The tournament is well underway but we haven't seen a single pot worth mentioning yet. The players seem to be cautious early on, all careful not to spew off their 300,000 stack.
Over at Table 447, Scott Seiver opened for 2,200 from middle position only to have six-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Layne Flack, who finished sixth last night in Event #43: $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball, three-bet to 6,500 from the cutoff. The button and both blinds folded, Seiver called and it was heads-up action to the flop.
Seiver proceeded to check-call a bet of 12,200 from Flack and then both players checked the turn. When the completed the board on the river, Seiver checked and Flack wasted little time in firing out a bet of 26,000. Seiver took about five seconds and then flicked his cards to the dealer.
Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi, Jake Cody, Phil Laak, Freddy Deeb, and Kyle Julius are among the late arrivals who are in the process of taking their seats.
Five players took a flop of , and the action checked to David Benyamine (the original raiser), and he fired out 3,500. Only Greg Mueller called near the button.
The turn was the , Benyamine led out for 6,800, and Mueller raised to 24,000. Benyamine called.
The completed the board, Benyamine checked for the first time, and Mueller tossed out 59,000. Benyamine check-raised to 160,000, and Mueller slid his Bose Headphones off of his right ear.
"How much?" he asked the dealer, who confirmed the amount. "What a cooler situation."
He called, and Benyamine flipped his cards over one-by-one, first showing the , then revealing the . Mueller ripped over for a better full house, and raked in the pot.
We picked up the action at the turn with | on the table. Russian player Alexey Rybin had checked from the under-the-gun position and his next door neighbor, Elio Fox, had bet 10,000. Ryben made a check-raise to 25,000 and after some thinking, Fox made the call. The river paired the board with the and Rybin tossed in another 25,000 chip. Fox made the call, this time without much thinking. Ryben showed his and Fox slid his cards into the muck.
Action folded to David Peters in the cutoff and he min-raised to 1,200. Jeff Gross, who was next to act on the button, responded with a three-bet to approximately 2,500, which pushed both the blinds out of the pot. Peters made the call and then checked the flop.
Gross took the opportunity to bet 3,500, Peters called and then both players checked the turn. When the completed the board on the river, Peters thought for about 45 seconds before betting 5,700. Gross made a quick call but quickly mucked when Peters rolled over the .
A few players have broken into the Blue Section, including two-time Poker Players Champion Michael Mizrachi, Toby Lewis, Kyle Julius, and David Benefield.
Christian Harder opened to 1,800 from the hijack and Jeremy Ausmus three-bet to 5,200 from the the cutoff. Eugene Katchalov called on the button, Harder called, and the flop came down .
Harder checked to Ausmus who continued for 8,600. Katchalov folded, Harder called, and the landed on the turn. This time Harder check-called 19,000 from Ausmus, landing the river. After a few moments, both players checked.
Harder tabled for deuces full of threes, Ausmus mucked, and Harder won the pot.
We picked up the action with | already out on the table. The big blind had checked to Chris Lee who bet 13,500. Masa Kagawa made the call and so did the big blind. All three players checked on the on the river. Lee showed his for a rivered top two, and took down the pot.