$10,000 Championship Main Event Day 1 | 2009 Lebanese Poker Championship

07-23-2009 20:33 UTC+3

Homsi Battles With Hachem

[user80015]

With a limp before him, Joe Hachem made it 1,200 to go. He found one caller before Adham Homsi announced, "I'm only playing, because I want to play a pot with you" and threw in the chips to make the call from the big blind.

Homsi checked the {2-Clubs}

flop to see Hachem fire 5,200. One opponent passed, but Homsi made the call before both players checked the turn of the {3-Diamonds}

.

When the river landed the {8-Spades}

Homsi slid in a stack of black 1,000-denomination chips amounting to a bet of 17,000 to effectively put Hachem all in.

Hachem sat there shaking his head before eventually mucking in disgust.

"I said I wanted to play a pot with you" commented Homsi once again as he flashed the {J-Clubs}

while raking in the pot to climb to 99,000 as Hachem slipped to 11,300 in chips.

Tags: Adham Homsi Joe Hachem

07-23-2009 20:36 UTC+3

A Chip Leader Emerges

[user66118]

After a series of raises and re-raises, Riad Asmar was all in for just less than 50,000 before the flop. Pierre Sakr was involved in the war, but he would eventually duck out of the way. Daniel Sadek wasn't going anywhere though, looking up Asmar to put him at risk of elimination.

Showdown
Asmar: {A-Diamonds}

Sadek:

Sakr said he folded pocket queens as the dealer spread a flop of {Q-Diamonds}

. The turn and river came {7-Clubs}

and

respectively, holding Asmar's aces and earning him a double up and then some. With that massive pot, he's taken the overall chip lead at 111,000.

Tags: Pierre Sakr Riad Asmar

07-23-2009 20:41 UTC+3

Dinner Break

[user80015]

The dinner bell has rung, and the remaining 164 players are heading on a one-hour dinner break.

Join us at 9:40pm local time for the recommencement of play.

Level: 5

Blinds: 150/300

Ante: 0

07-23-2009 21:44 UTC+3

We're Back

[user66118]

With bellies full of lamb and tabouleh, the players are back in their chairs, and the cards are in the air once again. The schedule tells us we're playing four more levels tonight, but the staff says we may extend that just a bit if the timetable dictates a need for more play tonight.

07-23-2009 22:06 UTC+3

We Tried, Andre

[user66118]

Andre Merheb caught our eye because he has been using one of our PokerNews metal card protectors today, though it appears it has done him no good. About 30 seconds after spotting our logo in front of his chips, we watched Merheb put the rest of his short stack into the pot before the flop. He held {8-Spades}

, and his would-be eliminator turned over {A-Hearts}

. As the dealer ran the community cards, Merheb was already standing behind his chair and packing his belongings.

Board: {J-Spades}

. There was no help for the at-risk player, and he has become the latest victim of Day 1.

Tags: Andre Merheb

07-23-2009 22:20 UTC+3

Jacks Hold, Murr Triples

[user66118]

The preflop action is unknown, but what we could see when we approached the table was a three-way preflop all in. Carl Murr was the player at risk holding {J-Hearts}

. Tony Saad was in there with {A-Spades}

, as was the {A-Clubs}

of Joseph Khalil.

With the cards on their backs, the dealer ran out a board of {2-Spades}

. Dodging all three overcards, Murr picked up a crucial triple up, sitting now on about 38,000 chips. When the stacks were counted down, Khalil was left with just 50 lonely chips with which to try and make his comeback.

Tags: Carl Murr Joseph Khalil

07-23-2009 22:22 UTC+3

Hanna Halted

[user80015]

With a raise to 1,200 and a call before him Georges Hanna pushed all in for his last 4,125.

Both blinds made the call as the original raiser passed with one more player coming along for the ride.

The flop fell down {Q-Diamonds}

and a bet of 7,000 from one of the players was enough to take the hand heads up.

Hanna: {K-Spades}

Opponent:

The turn and river fell the {5-Spades}

and

to see Hanna hit the rail.

Tags: Georges Hanna

07-23-2009 22:24 UTC+3

Hachem Run Down

[user80015]

We caught the action with the board of {A-Diamonds}

spread out and Joe Hachem's {5-Clubs}

sent to the muck at the sight of one opponent's {K-Hearts}

and another's {Q-Clubs}

.

Following the hand, Hachem was left crippled with only 3,600 in chips.

Tags: Joe Hachem

07-23-2009 22:29 UTC+3

The Champ Hits the Mat

[user66118]

With just around 3,600 chips left, Joe Hachem looked down at {A-Clubs}

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 {K-Hearts}

.

Hachem found an ace on the flop, but it was not much help as the dealer spread {4-Diamonds}

. 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 {5-Diamonds}

and

respectively, and the man affectionately referred to around here as simply "The Champ" has bowed out of Day 1.

Tags: Adham Homsi Joe Hachem