JC Tran still peddling the short stack
Following two limps ahead of him, JC Tran found himself all in - but for the small amount of only 2,450.
Yevgeniy Timoshenko made the call to take the hand heads-up as the cards were tabled.
Tran:
Timoshenko:
"Someone has to double me up" stated Tran as the flop dropped to give Timoshenko an additional four outs.
When the landed on the turn it gave Timoshenko a double gutshot straight-draw while losing his outs of a Jack.
Ironically it would be the falling on the river to see Tran double through to 5,500 in chips as Timoshenko slips a few thousand below his starting stack.
European born Henrik Gwinner -- known for his aggressive style and relentless offense -- is quickly letting his tablemates know he's going to be the captain this afternoon.
He's already been involved in at least three or four relatively big pots this level, and slipped a little below the starting stack before the following hand took place:
The UTG+1 player limped into the pot before action folded around the table to Gwinner on the button who raised to 400. The unknown limper made the call and saw the flop come . Action was then checked to Gwinner who made it 625 to play. His opponent countered with a check-raise to 1,925 after spending a minute or two in the tank. When the action returned to Henrik, he three-bet to 6,500 and his opponent sheepishly laid down his hand.
Gwinner's bullying style has him back over 20,000 in chips, but that could change any minute given his apparent desire to play as many pots as possible.
Commissioner Danny McDonagh has notified the players, as time is ticking down on Level 1, that he will be removing all remaining dead stacks from the field. These stacks represent players who bought into the tournament but have not yet turned up. McDonagh assured the players that the prize money represented by the dead stacks will stay in the prize pool, creating a small overlay. In the event that the owners of the dead stacks do make it to the tournament area, they will be given back their stacks, minus an appropriate deduction for missed blinds.
With a limper ahead of him, Andrew Scott entered the pot with a raise to 450.
Zhi Hong Ma made the call next to speak, as did Steve Wong from the big blind along with the limper to see the flop of fall and the action check round to Ma.
Ma pushed out a bet of 1,600, and as the action passed round to Scott he sat in the tank staring at Ma intently.
A minute or two went by before Scott casually splashed the pot with four blue 1,000-denomination chips to now put Ma in the tank.
Nearly four minutes went by before Ma made the call to see the land on the turn and a 6,000-chip bet follow from Scott.
Ma this time took even longer to make a decision - this time a fold - but one that he likely regretted when Scott raked in the pot and tabled his for a semi-bluff.
With a limp ahead of him, Andrew Hinrichsen bumped the action and found a call from Joe Hachem out of the blinds along with the limper.
The flop of was checked round to see Hachem fire 1,000 when the landed on the turn.
Hachem found one opponent to come along for the ride as Hinrichsen folded, and when the fell on the river he tabled his once the action was checked to see him rake in the pot to get things going for the day.
Chino Rheem
Chino Rheem plays a very aggressive, explosive style of poker. It serves him well at times to accumulate a big stack; other times it puts him in a hole. Today is mostly the latter and not so much of the former, with Rheem already down to 8,700 after a few battles. Most recently he bet 1,500 on the turn, , and was called by the button player. Both players checked the river.
"Good hand," Rheem said without opening his cards. The button didn't open either, prompting some irritation from their tablemates. Finally Rheem motioned to muck his hand and the button turned over for two pair, kings and aces. Rheem nodded and rapped the table.
Catching the action on the flop of , we found Sida Yuen check-raising his opponent's bet to 3,075 from the big blind.
Yuen however was then met with an additional 8,000-chip re-raise, before moving all in for his tournament life and finding a call.
Yuen:
Opponent:
With Yuen flopping the nuts and a redraw to a straight flush against his opponent's set, the on the turn, followed by the on the river would see him double up to just under 40,000 in chips.
"A good break for the players on the main floor," quipped Commissioner Danny McDonagh. "David Saab is on one of the outer tables and his voice isn't carrying that far at the moment."
Because of the opening festivities and the size of the field, four overflow tables were set up outside of the main tournament floor. The staff are busy setting up tables again where the opening festivities took place, breaking tables in other parts of the room to give everyone a little more space.