Event #57: $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-low Split-8 or Better
Day 1 Started
2011 World Series of Poker
Event #57: $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-low Split-8 or Better
Day: 1
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2011 World Series of Poker
Buy-in
$5,000
Prize Pool
$1,654,400
Entries
352
Level
30
Blinds
50,000 / 100,000
Ante
0
The Last of the Prelims
![[user66118]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
Good afternoon from the Pavilion, and a very warm welcome to Event #57, the last of the bracelet events before the Main Event takes center stage on Thursday. This one is a $5,000 buy-in pot-limit Omaha hi-lo event. Last year, Chris Bell bested the field of 284 players to win his first gold bracelet and more than $325,000. We'd expect to see a similar field size this year, possibly bolstered a bit by the fact it's been slid down to the tail end of the calendar where competing events are a bit more sparse. This is also a Triple Chance event, meaning the players will start with three 5,000-chip bullets at their disposal.
We were scheduled to start in about a half hour, but that's not going to be the case. The Pavilion is completely full of players from the noon tournament today, and the spillover Yellow section only has one or two vacant tables set up for us. There were two rows available in the Black section, but dealers were quickly assembled for the last late-reg tables of the $1,500 event. We've just heard the announcement that we're going to be delayed until 5:30 P.M., and we're less than surprised.
So, 5:30 is it. We'll keep you posted if that changes again -- and don't be surprised if it does. But if not, we'll see you back here in less than an hour to kick off the final preliminary event of the 2011 WSOP!
Level: 1
Blinds: 50/75
Ante: 0
Aaaaaaand They're Off!
Level 1
: 50/75, 0 ante
We've found a cozy little corner of the Pavilion with some tables open, and Day 1 is off and running.
Notables in the Field
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
15,000 | |
|
15,000 | |
|
15,000 | |
|
15,000 | |
|
15,000 | |
|
15,000 | |
|
15,000 | |
|
15,000 | |
|
15,000 | |
|
15,000 | |
|
15,000 | |
|
15,000 | |
|
15,000 | |
|
15,000 | |
|
15,000 | |
|
15,000 | |
|
15,000 | |
|
15,000 | |
|
15,000 | |
|
15,000 | |
|
15,000 | |
|
15,000 | |
|
15,000 | |
|
15,000 | |
|
15,000 |
The Setup
Level 1
: 50/75, 0 ante
The Pavilion Room is at full capacity today, with the $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em event field taking up most of the room; however, the tournaments staff has cleared a little area in the Yellow Section for the $5K PLO8 tournaments. Add cash-games action and satellites to the mix, and it is essentially a zoo in here!
Tough Tables
Level 1
: 50/75, 0 ante
Walking through the crowd presents a fairly homogenous mixture of pros and unknowns. Still, a few tables stick out as being particularly tough, and we have two separate murderers' rows.
Table 124 has Will Failla, Marco Traniello, and Daniel Negreanu right in a row in the six, seven, and eight seats, and Table 122 has Chino Rheem, Chris Bjorin, and Allen Kessler right in order as well. Table 137 looks pretty tough, too, with Shannon Shorr, Greg Raymer, and Bill Chen all in attendance there. Table 132 is where the defending champ, Chris Bell begins his day, sharing a table with Miami John Cernuto, Lee Watkinson, and Alex Kravchenko.
Table 125 might be the toughest, though. We spot James "Flushy" Dempsey, Alex Gomes, Mike Sexton, Claudio Rinaldi, and Roberto Romanello sitting together there.
Starting With a Chop
Level 1
: 50/75, 0 ante
Let's start with a split pot, shall we? There'll be plenty of these over the next few days.
Scott Clements limped in from early position, and a player in middle position raised to 300. A third player and Clements called to see a flop.
It came 
, and Clements checked. The raiser continued out with 500 more chips, and now Clements was the only caller to go heads up to the turn. It was the 
, and it checked through to the 
river. Clements bet 500 now, and his opponent called.
Clements: 
(nut low)
Opponent: 
(flush)
Chop it up, boys.
Eslami Off to a Nice Start
We arrived at Ali Eslami's table just in time to see the small blind check a flop of 
, allowing Ali Eslami to bet 425 from middle position. The next player quickly got out of the way, but both the hijack and small blind opted to call.
When the dealer burned and turned the 
, the small blind took the initiative and bet 800. Eslami thought for a moment before putting in a raise to 1,800. It proved to be enough as both players folded to Eslami, who showed 
.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
19,000 | 4,000 |
Vengrin Pushes Around Zaichenko
Level 1
: 50/75, 0 ante
Matt Vengrin raised to 150 from middle position, and Andrey Zaichenko called in late position. The small blind squeezed in a reraise to 500 straight, but he'd check-fold the flop. Vengrin and Zaichenko called the reraise to see it.
The dealer spread out 
, and action checked to Zaichenko. He made it 1,100 to go, folding the small blind. Vengrin check-raised though, plunking out an uncounted stack chips that was more than the pot. Zaichenko tanked for a long while before folding.
Vengrin flashed the 
with a smirk, and he's doing good work early. He's turned his first bulled into 14,000, giving him 24,000 total.