Pratyush Buddiga's day just got a whole lot tougher as both Mike McDonald and Griffin Benger sat down at his table. The three gentleman were having a lot of fun early on as their laughter was heard all across the room. We couldn't quite catch what the three were laughing about but we're sure to keep an eye out for any future shenanigans at this table.
Below are a few more names making a late arrival during the first level. Team PokerStars Pro Barry Greenstein has taken his seat to the right of Boris Becker making that table even more tricky.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
Shaun Deeb, Tom Marchese and Joseph Cheong were just spotted in the hallway but we're not quite sure just yet if they are playing the Main Event today. There is also a Chinese Open Face tournament with unlimited re-entry and 30-minute levels . The buy in of that event is €2,000+€150 and so far the following players are already registered.
| Bruno Fitoussi |
| Elior Benjamin Sion |
| Evgeny Taranyuk |
| Yakov Onuchin |
| Mihails Morozovs |
| Yulius Sepman |
| Pavel Krasnoselskii |
| Iurii Bystrov |
| Sergii Baranov |
| Konstantin Maslak |
| Marcin Horecki |
| Thomas Wahlroos |
| Scott Seiver |
Monte Carlo is the perfect setting for high rollers and Paul Newey is one of those. Newey played the million-dollar buy in tournament at the WSOP last year and has been a regular in some of the biggest games in the world. We expect to see plenty of super high rollers here in Monte Carlo throughout the week as the stakes are going up every day!
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
30,000 |
Mark Teltscher opened to 250 from late position, Dan Smith called on the button, and a player in the small blind called as well. Patrice Brandt raised to 1,050 out of the big blind, and only Smith called.
The dealer fanned 
, and Brandt announced "eight-fifty." Smith tanked for a bit, then called.
Brandt checked after the 
turned, and Smith fired out three red T5,000 chips. The German called.
A repeat jack - the 
- completed the board, and Brandt checked again. Smith looked down at his chips, grabbed nearly one of every color, then fired out 6,600. Brandt flicked his cards into the muck, and Smith picked up the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
36,000 | 6,000 |
|
19,500 | -10,500 |
From early position, Emil Patel raised to 300. Next to act was Isaac Haxton, member of PokerStars Team Online, and he made the call. Kirill Telezhkin called from the hijack seat, then action folded over to Team PokerStars Pro Jonathan Duhamel in the big blind. He called as well, and action went four ways to the flop.
The flop rolled out 
, and Duhamel checked. Patel fired a continuation bet for 900, which earned folds from Haxton and Telezhkin. Duhamel was back up and tanked for a bit before sliding out a raise to 2,600. Patel adjusted himself in the chair and made the call.
The turn was the 
, and Duhamel bet 4,350. Patel was strong to the test again, making the call to see the 
fall on the river. At this point, Patel had 15,800 left in his stack, and Duhamel decided to fire for all of it by sticking out a tall stack of chips. Patel quickly called with the 
for top full house. Duhamel turned over a losing 
and sent the chips Patel's way.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
70,000 | 70,000 |
|
48,000 | 23,500 |
|
32,000 | 2,000 |
|
14,000 | -21,000 |
Team PokerStars Pro Barry Greenstein has just joined up in the empty seat between Mike Watson and Boris Becker at the aforementioned table of death, and he wasted little time in getting involved.
After Emil Patel came off a fresh double up through Jonathan Duhamel and raised from under the gun to 300, Greenstein three-bet to 900 from the cutoff seat. Action folded back to Patel, and he made the call.
Patel then check-called a bet of 1,000 from Greenstein on the 
flop, and the appeared on the turn. Patel checked, Greenstein bet 2,000, and Patel called.
After the completed the board on the river, Patel and Greenstein both checked to get to the showdown.
Greenstein showed the 
for bottom pair. Patel showed the 
for a pair of kings and won the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
52,000 | 4,000 |
|
|
26,000 | -4,000 |
Arlo Dotson just picked up a very nice pot in the first level of play. We picked up the action when there was a little dispute about Dotson's five-bet size and that gave us some time to reconstruct the hand.
Friend of PokerStars Pierre Neuville raised from the cutoff to 250 after which Dotson three-bet to 750 from the small blind. Italian pro Sergio Castelluccio, winner of IPT San Remo in 2010 and fourth place finisher last year in the Main Event, was seated in the big blind and he four-bet to 1,800. Neuville folded and Dotson put in a five-bet just short of the required amount. The tournament staff ruled that Dotson had to make it at least 2,850 and he did.
Castelluccio made the call and the flop brought out 
. Dotson bet 2,850 and Castelluccio called and the turn was the . Dotson grabbed chips again and bet 6,500. Castelluccio went into the tank for quite a while but eventually he decided to fold his cards.
Dotson is up to 36,000 while Castelluccio is down to 24,000.
On the nice, coordinated 
flop, Sergio Castelluccio checked before Pierre Neuville fired a bet of 1,225. Brian Kim made the call behind Neuville, then Castelluccio called as well.
The turn made the board look delicious when the 
peeled off and put a four-card straight flush in the middle of the felt. Castelluccio checked, Neuville bet 2,000, Kim called, then Castelluccio folded.
Down to just two players, the dealer completed the board with the 
. Neuville checked, and Kim bet 5,350. Neuville called, but his 
was no good against Kim's 
for the higher flush.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
42,000 | 42,000 |
|
21,000 | 21,000 |
|
|
17,700 | -12,300 |
Isaac Haxton and Barry Greenstein were involved in a pot on the flop of 
with Grzegorz Wyraz all in preflop. On the flop, Haxton check-raised Greenstein's bet of 500 to 1,500. Greenstein called.
The turn was the , and both players checked. After the landed on the river, Haxton checked, Greenstein bet, and Haxton folded.
Greenstein tabled the to beat Wyraz's 
and cause the first elimination of the tournament.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
31,000 | -1,000 |
|
|
28,000 | 2,000 |
|
Busted |
