Antoine Abou Khalil limped from early position and Carter Phillips raised to 225. Martin Klaeser called in the next seat, the button called and Khalil called as well. Four players saw the flop come down and Khalil checked. Phillips fired 650 and was called by Klaeser before the button folded. Khalil raised to 3,000 and action fell back on Phillips. He thought for a bit before reraising to 6,275. Klaeser folded and then Khalil thought long and hard before folding himself. Phillips took the pot and chipped back up to about 35,000.
Carter Phillips raised preflop and was three-bet by the player to his immediate left, Martin Klaeser. Phillips just flat-called when action got back to him and the two were off to a flop of .
Philiips checked the flop and Klaeser fired 925. Phillips made the call, bringing the players to the on the turn. Phillips opted to pass the action to Klaeser once again, who bet out 1,825. Phillips called.
The river completed the board with the and Phillips checked. Klaeser paused for a bit before firing out 4,125. Phillips announced an immediate call. Klaeser tabled the , having flopped trip eights, and Phillips tossed his hand into the muck. That loss set Phillips back to 30,300 after he added on right away to begin with 40,000.
Antonio Esfandiari, Roy Winston, Paul Wolfe, Karina Jett, Soren Kongsgaard, Dominik Nitsche, and Carter Phillips have all taken their seats and joined the tournament.
Andrey Gulyy raised from middle position to 150 and Ben Roberts called out of the big blind. The flop came down and Roberts checked with Gulyy tapping the table behind.
The turn added the to the board and Roberts fired 300. Gulyy made the call and the river card produced the . Roberts bet 650 and Gulyy raised to 2,575. Roberts mucked his hand and this early pot was pushed Gulyy's way.
Day 1b of the Main Event is underway, but right now there are only three tables in action and barely that as there's plenty of empty seats on them. The only notable players we've spotted are Eric Liu and Martin Kabhrel. Late registration is open for the entire day so we'll let you know who shows up late.
Welcome back for coverage of the second annual 2010 Full Tilt Poker Merit Cyprus Classic Main Event in stunning Cyprus. Play is expected to kick off around 2:10pm and we expect several big names to participate in the action today. Sorel Mizzi, Jennifer "Jennicide" Leigh, Karina Jett, Roy "The Oracle" Winston, and many others are expected to duke it out on the felt. Day 1a drew 109 entrants and more are expected to sign up for todays's Day 1b.
This event has a twist to it in that each buy-in costs $5,000 + $400 for 20,000 in tournament chips, but each player may rebuy or add-on anytime during the first five levels for an additional 20,000 in tournament chips. Five levels will be played today and each level will be 75 minutes long with a break coming at the end of each level.
Be sure to stay tuned to PokerNews' throughout the day for updates! We'll see you in half an hour!
and Khalil checked. Phillips fired 650 and was called by Klaeser before the button folded. Khalil raised to 3,000 and action fell back on Phillips. He thought for a bit before reraising to 6,275. Klaeser folded and then Khalil thought long and hard before folding himself. Phillips took the pot and chipped back up to about 35,000.
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on the turn. Phillips opted to pass the action to Klaeser once again, who bet out 1,825. Phillips called.
and Phillips checked. Klaeser paused for a bit before firing out 4,125. Phillips announced an immediate call. Klaeser tabled the 
, having flopped trip eights, and Phillips tossed his hand into the muck. That loss set Phillips back to 30,300 after he added on right away to begin with 40,000.
and Roberts checked with Gulyy tapping the table behind.
to the board and Roberts fired 300. Gulyy made the call and the river card produced the 
. Roberts bet 650 and Gulyy raised to 2,575. Roberts mucked his hand and this early pot was pushed Gulyy's way.