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Justin Smith fired out 600 on a 
board and Chris Bjorin raised to 2,000 while two other players including Almira Skripchenko folded. Smith quickly made the call to see a 
turn but then folded just as quick to a 5,000 bet from the London-based Swede.
Vanessa Selbst managed a near-quadruple-up just after the break when she got her 400 lonely chips into the pot with ace-seven. She spiked an ace to win that pot and put her back to 1,500, and she's just found double up number two.
From the button, Selbst shipped 1,950 chips in with 
, and Anthony Ramsden re-shoved with 
, isolating himself against the lady with a chance at the knockout.
The board was a sweat, but ultimately in Selbst's favor as it ran 
. That's another double, and she's fought her way back to 4,100.
On the next hand, Mickey Petersen opened to 600 from early position before Selbst moved her new, twice-as-big stack into the middle again. Petersen gave her a look but eventually passed, and that puts Selbst right back at 5,000 even. It's not a heap, but it's enough to keep her in the game and start the chatter of a comeback from just 400 chips.
With the board reading 
, Filippo Candio (UTG+1) led for 2,300 with 
. His opponent (button) made the call with 
.
The river was gin for Candio who duly moved all in for 10,505. "Call," came the immediate reply.
Candio now back to his starting stack after a ropey opening level.
Undaunted by the possibility of being put to the test for his whole stack (while his opponent Pierre Canali risks less than half of his), Scott Fischman just took hold of the post-flop aggression leash and didn't let go. The flop was out: 
and Fischman check-raised to 2,000 (Canali bet 625). Back to Canali who raised: 5,200 total now. The ball was back in Fischman's court and he upped it yet again to 11,000. This protracted game of chicken looked like it could turn deadly at this point, but Canali passed after a brief think and Fischman wins a tidy pot right there.
Erik Seidel opened to 500 from under the gun. He was called by a player in middle position, the cutoff seat and then Ted Lawson from the big blind. The flop came down 
and Seidel fired 1 bet of 1,025 after Lawson checked. All three of his opponents folded and Seidel moved back to 23,200 in chips.
With approximately 6,500 chips in the middle, the board read 
on the turn between Brent Roberts and John Juanda. Roberts fired 4,000 and after a few minutes in the tank, the 2008 WSOP Europe Main Event champion folded. Juanda was left with 13,500 in chips while Roberts increased to 34,000.
A fateful turn card made all the difference for Barbara Martinez just now, as she doubled up to 53k courtesy of Michael Mizrachi. The pot was just a couple of thousand, no yellow 1k chips floating about yet as the board stood 
. Like Superman in a phone booth, however, it was all to change immediately.
Martinez check-raised Mizrachi to a healthy 4,000. He responded by raising to 8,000. She thought for a short while, then pushed in 21,000, removing her headphones at this symbolic no-fold movement... Mizrachi put the final raise in which committed the rest of her chips, and they were on their backs:
Mizrachi: 
for the flopped top two pair.
Martinez: 
for the turned set.
There were cards to bust her possible on the river, but it fell the harmless and that drops the Grinder down to 18,800.
A devastated Roberto Romanello rolled up to the rail, a face redder than a firmly smacked bottom as he reported with a sigh: "Set over set. Top versus middle. On the flop."
As Romanello attempted to regain his composure, I trundled over to the scene of the crime to see the outline of a 
board. The prime suspect, 
, lay before the victor.
Although it will be of scant consolation at the moment, Romanello's explosive start has saved him - he still has 20,000 despite the collision.
"Happens all the time," concluded Romanello with a shake of the head.
A player opened to 450 from middle position, James Dempsey called from the cutoff, Brandon Cantu called on the button and Huck Seed called in the big blind.
The 
flop was checked around to Cantu who bet 1,025. Seed made the call and the other two folded.
The came on the turn and Seed checked to Cantu again, who bet 2,700 this time. Seed then check-raised to 5,500 which sent Cantu into the town of Tankville, eventually releasing his hand and flashing the 
A nosedive start to the day for Luke Trotman saw his stack fall to a fraction of its starting 30k, before one full double through brought him back to a perfectly playable 12k. The blinds are only 100/200, and the levels are a generous 90 minutes, so initial falls aren't the tournament killer they might have been. Anyhow Trotman, having made it 550 to play preflop, picked up two callers, one of whom was Ross Boatman.
Boatman was the only caller of the 1,200 bet on the 
flop, which brought the 
on the turn. Again Trotman was the bettor, but this time it was 3,800 all-in... Boatman had improved with that turn to the point where he called with 
, but Trotman's held on the river.
