$2,700 No Limit Hold'em Main Event Day 1 | 2008 PokerStars.net LAPT Punta del Este

$2,700 No Limit Hold'em Main Event

Day 1 Completed

08-08-2008 00:11 UTC-3

Day 1 Complete

[user66118]

With the clock ticking its way down to zero in Level 9, we've come to the end of play for Day 1. Today's event could already be considered a success with 351 runners showing up to vie for the title and the dough. After the dust settled tonight, about 95 of them were still left in the field to fight for all the marbles.

Things started off slowly this afternoon. Very slowly, in fact. We were delayed by a full hour as the room was being prepared and the players were being organized and registered. Once we did get rolling at 1:00 pm, the players seemed content to let the action pass them by for a while, as they gathered a feel for the tournament and their opponents.

As we progressed through the day however, things sped up considerably; there was certainly no shortage of action. Among those who fell victim to Day 1's trials were PokerStars pros Chad Brown, Andre Akkari, and Barry Greenstein, as well as Brandon Cantu, David "Chino" Rheem, and Jason Mercier.

As the chips are being counted and bagged, it appears that Carter Gill is going to take the chip lead into Day 2. Quietly but steadily, he worked his way from 10,000 all the way up to 127,150, where he finished the day. Greg Raymer and Alex Brenes are among those hot on the heels of Gill, as is the better-known Brenes, Humberto. Humberto rode the short stack all day, but found himself on the increase when he moved to the featured table. Now, going into the second day, he is in the mix of those within striking distance of the leader.

We hope you enjoyed following along with us today. Play resumes at high noon local time tomorrow, when those 95 players will come back with new seats and a fresh crack at the title. The tournament staff has informed us that full chip counts will be available tomorrow morning, and we will post them for you as soon as possible. Until then, goodnight from Punta del Este!

Tags: Carter Gill

08-07-2008 23:55 UTC-3

Alex Giving the Table "Fitz"

[user66118]

Kicking things off from the button, a player comes in raising to 2,600. Alex Fitzgerald is in the small blind, and he makes the call as the two men go to a heads-up flop.

It comes down {K-Clubs}

. Fitzgerald passes, and his opponent continues out with a bet of 3,500. Alex puts in a check-raise to 8,000, and his opponent makes the call.

The turn is the {Q-Diamonds}

. Fitzgerald takes a minute to survey the situation and eye up the stack of the other player before announcing, "I'm all in." With no delay, his opponent folds.

"I could show you three kings. It doesn't matter, you had nothing," says Fitzgerald as he pulls in the pot. He has added on to his stack, and is now sitting with over 40,000.

Tags: Alex Fitzgerald

08-07-2008 23:40 UTC-3

Double or Nothing for Kroon

[user66118]

Mark "P0ker H0" Kroon was on top of the mountain, having held 50,000 at one point early in the day. Things have been sliding all night for him though, and he recently found himself back under his starting stack of 10,000.

From early position, he came in with a raise to 4,000 -- nearly half his stack. The betting came around to the big blind who moved all in, having Kroon covered. "H0" put his last 5,375 into the middle and turned over {K-Clubs}

. His opponent held {A-Hearts}

.

The dealer spread out the community cards: {4-Spades}

-- safe for Kroon. With his kings holding, he dragged in a much-needed pot and has clawed his way back up over 20,000.

Tags: Mark Kroon P0ker H0

08-07-2008 23:29 UTC-3

Five Ball, Two Times

[user66118]

Over at the featured table, Mike Halioua started things off by raising to 2,500 under the gun. In middle position, Alejandro Carucha moved all in over the top for 9,000. Action passed back to Halioua, and he made the call.

Halioua: {A-?}

Carucha:

Despite having his man dominated, the board ran sour for Halioua. The flop came {A-?}

, and another {5-?}

on the turn left him drawing dead to a chop. Halioua shipped a good chunk of his chips across the table, and now sits with 26,000.

Tags: Alejandro Carucha Mike Halioua

08-07-2008 23:21 UTC-3

Brown Goes Down

[user66118]

In early position and working with a short stack, Chad Brown moved all in for his remaining 10,175 chips. Kory "s00tedj0kers" Kilpatrick came over the top all in himself, and the rest of the table folded. Brown tabled his {A-Spades}

and needed to improve to top Kilpatrick's {8-Diamonds}

.

The flop came {Q-Spades}

, adding some outs to Brown's list. The {6-Clubs}

on the turn gave him two more outs as well, but the river blanked off with the {5-Spades}

. Chad Brown failed to catch up, and he is eliminated from play late in Day 1.

Tags: Chad Brown Kory Kilpatrick

Level: 9

Blinds: 500/1,000

Ante: 100

08-07-2008 23:09 UTC-3

We're Back

[user66118]

The cards are in the air, and the players are back to the grind. Because of our late start today, we will stop for the night at the end of this level, one level earlier than originally scheduled.

08-07-2008 22:57 UTC-3

Clock Paused

[user66118]

The players are taking their last 10-minute break of the evening.

08-07-2008 22:41 UTC-3

Lucky Sevens for Halioua

[user66118]

Over at the featured table, Mike Halioua is doing some work. In recent action, he opened the betting with a raise from the button, making it 2,500 to play. The big blind was on the short stack, and he moved all in for about 10,000 total. Halioua made the call and the hands were turned over.

Halioua: {7-?}