From under the gun, Bill Chen limped in. Jason Mercier raised to 1,300 from the hijack seat and Marco Johnson called from the small blind. Lee Goldman called from the big blind and Chen also made the call.
The flop came down and action checked around the table to see the land on the turn. Johnson bet 3,600 and one by one, everyone folded.
Last night, Johnson took second to Ronnie Bardah in Event 40: $2,500 Limit Hold'em - Six-Handed for $112,525. It was the third largest World Series of Poker score of his career and second runner-up finish.
Action on the flop started with Lyle Berman betting and Richard Ashby making the call. Michael "The Grinder' Mizrachi raised and then David Grey reraised. Berman and Ashby folded before Mizrachi called.
The turn was the and Mizrachi checked. Grey bet and Mizrachi called.
The river was the and Mizrachi led with a bet. Grey made the call, but mucked his hand after Mizrachi tabled the for a queen-high straight.
Mizrachi, who won this event in 2010, is already up to 217,000 in chips and according to Barry Greenstein, "He's won every pot at the table so far."
Cary Katz kicked off the action and raised to 1,600 after which it got folded to Matt Glantz. Glantz was on the button and three-bet to 2,400. Katz made the call.
The flop came down , and Katz check-called 800. On the turn the popped up and Katz lead out for 1,600. Glantz was right there to put in the raise making it 3,200, and Katz called.
The river was the and Katz checked to Glantz who put out another 1,600 chip bet. Katz called and mucked after Glantz turned over .
A nice start for Glantz who has two previous cashes in this event. Back in 2008 he finished fourth for $568,320 (H.O.R.S.E.), and last year he ended up getting fifth for $376,750. On top of these results Glantz also finished fourth in the 2008 $10,000 8-Game Championship, and fifth in the 2010 H.O.R.S.E. Championship. There is no question about Glantz's skills in these games and he'll be one of the favorites again this year.
Ali Eslami completed with the and found only one caller, Scott Seiver and his . Both players proceeded to check the turn before Seiver led out on fifth. Eslami not only called that bet, but also called a bet on sixth.
Seiver: / /
Eslami: /
Seiver ended up check-calling a bet, but lamented it when seeing Eslami's trip eights. "I had a flush and low draw," Seiver said aloud.
brianchastings Brian Hastings144k from 150 starting. The tourney would be much more enjoyable if the rail at the final table set would ever shut up. #obnoxious #wsop45June 24 2012
ToddBrunson Todd BrunsonWas late to the 50k. Anted off around 5%. Picked up 3456 in stud 8/b right away lost double thatJune 24 2012
JonSpinks Jon SpinksGus hansen fills the 8 seat, im up to 170kJune 24 2012
Bryn Kenney raised and Frank Kassela called. On the first draw, Kenney stood pat and Kassela drew two. Kenney then bet and Kassela called.
On the second draw, Kenney stood pat again. Kassela took another two cards and then Kenney bet. Kassela folded and showed that he drew the on his second draw.
From the hijack seat, Frank Kassela raised to 1,000. The only caller was David Chiu from the small blind and the flop came down . Chiu checked and Kassela bet 1,200. Chiu called. After the double paired the board on the turn, Chiu led for 3,500. Kassela flashed pocket sixes and folded his hand. "Not the turn I wanted to see," he said.
On the next hand, Bryn Kenney opened from under the gun to 1,200 and Daniel Alaei called from the small blind. Alaei then check-folded to a bet of 2,000 on the flop and Kenney won the pot.
On the hand after that, action folded to Chiu in the cutoff seat and he raised to 1,200. Kenney called from the big blind and the flop was . After Kenney checked, Chiu bet 1,800 and won the pot.
Action folded to Daniel Negreanu in the hijack and he put in a raise, which Shawn Buchanan called from the cutoff. The button and both blinds got out of the way, and Negreanu drew one while Buchanan took two.
Negreanu then put out a bet and then stood pat after Buchanan called. The latter drew one, called another bet, and then drew one more after Negreanu stood pat for a second time.
Negreanu fired one last time and Buchanan simply sighed, "I wanna see what it is," before splashing in a call.
"You got it," Negreanu admitted without showing his hand. Buchanan then rolled over for the win.
From middle position Michael Binger, who cashed this event last year, raised it up to 1,600 and Rami Boukai called from the cutoff. The remaining players folded, and we went heads up to the first draw.
Binger took one card, Boukai needed two.
Binger fired out 800 right away and Boukai made the call. On the second draw Binger stood pat, and Boukai needed another card.
Binger fired out 1,600, Boukai called once more. On the final draw Boukai was again the only player who needed a card, and Binger checked to him. Boukai looked at his final card, and opted to check behind.
The second year of the Poker Player's Championship, which occurred back in 2007, attracted 148 runners and created a prize pool of $7,104,000. Those same numbers would be tied in 2008, which have thus far served as the biggest turnouts for this events.
Here's a look at the results from the 2007 Poker Player’s Championship: