Lee Markholt raised to 250 preflop, was re-raised to 700 by a player at his table, and then re-raised all in for 900 by another player at his table. Both Markholt and the second raiser called.
The flop came The other player in the hand checked and Markholt bet 1,100, inciting a fold and isolating the knockout.
The all in player had and Markholt showed
The turn and river were and Markholt scored the knockout and moved up to 10,500.
We didn't see the action ourselves, but the players at the table told us that she went all in preflop for her last 1,500 with and got a call by a player with .
While most tables are calm and not too lively this early in the tournament we found a table with Phil Laak and Jean-Robert Bellande. These two are loud and getting the whole table involved and everyone seems to be having a good time.
Bellande and Laak were involved in a hand when Bellande raised to 125 preflop and Laak called. The flop ran out . Laak checked from the small blind and Bellande bet 300. Laak raised all in and Bellande quickly folded.
The very next hand, a player from the button raised to 300 and Laak reraised all in. His opponent quickly folded. It looks like this table is going to see a lot of action today.
Things have been rather slow as most players are being cautious and not getting involved in big pots early on. Jeffrey Papola and Tom Dwan are seated at the same table and have played a few hands together. We caught a hand when Papola raised to 125 preflop and Dwan called from the small blind.
The flop ran out and both players checked. The fell on the turn and Dwan led out with 250. Papola made the call. The river brought the . Dwan checked, Papola bet 600, and after thinking for a while Dwan folded.
Phil Laak and Jean-Robert Bellande have been joined by Amit Makhija. Laak opened for 125 from UTG and Makhija made it 375 right behind him. The big blind called, as did Laak. The flop came and all three players checked. The turn came and it checked around again. The came on the river and the big blind bet 600, Laak folded and Makhija called. The big blind had for the queen-high flush and Makhija folded.
The other half the Pavilion Room has it's share of notable players as well. Including Shannon Shorr, Shane Schleger, Antonio Esfandiari, Tony Dunst, Vanessa Selbst, Lee Watkinson, Faraz Jaka, Valdemar Kwaysser, Filippo Candio, Joeseph Cheong, Eric Baldwin, Jennifer Tilly, David Pham, Galen Hall, Andrew Badecker, Jose "Nacho" Barbero, Lauren Kling, and Steve Gross.
Action is starting to pick up now that players are slowing making their way to the tables. Most tables now have four to five players seated. We caught David Benyamine in a hand when he opened up the action with a raise to 125 preflop. The player on the button reraised to 375 and Benyamine called.
The flop ran out . Benyamine checked, and his opponent bet 450. Benyamine made the call. The fell on the turn and both players checked.
The river brought the and Benyamine bet 1,750 and his opponent called. Benyamine turned over to take down the pot.