Event #1 $50,000 No-Limit Hold'em Day 1 | 2017 Poker Masters

09-13-2017 14:45 UTC-7

Welcome to the Party

Chad Holloway

Level 1 : 500/1,000, 1,000 ante

Players are now seated and cards are finally in the air here in Event #1: $50,000 NLHE. The button will start in Seat 4.

Shuffle up and deal!

Player	Chips	Progress
Erik Seidel	125,000 125,000	125,000

Steffen Sontheimer	125,000 125,000	125,000
Bryn Kenney	125,000 125,000	125,000

Stephen Chidwick	125,000 125,000	125,000

Tom Marchese	125,000 125,000	125,000

Adrian Mateos	125,000 125,000	125,000

Sergio Aido	125,000 125,000	125,000

Ben Lamb	125,000 125,000	125,000

Doug Polk	125,000 125,000	125,000

Daniel Negreanu	125,000 125,000	125,000

Dominik Nitsche	125,000 125,000	125,000

Keith Lehr	125,000 125,000	125,000

Jason Koon	125,000 125,000	125,000

Jake Schindler	125,000 125,000	125,000

Zach Hyman	125,000 125,000	125,000
Christian Christner	125,000 125,000	125,000
Brandon Adams	125,000 125,000	125,000

Matt Hyman	125,000 125,000	125,000
Koray Aldemir	125,000 125,000	125,000

Fedor Holz	125,000 125,000	125,000

Cary Katz	125,000 125,000	125,000

Sean Winter	125,000 125,000	125,000
Nick Schulman	125,000 125,000	125,000

David Peters	125,000 125,000	125,000

Dan Smith	125,000 125,000	125,000

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Level: 1

Blinds: 500/1,000

Ante: 1,000

09-13-2017 14:31 UTC-7

Groups Forming

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Chad Holloway

Players are still waiting for things to get underway here in Event #1, and while they wait, certain groups have formed.

Dan Smith and Stephen Chidwick are keeping themselves busy with a game of OFC, while Erik Seidel, Brandon Adams, and Isaac Haxton are busy chatting it up in the corner.

Rainer Kempe, Dominik Nitsche, and the German contingent are sticking together, and not far away Scott Seiver and Brian Rast are conversing.

At empty Table 3, Fedor Holz is busy texting away while Spaniards Adrian Mateos and Sergio Aido are chatting away in their native tongue.

The good news is the tournament staff is now randomly distributing seat cards, meaning these players will be taking their seats shortly.

Stay tuned!

09-13-2017 14:06 UTC-7

Players Filtering In

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Chad Holloway

The tournament was scheduled to start at 2 p.m. local time, but that mark has come and gone without cards flying.

It shouldn't be too much longer as players are filtering in. Among those in the room are Doug Polk, Adrian Mateos, Sergio Aido, Daniel Negreanu, Keith Lehr, Alan Schein, Stephen Chidwick, and Justin Bonomo.

09-13-2017 10:12 UTC-7

Let the Battle for The Poker Masters Purple Jacket™ Begin!

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Chad Holloway

Welcome to Day 1 of the inaugural Poker Masters!

The highly-anticipated five-event series kicks off today inside ARIA with the first of four prelims featuring a $50,000 buy-in. The final event will be a $100,000 Championship Event. The player with the best results (highest total earnings) throughout all five tournaments will be deemed Poker Masters Champion and be awarded The Poker Masters Purple Jacket™.

Among those expected to compete in the Poker Masters 14-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, 2016 Super High Roller Bowl champ Rainer Kempe, and Fedor Holz, who will be filming a documentary all week giving fans a behind-the-scenes look at his Poker Masters experience.

In addition, Daniel Negreanu is betting on himself to become the Poker Masters’ first-ever winner. “Kid Poker” offered a bet of $50,000 that he would win against any one player, and right now he stands to collect $1 million from the field if he does in fact win.

Other players you’ll likely see in action are Brian Rast, Isaac Haxton, Doug Polk, Dan Smith, Scott Seiver, Bryn Kenney, David Peters, Byron Kaverman, Ben Lamb, Justin Bonomo, Ben Tollerene, Stefan Schillhabel, Christoph Vogelsang, Koray Aldemir, Christian Christner, Dominik Nitsche, Adrian Mateos, Sergio Aido, Igor Kurganov and Charlie Carrel.

Event #1, which will be live streamed on PokerGO on a 30-minute delay, is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. PST with the live stream starting at 5 p.m. PST. Players will start with 125,000 in chips and are allowed a single re-entry. Levels will be 30 minutes with a ten-minute break every three levels. Late registration will remain open through Level 9. The plan for the day is to play down to the final table of nine.

Inspired by the Aria High Rollers, the tournament rules are designed to speed up play and are specifically catered to the regular high-stakes players, including:

Seven-handed tables
A single ante posted by the big blind
A 30-second shot clock, with three 60-second time extensions
Players may re-enter once per event through level nine (with no re-entry in the final event)
Headphones and sunglasses are not allowed

The PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be providing complete coverage from the tournament floor. Our updates will coincide with the live stream, so don't worry — there will be no spoilers for those watching on PokerGO.

Event #1 $50,000 No-Limit Hold'em

Day 1 Started