Event #22: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Day 1 | 2013 World Series of Poker

Event #22: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha

Day 1 Started

06-12-2013 11:17 UTC-7

The Cards will Fly and the Players will Fall in Today's $1,500 PLO Event

Chad Holloway

Last year's champion Vincent Van Der Fluit.

In less than an hour, one of the most exciting and action-packed tournaments of the 2013 World Series of Poker will begin—Event #22 $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha. Players will begin with a 1,500 stack with two rebuy lammers worth 1,500 each. Players can cash them in at any time between hands up through the fourth level. At that point, the lammers will be automatically cashed. Who will cash theirs in straight away and who will use them strategically? Only time will tell.

Last year this very event attracted 970 runners that created a prize pool of $1,309,500. After three long days of play, it was the Dutchman Vincent Van Der Fluit that walked away with the gold bracelet (his first) and the $265,211 first-place prize. It was an impressive victory, especially when you consider the players he had to overcome at the final table like Calvin Anderson (8th - $24,186), Alex Dovzhenko (5th - $55,025), Tristan Wade (3rd - $102,690) and Charles Tonne (2nd - $164,132).

Likewise, other past winners of this event include Elie Payan, who won $292,825 by topping a field of 1,071 in 2011; former Main Event finalist Tex Barch, who took down the title and $256,919 top prize by winning 2010’s 885-player strong field; and of course Jason Mercier, who won the first of his two bracelets in this very event back in 2009 when he topped 809 players to win $237,462.

Pot-limit Omaha, otherwise known as PLO, is certainly a game of high variance, but as evidenced by the list of past winners, it’s also one where skill can help propel you to the top. Cards will be in the air at 12:00 PST, so stay tuned from all the PLO action and eliminations from the floor of the Pavilion here at the Rio All-Suite Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada!

Level: 1

Blinds: 25/25

Ante:

06-12-2013 12:05 UTC-7

Let's Get Ready to Rumble

Chad Holloway

Level 1 : 25/25, 0 ante

Cards are in the air here in the Pavilion Room. The tables are far from full as players are still filtering in, but we'll have a list of those in action for you shortly.

06-12-2013 12:15 UTC-7

Golden Faces

Chad Holloway

Level 1 : 25/25, 0 ante

Here are some of the players currently located in the Gold Section of the Pavilion Room.

Player	Chips	Progress
Lee Watkinson	4,500 4,500	4,500

Erick Lindgren	4,500 4,500	4,500

Tripp Kirk	4,500 4,500	4,500
David Williams	4,500 4,500	4,500

George Danzer	4,500 4,500	4,500

Steve Gross	4,500 4,500	4,500

Shannon Shorr	4,500 4,500	4,500

Jonathan Duhamel	4,500 4,500	4,500

Nick Jivkov	4,500 4,500	4,500

Eric Rodawig	4,500 4,500	4,500

David Chiu	4,500 4,500	4,500

Eddie Blumenthal	4,500 4,500	4,500

06-12-2013 12:20 UTC-7

The Red Keep

[user253757]

Level 1 : 25/25, 0 ante

The following professionals have been spotted among the sea of amateurs in the Brasilia Room's Red section.

Player	Chips	Progress
Barry Greenstein	4,500 4,500	4,500

Marcel Luske	4,500 4,500	4,500

Scott Clements	4,500 4,500	4,500

Joe Cada	4,500 4,500	4,500

Huck Seed	4,500 4,500	4,500

Don Nguyen	4,500 4,500	4,500
Daniel Negreanu	4,500 4,500	4,500

06-12-2013 12:29 UTC-7

Silver Bullets

Chad Holloway

Level 1 : 25/25, 0 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
AP Phahurat	4,500 4,500	4,500
Ben Yu	4,500 4,500	4,500

Nancy Birnbaum	4,500 4,500	4,500
John Racener	4,500 4,500	4,500

Konstantin Puchkov	4,500 4,500	4,500

Andre Akkari	4,500 4,500	4,500

Annette Obrestad	4,500 4,500	4,500

Matt Affleck	4,500 4,500	4,500
Darryll Fish	4,500 4,500	4,500
Noah Schwartz	4,500 4,500	4,500

Tony Cousineau	4,500 4,500	4,500
Matt Keikoan	4,500 4,500	4,500

Barry Shulman	4,500 4,500	4,500

Kathy Liebert	4,500 4,500	4,500

Steve O'Dwyer	4,500 4,500	4,500
Gavin Griffin	4,500 4,500	4,500

Andy Frankenberger	4,500 4,500	4,500

06-12-2013 12:42 UTC-7

Florian Surkamp Flops Hard in Four-Way All-In

[user253757]

Level 1 : 25/25, 0 ante

As is typical in the game of Pot-Limit Omaha, players are getting their chips in the middle quite willingly as the first level of play unfolds, and German player Florian Surkamp is glad they are.

We watched Surkamp, whose large stack suggested he had already doubled in a previous hand, get it all-in against no less than three opponents.

Showdown:

Surkamp:
Opponent #1:
Opponent #2:
Opponent #3:

Surkamp was in good shape with pocket kings over pocket queens, as both of the other queens were out of play, while none of his opponents held an ace.

The flop came , and suddenly it was Surkamp's lowly deuce that gave him a commanding lead in the hand, and the turn () and river () left him with trips, and a massive pot pushed his way.

Player	Chips	Progress
Florian Surkamp	10,500

06-12-2013 12:48 UTC-7

More Notables in the Field

Chad Holloway

Level 1 : 25/25, 0 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
John Duthie	4,500 4,500	4,500
Jeremy Ausmus	4,500 4,500	4,500

Bill Chen	4,500 4,500	4,500

Mike Leah	4,500 4,500	4,500

Ryan Lenaghan	4,500 4,500	4,500
Michael Benvenuti	4,500 4,500	4,500
Fabrice Soulier	4,500 4,500	4,500

Leif Force	4,500 4,500	4,500

Joe Kuether	4,500 4,500	4,500
Jason Mercier	4,500 4,500	4,500

Gabirel Nassif	4,500 4,500	4,500

Chris Demaci	4,500 4,500	4,500
Ted Lawson	4,500 4,500	4,500

Tom Schneider	4,500 4,500	4,500

Blair Rodman	4,500 4,500	4,500

Jeff Madsen	4,500 4,500	4,500

Tristan Wade	4,500 4,500	4,500

Yuval Bronshtein	4,500 4,500	4,500

Bryan Devonshire	4,500 4,500	4,500
Barny Boatman	4,500 4,500	4,500

Brett Richey	4,500 4,500	4,500
Mike Sexton	4,500 4,500	4,500

Dave O'Callahan	4,500 4,500	4,500
Nacho Barbero	4,500 4,500	4,500

Alex Kravchenko	4,500 4,500	4,500

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06-12-2013 12:58 UTC-7

Devo's (De)vices

[user253757]

Level 1 : 25/25, 0 ante

Pro Bryan Devonshire is a veteran of the tournament poker circuit, with an impressive résumé spanning a number of years, and several notable wins on the WSOP Circuit and other major venues. With that said, he certainly knows his way around the technicalities of a poker table's intricate system of rules and regulations.

Although the WSOP prohibits players from using their smartphones, iPads, or other devices while engaged in a hand, Devo has found a way to stay connected until the last possible moment. By only clicking his device off right before the fourth card of every deal is distributed, Devonshire has assured himself a few extra moments of technological diversion, but one especially strict dealer was having none of it.

Devonshire's table recently had to have the floor arbitrate a minor dispute between the pro and the man pitching the cards, who believed that all devices must be put away when the first card is dealt.

The normally laid back and gregarious Devonshire was a bit perturbed at the delay in the action, but after the floor affirmed his belief in the three-card-off rule, he returned his focus to the game at hand.