Dimitrios Mertzanis limped in the cutoff seat and then Terrence Chan limped from the button. The small blind completed and then the big blind raised to 1,500. Mertzanis folded before Chan called. The small blind folded as well.
The flop came down 
and the big blind fired 2,500. Chan thought about it for a little bit and then mucked his hand. He was left with just 8,400 chips.
![[user140525]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
Late registration for the day ended after the first two levels, meaning we've got the day's final number of entrants. A total of 84 entrants showed up to the Grand Lisboa on Day 1b to throw their hats into the ring along with the 88 players who came out for Day 1a. The prize pool is still growing, however, as tomorrow's Day 1c will likely attract the largest field.
David Steicke has had just about every pot he's played pushed his way here on Day 1b. If anyone's ever followed out coverage in events where Steicke has played, you'll know this is somewhat of the norm for him.
On a flop of 
, Steicke checked to his female opponent. She fired 1,200 and Steicke called. The turn brought the 
and both players checked. The river was the 
and both players checked again. Steicke tabled the 
for a lowly pair of fours and his opponent mucked. Another pot was pushed to Steicke as he pushed his stack to the 60,000-chip mark.
Here's a quick round of photos from the first two levels of Day 1b.
We missed the hand that finally did him in, but a short-stacked and unusually grumpy looking JC Tran has just been eliminated from the event.
We have a new chip leader after Jukka Juvonen picked off a huge bluff. He checked a board reading 
, and Ludovic Riehl made a strong bet of 4,500. Juvonen called to see the 
on the river. He checked again, and Riehl swiftly moved all in. The dealer counted out his stack and determined it would cost Juvonen 18,450 to see a showdown. He paid the price, and Riehl disgustedly showed 
. But three pair is no good in this game, and Riehl was playing the board. Juvonen's 
was plenty good enough to beat that, and with the elimination of Riehl, he took over the chip lead with around 64,000.
Level: 4
Blinds: 150/300
Ante: 25
Wandering by the table where David Steicke is sitting, there's just an aura about it. One can just sense the power that Steicke has over the other players at his table as if he's the puppeteer manipulating them at will.
There was a flop of 
laid out in the middle of the felt and Steicke was involved yet again. He checked his action over to his opponent. The player checked behind after taking some time to think about his decision.
The turn was the 
and Steicke fired a bet of 5,000 into the middle. The pot at the time was just over 6,000. His opponent tanked for some time and then let his hand go, giving Steicke another pot. He showed the 
for at least trip queens before raking in the pot.
On the next hand, Steicke saw a flop of 
in multi-way action. Two players checked and then Steicke checked as well. The turn was the 
and action checked to Steicke again. He fired 3,000 and the first player called. The other player folded.
The river completed the board with the 
and the first player checked. Steicke took his time and then fired out 3,500. His opponent called and then mucked when Steicke turned over the 
for trip jacks. More trips for Steicke means more chips and he's up just over 60,000.
With the blinds up, the short stacks are being forced to get their money in the middle. The floor staff has started announcing all ins and holding up the action to allow a video team to capture the hands. On one table, Ming-Tai Lin just got the last of his chips in with against the pocket kings of Sungling Li. The kings held up, sending Lin to the rail.
Moments later, ace-seven flopped a pair and dodged a four-flush to double through big slick.
In several big hands, the all in player has gotten away without having to sweat a showdown. After the cutoff opened to 800, the button called. Eric Assadourian called from the small blind, and the big blind, Anton Widjaya, raised to around 3,000. Action folded back to the button, who then four-bet shoved for a total of 8,000. Assadourian folded, and eventually the Widjaya mucked as well. The button flashed pocket tens as he nearly doubled without seeing a flop.
Eric Assadourian's first table has just broken (which was the toughest in the room we might add and you can read about it here) and he's been seated at David Steicke's table. Upon getting a glimpse of Steicke's massive 70,000-chip stack, Assadourian said, "You're the best! But I'm not going to be shy against you!"
Steicke responded, "I might be shy against you."
