Action was opened from the cutoff to 20,000 before the button three-bet to 70,000. It folded to Chan Kim in the big blind who put in the cold four-bet all in. The cutoff called and the button called.
Button: 9♠9♣
Chan Kim: Q♥Q♦
The full board ran out 2♣2♦5♦4♦4♣ and just like that the bubble has burst after an over hour long hand-for-hand.
The chips were moving early and often on Day 1a of Event #3: $2,200 No Limit Hold’em at the PokerStars Summer Series hosted by Live! Casino and Hotel Philadelphia.
As expected, the last event here at the PokerStars Summer Series attracted some notable talent from around the tri-state area who all wanted their shot at the $500,000 guarantee. Multiple players with big poker resumes were in attendance. However, it was a relative unknown who won his seat through a PokerStars.com online qualifier that ended up bagging a massive chip lead.
Alexander Rolfe (1,033,000) was not playing with scared money when it came to being involved in the action. Early in the day he was seen putting chips in the middle, playing hands, and getting in the mix. This led to the accumulation of a healthy stack midway through the day. By the time the field was down to two tables he was already sitting with a top 10 stack.
Final 12 Players From Day 1a
Place
Player
Country
Chip Count
1
Alexander Rolfe
United States
1,033,000
2
Chan Kim
United States
810,000
3
Brian Altman
United States
593,000
4
Joe McKeehen
United States
464,000
5
Christopher Moon
United States
455,000
6
Abraham Gordon
United States
416,000
7
James McCoy
United States
301,000
8
Frank Funaro
United States
208,000
9
Ryan Dodd
United States
179,000
10
Kevin Grabel
United States
139,000
11
Angel Lopez
United States
79,000
12
Anthony Maio
United States
70,000
It was a massive hand on the bubble between Rolfe and three-time WPT Champion Brian Altman that rocketed him to the top of the leaderboard after he hit a flush on the turn against Altman’s pair plus straight draw. He will be taking a very healthy stack into Day 2 and will hope to run good when it matters most.
There were 12 players in total that found a bag on Day 1a and some notable names were in the mix. WSOP Main Event Champion Joe McKeehen (464,000) bagged a top 5 stack for the second week in a row, bracelet winner Frank Funaro (208,000) was up and down but still found a bag, while Altman (593,000) bagged a top-three stack for Day 2.
Speaking of Altman, he was holding the chip lead for most of the back half of the day. It was thought to be a forgone conclusion that he was going to bag the chip lead as the bubble approached. However, a huge hand broke out between him and the would-be chip leader that would knock him out of the top spot. He will still be entering Day 2 with plenty of chips to accompany his world-class play.
Today saw a total of 95 total entrants when late registration ended. This is the third event in this series and the first two over doubled the guarantees. This tournament is off to a great start and still has two more flights to go but the question remains about if this event can double the massive $500,000 guarantee. The big-name players will be here firing, so don’t miss out on this action on Day 1b and beyond.
Stay locked into PokerNews for all the updates from the tournament floor at the PokerStars Summer Series.