Bryan "The Icon" Micon just showed why he might just deserve that self-proclaimed title, as he just got maximum value from his .
The action began when a player raised Icon's button, making it 1,600 to play. Micon responded with a three-bet to 4,200, and his opponent came along to see the flop of . Both players tapped the table, bringing the on the turn. This time, his opponent led out for 4,900, and Micon called to see the fall on the river.
His opponent then made a large bet of approximately 9,000, and Micon wasted no time in calling with a hand that many amateurs would have been convinced was no good. The other player reluctantly showed his for a busted bluff, and the pot was pushed to the Icon.
With 270 players left in contention here on Day 1, and an extra level of play adding an hour of all-ins to the schedule, the buzz is beginning to build as the remaining runners realize how close they are to a WSOP cash.
During our rounds around the Brasilia Room, players have become increasingly interested in the tournament boards showing the amount of players left and the payout structure. Many are eyeing their own stacks in relation to others around the room, trying to determine whether or not they can sail into the money by simply playing snug.
The pros still here, however, have been licking their chops for this stage of the tournament, and they will now look to pad their stacks by attacking amateurs interested only in a min-cash.
We expect to see play tighten up considerably during the next few levels, at least for most players, while a select few sharks begin their daily feeding frenzy.
Low-stakes grinder Zal Irani, who recently added a 2nd place finish for $104,275 in the 2013 Chicago Poker Classic's $350 No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry) tournament to his growing list of poker accomplishments, stopped by the PokerNews Live Reporting station for a time honored tradition here at the WSOP: Informing that special someone back home just how good Vegas is treating him.
Irani has built his stack to 82,000, good for one of the highest counts in the room thus far, and he wanted to be sure that his girlfriend Nikki knew about it. From Chicago, Irani has worked his way up the poker ladder, playing smaller buy-in events while building his bankroll, and it appears the practice has paid off as he works his way towards the money.
With fewer and fewer tables in play in the rapidly emptying Brasilia Room, it stands to reason that a name pro might find himself seated across from a player of equal stature. Such is the nature of the beast that is tournament poker at the game's highest level.
The scene on Table #31 in the Silver section, however, is bordering on the absurd, as no less than three WSOP bracelet holders are playing together. Joining Erick Lindgren, Dan Kelly, and Steve Zolotow in this fearsome foursome is Paul Wasicka, and while he has yet to score that elusive first piece of bling, he only finished as the runner-up in the 2006 Main Event, falling short only to Jaime Gold during that man's infamous reign as the luckiest player on the planet.
With each holding a healthy chip stack, we expect there will be a few confrontations at this table before the night has ended.
As a two-time winner of the $10,000 Deuce-to-Seven Lowball World Championship (No Limit) here at the WSOP, longtime pro Nick Schulman is slumming it a bit with a simple No-Limit Hold'em event, but he appears to quite at ease.
We just watched Schulman claim a small pot with the board reading , Schulman and his opponent tapped the table. Rolling over for second pair, Schulman took it down to push his stack over the 50,000 mark as the money bubble quickly draws near.
As the last level of the day draws to a close, those words are true for every player in the room. Some will end the day when the clock shows 00:00, while others will depart when they have zero chips in front of them.
With the tournament director announcing instructions for the bag-and-tag process, the end will come in four more hands no matter what, and all that's left for the players to decide is if their end will come courtesy of the clock, or their own chips being lost.
Frank Kassela is Among the Chip Leaders After Day 1
With a total of eleven hours now in the books, Day 1 of this $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em tournament has ended with a number of notable pros still in ownership of their stacks. Of the 1,819 hopefuls who took their seats this afternoon, only 206 players survived the carnage typically associated with the WSOP's large field, low buy-in events.
Among them are WSOP bracelet holders Nick Schulman (58,200), Erick Lindgren (54,500), Steve Zolotow (44,800), Dan Kelly (36,000), each of whom has bagged and tagged an arsenal for tomorrow's race for the final table.
It is a two-time bracelet winner, however, who leads the list of pros after a full day of action, with WSOP staple Frank Kassela (121,800) topping the century mark midway through Day 1 and never looking back.
Grant Curnow ended the day as our unofficial chip leader, amassing a stack of over 138,000 chips and putting himself well ahead of the average heading into the second day of play. He will have to use those chips wisely if he hopes to compete with the swarm of professional sharks still lurking in the field.
With just eight eliminations to go until the money bubble bursts, the beginning stages of Day 2 action promise to be filled with fireworks, with everyone in the room hoping to secure a WSOP cash and a few thousand clams to boot.
Play will resume tomorrow at 1:00PST here at the Rio, so check back with us here at PokerNews for continuous coverage as Event # 14, $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em rolls onward.
For now, we'll leave you with Kristy Arnett who has the highlights from across the Rio today:
![[user253757]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
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. Both players tapped the table, bringing the 
on the turn. This time, his opponent led out for 4,900, and Micon called to see the 
fall on the river.
for a busted bluff, and the pot was pushed to the Icon.
, Schulman and his opponent tapped the table. Rolling over 
for second pair, Schulman took it down to push his stack over the 50,000 mark as the money bubble quickly draws near.
