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Bodo Sbrzesny opened for a 200-chip min-raise from middle position with both Paul Sharbanee and Michael Pedley making the call from the button and big blind respectively.
Pedley checked the 
flop as Sbrzesny continued for 250 with only Sharbanee making the call.
As the turn landed the 
, Sbrzesny fired another bullet - this one for 375 - which produced a fold from Sharbanee.
Sometimes we see plays that make us scratch our heads. But this is a new level. There is a woman at the feature table in front of our desk who is apparently making her tournament debut. Her significant other is on the rail sporting some Full Tilt swag and watching her carefully. In between most hands, she is popping up to consult with him, and he is explaining to her how to play poker. Yes, how to play. They must have covered hand rankings on the walk over, because now they're going over not giving off tells and trying to act in turn.
After telling her to calm down and go an orbit without playing a hand, he instructed, "Just do this one thing for me, baby. Please. If you have a hand and you're not looking at the other player, just look down at your cards. Don't look all around like you're excited. Can you do that for me?"
Nobbi Tananka opened to 250 from the lo-jack and Peter Wong was the lone caller from the button as a 
flop landed.
Tanaka continued for 400 with Wong making the call before the 
on the turn was greeted by a second barrel from Tanaka; this one amounting to 800.
Once Wong made the call, he was greeted by a check from Tanaka as the 
completed the board.
Wong paused momentarily before tossing in a bet of 1,700 as Tanaka began uttering hand combinations out aloud.
"
maybe?" Tanaka pondered before he eventually folded to see Wong collect the small, but stack-building worthy pot.
Joe Hachem was one of four players who limped their way to an 
flop. All four checked to get to the cheap 
turn. The big blind checked again, and a player behind him followed suit. Then a player in middle position bet 200. Hachem made it 700, and after two quick folds, action was back on the bettor. He three-bet to 1,500, and Hachem elected to flat. The river brought the 
. His opponent fired out 1,700. Hachem wasn't buying it and made the call. His opponent didn't even bother to turn over his hand and sent it straight into the muck. Joe moved up to 23,500 without having to show a card.
More players are slowly making their way into the tournament.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 |
On one of the first hands of the day, Ben Savage - holding his 
- saw three clubs land on the flop.
He and his opponent exchanged bets with 4,000 going in on the river as Savage's nut flush bested his opponent's 
.
After the hand, the table was amazed at how more more money didn't enter the pot.
Although it's still relatively early in today's tournament, some interesting starting tables have been spotted.
Over on table thirty-three, we find Jackie Glazier, Mel Judah, Chris Ferguson and Joe Hachem, while over on table twelve we have spotted Lee Nelson, Neil Channing, Annette Obrestad, Andrew Scarf and Casey Kastle.
Table twenty-two sees the beautiful Maya Antonius seated with Sam Higgs, Tim Marsters, Graeme Putt and Andy Bloch.
Here are just a few that are seated on the opposing side of the poker room.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
|
|
20,000 | |
|
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
|
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
|
|
20,000 |
With today's flight being split up in two sections over the poker room, here are some of the notables that are in the main tournament area.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
|
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
|
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 |
Yesterday we kicked off with a stirring video and a mini-rock concert. Today, the fanfare was gone. Instead, the tournament director said, "Let's get this started," and with that, cards are in the air for Day 1b!
