Nenad Medic limped into the pot from early position, and Elie Sokhn did the same, creating a three-way pot with the inclusion of the big blind.
The flop came out . and the first two men checked to Sokhn. He fired 700 at the pot, enough to fold the big blind. Medic made the call though, and the hit the turn. This time, Nenad elected to lead out into the pot with a bet of 1,200. "I call," said Sokhn quickly, flicking the calling chips into the pot one by one.
The river card came the , and Medic slid another 1,600 chips into the middle. Sokhn was not so quick this time, but he eventually made the call. Medic showed , and that was enough to pick up some more fightin' chips. After starting the day in the wrong direction, he's back on the upward swing. He has worked his short stack of about 6,000 back up close to his starting count of 30,000.
Those players that are sitting with a healthy stack:
Nicolas Zakem - 148,000
Sherif Zacca - 128,300
Adham Homsi - 106,600
Riad Asmar - 97,000
Bakhos Salah - 91,000
Those that are struggling a little include:
Walid Bou Habib - 16,400
Rony Jazzar - 11,000
We touched on it earlier, but last night there was an enormous launch party at a beachside health resort called Eddesands. Amidst the fireworks and fountains, there was a poker table set up where nine lucky names were drawn to play an "Aqua Poker" sit-n-go with Joe Hachem.
A few of those selected appeared to be familiar faces to the tournament staff, including that of Sara Nassar who drew a huge ovation as she took to the stage. The lone lady at the table would eventually run over her male competition, taking down the event and netting herself $2,000.
We mention that because Nassar has just been eliminated from our Championship Event today, leaving just two ladies remaining in the field.
With just around 3,600 chips left, Joe Hachem looked down at in middle position and moved all in first into the pot. The bet folded around to the big blind where Adham Homsi instantly called with his big stack, turning over .
Hachem found an ace on the flop, but it was not much help as the dealer spread . Hachem stood from his chair and said, "Good luck boys. Best of luck, I had a great time. Good luck to you all." The turn and river came and respectively, and the man affectionately referred to around here as simply "The Champ" has bowed out of Day 1.