The field has grown to 133 entries thus far and this is the players' last chance to register for this flight of the Main Event. They are currently taking a 15-minute break and registration will close once the cards go back in the air.
Day 1e is about to begin at 6 p.m. local time with 20-minute levels throughout, and Day 1f will take place tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. with 15-minute levels.
Ray Henson fired his first bullet in the $600 Main Event just a couple of hours ago but that probably feels like a long time ago now. On his third bullet in just the last ten minutes, Henson sat down at his new seat and instantly ripped all in for a starting stack of 60,000. Aymen Naouali was in the small blind and decided to give him some action.
Ray Henson: 10♥9♠
Aymen Naouali: 8♥8♣
The flop came 9♦5♣4♠ and Henson flopped top pair to take the lead. Naouali couldn't improve on the 2♠, Q♠ runout, sending Henson a much-needed double up.
"I finally won a hand!" Henson exclaimed.
Espen Jorstad memorably won the WSOP Main Event in 2022. But the victory, which netted him $10 million and a gold bracelet, didn't come without some difficult decisions.
The champion, in a GTO Wizard video, broke down the ICM implications of his decisions along the way at the final table four years ago.
The action folded around to Aymen Naouali in the small blind who made it 17,000. Akbar Shabazz called from the big blind and they saw a flop of A♣5♥5♣. Naouali checked to Shabazz who bet 17,000 and Naouali called.
The 6♣ landed on the turn and both players checked to the 9♦ on the river. Two more checks and Naouali turned over K♣K♦ for the best hand to slow down one of the chip leaders.
Level: 12
Blinds: 2,000/4,000
Ante: 4,000
Sporting a Florida Gators jersey after their epic comeback upset versus the University of Texas, William Preece has been riding a high all day so far. On the other end of the spectrum, Dara Taherpour noted that he's in for multiple bullets this weekend already and has been running terribly.
Of course, the two players would collide in a pot with a flop of A♠5♦4♥. Preece found himself at risk for around 45,000 chips and Taherpour had him covered.
William Preece: A♥10♥
Dara Taherpour: 4♠4♦
"Don't worry, you'll go heart-heart the way I've been running," Taherpour pointed out. The turn did bring a heart but it was the 5♥ that gave Taherpour a full house.
However, the A♦ hit the river and Preece rivered a bigger full house that he couldn't believe.
"See! You win! That's how bad I run!" Taherpour shouted.
James Lee raised to 6,000 in middle position and was called by Ken Han on his left. The two players went heads-up to a flop of 10♠5♣5♦ and Lee continued with another bet of 6,000. Han called and the 6♠ rolled off on the turn.
Lee dropped in another bet of 16,000 and Han stuck around for the Q♦ on the river. Lee slid his stack of 42,500 into the middle and Han went into the tank for a minute before dumping his cards. Lee showed his A♠A♦ to confirm that he did have the best hand.
Level: 11
Blinds: 1,500/3,000
Ante: 3,000
Jason Griffin raised it up to 6,500 on the button and Eric Kofer three-bet to 22,500 from the big blind. Griffin was playing with some chips in his hand and accidentally dropped one into his cup of water. He then proceeded to move all in for around 65,000.
"I'll put the cup in the middle too," Griffin joked.
The tournament director was made aware of the situation and confirmed that even the wet chips count as the all in. Kofer looked rattled at what had taken place and decided to fold his A♥Q♦. Griffin also tabled his A♣K♦ to show that it was a good fold by Kofer.
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