studded feature table with Vanessa Rousso and Brian Townsend locking horns.
Sandwiched between the two is Paul Jackson, who you may recall from the 2005 Monte Carlo Millions where he became the victim of an endless sequence of bluffs with Phil Ivey in... "that hand".
But despite being famous in the US for losing a hand, Jackson is a great player in his own right, and has been a staple of the UK poker scene for many years. He is also renowned as one of the UK's best ever online players, in particular during the early years of online poker where he tore up the MTTs under the moniker ActionJack.
. Smith checked, his opponent bet 500, and Smith called. The turn brought the 
. Smith again checked, and his opponent bet 2,000. Smith check-raised to 4,000, and his opponent made the call.
, pairing the board. Smith checked, and his opponent checked as well.
for the king-high straight. But Smith had 
-- not quite the straight he'd announced.
. Eddy Sabat checked and Shawn Sheikhan bet 800. The player on the button folded and Sabat made the call.
and Sabat checked. Sheikhan's bet of 1,500 received a call and the 
bet on the river. Once again Sabat checked and Sheikhan threw out a bet, this time 3,300. It was enough to get Sabat to fold and Sheikhan is already up to 33,000.![[user80015]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
- and after a check, Saout splashed the pot with three 5,000-denomination chips amounting to a bet of 15,000.
flop into a pot of around 1,000.
on the turn before the dealer dropped the 
and slipped to 28,300 in the process.