The ESPN cameras have been circling Table 3 recently as the empty seats have filled and revealed a few big names all seated together. Right now, the table is home to Justin "BoostedJ" Smith, Chris Ferguson and John Phan. Needless to say, this table could get interesting.
On top of that, a player recently doubled through Seat 9, leaving him short-stacked. If he busts, that means there would be an open seat. The question then would be: who will fill it?
With 1,600 chips in the middle, Andrew Seidman announced, "Action's on me, sir," to his opponent who fired a bet of 1,000 out of turn. Seidman then tanked after the opponent took his bet back. He wound up checking and his opponent re-fired the 1,000-chip bet. Seidman made the call.
The turn brought the 
and Seidman check-called another bet of 1,000 to see the 
fall on the river.
"I have an ace," said the player before Seidman tabled the 
for trips. His opponent showed only the 
and mucked. Seidman moved back up to 23,000 in chips.
![[user123189]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
Vanessa Selbst was in middle position when she opened for a 250 raise preflop. She was called by the player to her left in Seat 2, a late-position player in Seat 3 and the player in the small blind.
The flop came down 
. The small blind checked to Selbst, who bet 600 into the pot. The remaining three players made the call.
When the 
came on the river, the small blind and Selbst both checked with the middle-position player betting 1,600. Action folded to Selbst who thought for some time before making the fold as well.
Selbst is now sitting with about 25,700 in chips.
Jennifer Harman was up first in a hand with one other player and the board reading 
. There were 1,850 chips in the middle and Harman checked. Her opponent fired a bet of 1,000 and Harman tank-called.
The river completed the board with the 
and Harman led out with a bet of 1,800. Her opponent tanked for some time, but eventually folded his hand. Harman improved to 32,300 in chips.
When the 
hit the felt, the player in the small blind fired a 1,000-chip bet. Next to speak, Team PokerStars Pro Alex Kravchenko smooth called.
The turn card was a 
and the small blind check-raised to 4,000 a 1,700-chip bet from the Russian player. Kravchenko called.
The river brought a 
to the table and both players checked. Kravchenko tabled and took the pot, is now up to 39,000 chips.
Joe Cassidy opened from middle position and got one caller in the small blind. The flop came 
. Cassidy's opponent led for 2,100, and Cassidy called. The turn brought the 
. The small blind fired 5,000 this time, sending Cassidy into the tank. After two full minutes, he made the call.
The river was the 
. That slowed down Cassidy's opponent, who checked, and Cassidy checked behind. His opponent tabled 
for two pair, and Cassidy mucked. He's slipped to 22,500 here during the second hour of Level 1.
Yes, "poker boom" and "Chris Moneymaker" are synonymous, but without 2002 Main Event Champion Robert Varkonyi, there may be no Moneymaker.
Varkonyi took home $2,000,000 for his victory eight years ago, and has since added over $250,000 to his live tournament earnings.
The former champ is seated at the feature table in the Red Section of the Amazon Room, and is above starting stack with 34,000 chips.
Much like the London Marathon, the World Series of Poker is renowned for its costumes as runners look to reach the finishing tape of their own marathon. On the first day there was a guy dressed as a hippo, then Batman flew in on Day 1B, before even the Devil visited the City of Sin for the penultimate starting day.
Today, however, I've been disappointed with the efforts of our participants, as most have arrived in standard garb. There is one chap, however, who has come straight from the eighties with a Jon Bon Jovi wig on his bonce. Or is it Tina Turner? Hold on, it's Rod Stewart? Wait, maybe Madonna. Gosh, the eighties was a strange period.
We caught up with the action on the flop with the gent in the big blind betting 1,000 into a 650 pot. Hank Azaria, famous for his voicing of various characters on The Simpsons including Moe Szyslak, called from a couple seats down.
The turn was the 
and both players checked; the river was the 
and both players checked again. Azaria flipped and, once his opponent had mucked, bumped his stack up to 38,500.
Facing a raise to 300, André Coimbra three-bet to 1,200 from the cutoff only to have his opponent four-bet him to 3,000.
Coimbra moved all in for his last 13,500 and his opponent made the call.
Coimbra:
Opponent: 
The board ran out 
to see Coimbra double through to 27,000 and some change.
