Freddy Deeb and Tom Schneider checked all the way to the river on a board. On the last street, Deeb checked again, and Schneider made a small bet of 400.
Deeb analyzed it, "I think you have ace-queen-jack-ten." With that, he splashed the call into the pot. Schneider showed -- the nuts. The two men shared a laugh, but it's Schneider with the last one, stacking the pot to climb right back to his starting stack of 7,500.
The big board shows 431 runners, a damn impressive turnout for this inaugural 10-game event. We're still waiting for the official numbers from the WSOP, and we'll post the field size and prize pool as soon as we know it.
Also of note: Phil Hellmuth has taken his seat at one of the near tables.
We hadn't checked on John Kabbaj in a while, so we wandered over just as he was involved in what would be his final hand. He must have been short, because he was all in by the time we walked up on fourth street. Steve Diano and another player were also in the pot, but they'd check it down.
On seventh street, Diano showed buried for a ninety-eight. Mr. Opponent had that beat with [3x4x6] in the hole for an eighty-six. Kabbaj couldn't win with , and he's outta here just after dinner.
We can't give you the specifics, but we saw a few bets being dragged into the pot when we walked up just after the opening round of betting. We picked up the action live on fourth between Jeff Sarwer and the player to his right.
Sarwer: (x-x) / / (x)
Opponent: (x-x) / / (x)
On fourth, Sarwer checked, then raised when his opponent made the bet. The ten picked up the lead on fifth street, but he checked again and called another bet from Sarwer. On sixth, Sarwer was forced to call a bet, and his opponent led back out on seventh. Sarwer raised now, and his opponent called.
Sarwer showed up () / , and he's drawn to a tidy six-low. It was good, and it boosts Sarwer back up to his starting stack for the first time today. He had just 700 chips left from 7,500 during the first level.
The tables are breaking out of the far yellow section, and soon the field will all be together in one group of tables. Before they all scatter, here are a few counts from that section.
Eugene Katchalov was down to 3,500 when he got the last of his money in with . He ran his pair right into an opponent's , and things did not go well. The board came , and Katchalov could not catch up.
We picked up a three-way pot just after the first draw where all three players took one card. The small blind -- a player we don't recognize -- led out with a bet, and both Dan Heimiller and Jeff Sarwer called to proceed. One card apiece again, and the small blind put out the big bet of 500. Heimiller threw in 600 chips, and it appeared he wanted to raise. He didn't, though, and Sarwer and the small blind both called. Heimiller patted and bet while the other two still needed one card. Sarwer folded his miss, and the small blind mucked as well, and Heimiller did them the courtesy of showing his as he raked in the chips.
Phil Hellmuth is down in the danger zone after an encounter with Owais Ahmed went south. It happened in triple draw, and it began with Hellmuth opening in middle position. Ahmed reraised, and Hellmuth called. Hellmuth took two cards and checked, and Ahmed bet after drawing one. Hellmuth snuck in a check-raise, and Ahmed reraised it right back. Hellmuth flatted and stood pat, and he'd end up check-folding to one more bet from Ahmed on the next round.
Hellmuth is down to 1,600 after that pot, and his chips move Ahmed up to 9,000.
![[user66118]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
board. On the last street, Deeb checked again, and Schneider made a small bet of 400.
-- the nuts. The two men shared a laugh, but it's Schneider with the last one, stacking the pot to climb right back to his starting stack of 7,500.
buried for a ninety-eight. Mr. Opponent had that beat with [3x4x6] in the hole for an eighty-six. Kabbaj couldn't win with 
. He ran his pair right into an opponent's 
, and things did not go well. The board came 
, and Katchalov could not catch up.
as he raked in the chips.