Thomas Coan opened to 5,500 from middle position and Anuj Agarwal called from the big blind.
Agarwal check-called for 7,000 on the A♠10♠2♦ flop, bringing in the 5♣ turn. Agarwal checked once more and Coan just ripped in his stack of around 75,000 and was snap-called.
Thomas Coan: AxKx
Anuj Agarwal: 10x10x
Coan had top pair top kicker but was behind Agarwal's set of tens. The river was a brick and Agarwal took in the massive pot to become one of the chip leaders.
The middle position player opened 4,500 and was called by opponent. Big stack Jing Wang then squeezed to 25,000 from the big blind. The original raiser then four-bet to 66,000 and only Wang called.
The middle position player continued for 40,000 on the 7♥4♥3♣ flop. Wang moved all in as the bigger stack and his opponent, who had around 275,000 behind, snap-called for his tournament life.
Middle Position: KxKx
Jing Wang: JxJx
Wang was way behind and was about to be reduced to crumbs until he binked a set on the J♠ turn to the disbelief of his opponent. The river bricked out and Wang became the overwhelming chip leader.
The following hand, the player in the under-the-gun position moved all in for around 35,000 and Wang called from the small blind.
Wang had 7♥7♠ and was up against K♦J♣. Wang claimed another elimination as he held out to scoop following the A♦9♥6♦6♠A♣ runout.
The action had folded around to the blinds, and after the small blind made the call for 2,000, Cherish Andrews in the big blind raised the price of poker to 6,000. The small blind then decided to put in a three-bet to 13,500 but Andrews wasn't having any of that as she then moved all in which prompted a hasty fold from the small blind to award her the pot.
The Tournament Director has paused the clock and announced that three more hands will be played before players begin the bagging process for the night.
Day 1a of the 2023 BetMGM Poker Championship $3,500 Main Event at the ARIA Resort and Casino has concluded with 150 players remaining after ten hours of play. This tournament is on track to easily surpass its $2,000,000 guarantee with today’s 485 entries contributing $1,552,000 to the prize pool.
Jing Wang is the one who emerged leading the pack and is in a prime position to control the action when players return for Day 2 on Sunday. Wang scooped the biggest pot of the day after turning a two outer in the last level of the night.
Wang will be joined on Day 2 by fellow big stacks Jonathan Jaffe and Anuj Agarwal.
Alex Keating had the highest hand of the day and received a momentum-shifting double up after flopping quads and getting paid off.
There were 110 players who qualified for the Main Event by playing online on BetMGM Poker and 63 of them took part in today’s flight. Among them were Jim Farrelly, Patrick Hensley, and Laura Church.
Joining Farrelly in Day 2 will be ambassador Darren Elias, who also registered in the opening flight and found a bag.
Notable names to not survive include Ethan “Rampage” Yau, Jesse Lonis, Robbi Jade Lew, Landon Tice, and defending BetMGM Champion Joey Weisman.
Those who wish to try their luck in this tournament Saturday can do so, as Day 1b kicks off at noon local time with the same structure.
The PokerNews live reporting team will be back on-site tomorrow, June 10th, for continued coverage of the BetMGM Poker Championship at ARIA, so stay tuned!