Wang Che Jung is back up close to the 100,000-chip mark. He managed to crack an opponent's with by spiking a five on the turn of a board that ran out .
One-half of one of the two parent-sibling teams in today's field has been eliminated. Assadour Assadourian was all in for 13,900 and called by Guillaume Lignon. Lignon had the short side of a race, tabling to Assadourian's . The board double-paired , overcoating Assadourian's pair. Lignon's ace kicker dragged the pot.
Wang Che Jung on Day 1
Talk about making a move up the leaderboard. Mere minutes after sending Assadour Assadourian to the rail, Wang Che Jung was at it again. Sitting with the button, he reraised Dory Zayneh from 3,500 to 20,000 preflop. Zayneh made the call to a flop of and led into Jung with a bet of 25,000. Jung raised all in for a total of 78,400 and was called by Zayneh.
Zayneh:
Jung:
Jung flopped a full house, leaving Zayneh drawing at two outs. He picked up a useless straight draw with the turn and bricked the river, . Jung is now the tournament chip leader with a touch more than 200,000 chips. Zayneh is almost out -- he has just 23,000 chips left.
Not for the first time today, Graeme Putt has found a handy double-up. After Putt had moved all in preflop for his last 18,700 with , he found a caller holding .
The board fell making a flush for Putt to double him back up to 38,000 chips.
Eric Assadourian
Karim Jomeen raised to 3,200 from under the gun before Eric Assadourian made it 8,200 to go. The blinds folded and Jomeen quipped, "I think you priced me in," before making the call.
The flop was and Jomeen led out with an all-in bet worth 15,500. Assadourian made the call and tabled but Jomeen has spiked a set with .
Jomeen's joy was short-lived, as the landed on the turn to give Assadourian the two-outer to reclaim the lead and leave Jomeen with only one card in the deck to survive. It wasn't to be, as the fell and Jomeen is eliminated as Assadourian is now looking dangerous with over 100,000 chips.
Michael Guzzardi during Day 1 action
Michael Guzzardi has just returned to his seat after sitting out a one-orbit penalty. Guzzardi was penalized for exposing his cards. He resumes with 85,000 chips.
Kim and Kambouris await the river
A major three-way pot has gone down among Antonis Kambouris, Warwick Mirzikinian and David Kim, with Kim taking by far the best of it. Kambouris opened a flop of for 10,000 and was called in turn by Mirzikinian and Kim, who had both checked. On the turn , Kim moved all in and was called by both of his opponents for a huge three-way showdown:
Kim:
Kambouris:
Mirzikinian:
Mirzikinian had top pair and the second-nut flush draw; Kambouris had bottom set; and Kim had turned a set of jacks. The river fell , improving neither Kambouris nor Mirzikinian. The 130,000-chip pot went to Kim, crippling his two opponents to 23,000 chips and 2,000 chips respectively.
Directly following that last hand, Antonis Kambouris decided to move his last 1,200 all in, in the dark! He found himself with against Warwick Mirzikinian's .
Remarkably the board fell and Kambouris made a running straight to stay alive and climb back to 6,300 chips.
This has been a very strange tournament so far, with a far greater number of two-outers on the turn and river than would be expected. We've had another in a hand between David Lovell and Ali Ghezelbash. The flop came , with Lovell checking to Ghezelbash, who made it 13,000 to go. Lovell called.
On the turn , Lovell checked again. Ghezelbash moved all in for 44,000 and was quickly called by Lovell. Lovell had a set of threes; "Ali G" showed for a turned set of sixes. The river fell to cripple Lovell down to 32,000 chips. Ghezelbash is up to 130,000.
A player raised under the gun to 3,500 and found one caller in middle position, before Robert Bechara moved all in over the top for 35,000 in total.
The original raiser folded, before the MP player said, "I can't get away from it," before making the call. You can understand why he couldn't get away from his hand as he tabled a powerful , but he was in great shape against Bechara's .
The first four community cards were spread and Bechara screamed for a six to chop the pot with a straight, and wouldn't you know it, the made an appearance to the roar of the table! They split the pot and Bechara survives!