Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier has just entered the tournament and as he has a lot of fans around the world one of them jumped up from a nearby table to grab a selfie before he sat down to play.
We’ve spotted a few more famous faces in the field with numbers up to 230 at the close of the first level.
Picking up with the action on a flop of , Pratyush Buddiga checked over to Team PokerStars Pro Online member Isaac Haxton who fired out a bet of 500 into a pot of about 900. Joseph Cheong folded, putting action back on Buddiga. He flatted to see fourth street.
The dealer paired the board on fourth with the and Buddiga fired out a bet of 500. Haxton came over the top with a raise to 1,800 and Buddiga called. The finished off the board and action checked over to Haxton. He thought for about 45 seconds before knocking the table back. Buddiga rolled over for sixes and deuces, but was ultimately beat by Haxton's .
Haxton raked in the pot and now has about 13,500 to his name. Buddiga, on the other hand, has fallen to about 23,000.
The flop was and it was a confrontation of the blinds. Team PokerStars Pro Online Isaac Haxton was in the small blind and checked it over to his opponent Joeseph Chong in the big blind who bet 200. This was met by a check-raise to 675 from Haxton and his Chong threw in the call.
The turn card was the and Haxton continued the story with a bet of 1,300 which got another call. The river card saw Haxton make it 3,000 but he was met with a raise to 13,100 from Chong.
A flicker of surprise and frustration flashed across Haxton’s face as he shuffled some chips and studied the board. It wasn’t too long though before he shrugged and flicked out a chip to indicate a call. Chong turned over for a full house and Haxton’s cards went in the muck.
A first level setback for Haxton who had seen his stack cut in half by that hand and a healthy boost to Chong's hopes.
Here are some more of the familiar faces spotted in the tournament field. Reigning champion Sunny Jung has taken his seat and last year's runner-up Devan Tang is present as well.
Team PokerStars Pro Vivian Im is among the first casualties of the day, falling early in the first level at the hands of Cheng Man Hang. On her final hand, Im was heads up with Hang on a board. After a series of bets and raises, Im moved all in for her tournament life. Hang thought for about 30 seconds before announcing a call.
Im:
Hang:
Hang was in the lead with middle set and held a dominating position over Im's bottom set. The board finished out with the and the , eliminating Im from play. Hang pulled in the pot and now holds right around double starting stack.
With play just underway and 198 entrants already on the board and a queue still at the registration desk this event looks on course to hit around 250 which would be a record for the AOCP Main Event.
Another player spotted is Pratyush Buddiga who finished third in the High Roller yesterday.