Budwey Salhab will not be making another Main Event final table here at Seneca Niagara. On a flop of , Kevin Mathias led out for 2,700 and Salhab shoved for around 10,000. Mathias tossed in a call, and the cards went on their backs.
Salhab:
Mathias:
Salhab needed to pair one of hole cards or hit a runner-runner flush to stay alive. He picked up some outs on the turn, but the on the river secured the pot for Mathias, won won Event #1 of this series a week ago.
We didn't catch Alex Barker's bustout, but Kyle Gay informed us of the key elements of the hand. According to Gay, Chris Meyers bet 1,300 on a flop and Barker moved all in. Meyers called with and was trailing Barker's , but the arrived on the turn to give Meyers a better two pair. The completed the board to send Barker out the door.
Players are now on their second ten-minute break of the day. Registration and reentries are open for the next ten minutes. When Level 5 starts, it'll be too late for both.
Things aren't going well for Rick Block here on Day 1 of the Main Event. Earlier he busted after turning a second-best straight, and now he's hit the rail a second time courtesy of Tracy Rouse.
We missed the action, but we do know Block got his stack of 18,600 all in on a flop holding the . Rouse was out in front with the , but she fell behind when the dealer burned and turned the . Block managed to hit two pair, but his lead was short lived as the spiked on the river to counterfeit him.
With 15 minutes remaining for reentries, Block has decided to fire a third bullet.
We've seen a lot of players take advantage of the late registration period in today's Main Event. Are these players just being "fashionably late," or is there some strategic purpose for skipping early levels? If there is a strategy, what exactly is it?
Late last year, poker pro Daniel Negreanu and Shaun Deeb had a long debate about the advantages and disadvantages of showing up later to a poker tournament. PokerNews' Martin Harris wrote a piece for Learn.PokerNews.com which examined the subject. Here's an excerpt from the article:
"Most new players are likely going to try a no-limit hold'em tournament when just starting out, and probably an inexpensive one, too. Low buy-in NLHE tourneys both live and online generally feature "fast" structures — that is, short levels and blinds/antes that increase quickly — which means getting into the game late is probably a bad idea in most cases. In fact, if you do decide to be like Phil Hellmuth and arrive late to a typical low buy-in live tournament, you'll discover the blinds and antes are already big enough to put you in danger with your starting stack.
Say you're playing a $60 NLHE tournament that features 15-minute levels in which you start with 6,000 chips, and that late registration lasts for an hour, meaning you can join the tournament as late as the start of Level 5.
Blinds for Level 1 are 25/50, meaning you have 120 big blinds in your stack if you're there for the first hands. But by Level 5 the blinds are 200/400, meaning if you only start then, you'll be down to just 15 big blinds for your first hand!
Even experienced players would prefer not to start a tournament with such a handicap, never mind those who are relatively new to tournament poker. The fact is, when we see Hellmuth waltzing in four hours late to the WSOP Main Event, he knows the structure is so slow there (with two-hour levels and super deep stacks) the difference between starting at noon or 4 p.m. is relatively minor."
With 13,500 in the pot and a board reading , Robert Migalski checked from middle position and Ryan Rivers did the same from the cutoff. When the double paired the board on the river, Migalski led out for 5,000 and Rivers thought for about ten seconds before folding.
It wasn't much of a hand, but it gave us a good excuse to update you on their chip counts.
After John Aga checked a flop of from the small blind, Glenn Pawlowski moved all in for his last 5,000 or so from middle position. Another player folded, and then Aga made a quick call.
Aga:
Pawlowski:
Aga had the good with trip aces, but Pawlowski was drawing live to a king. The close was close, but not quite what Pawlowski needed. The river also failed to produce, which meant Pawlowski's day came to an early end (unless of course he decided to reenter in the next 40 minutes or so).
Life is just gravy for Brian Bergeron. While enjoying a massage, he became involved in a big hand that saw him send an opponent to the rail.
We missed the details, but we do know the unknown players shoved his last 6,925 preflop holding the only to run into the of Bergeron. The board ran out a clean , and Bergeron got a good boost to his stack.
He turned right around and won the next hand with the on an ace-high board, at which time his massage came to an end. Bergeron thanked the massage therapist, paid his $40 bill, and gave her a $10 tip. Needless to say, Bergeron is feeling good.
![[user153906]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
, Kevin Mathias led out for 2,700 and Salhab shoved for around 10,000. Mathias tossed in a call, and the cards went on their backs.
turn, but the 
on the river secured the pot for Mathias, won won Event #1 of this series a week ago.
flop and Barker moved all in. Meyers called with 
and was trailing Barker's 
, but the 
completed the board to send Barker out the door.
flop holding the 
. Rouse was out in front with the 
. Block managed to hit two pair, but his lead was short lived as the 
spiked on the river to counterfeit him.
from the small blind, Glenn Pawlowski moved all in for his last 5,000 or so from middle position. Another player folded, and then Aga made a quick call.
river also failed to produce, which meant Pawlowski's day came to an early end (unless of course he decided to reenter in the next 40 minutes or so).
, and Bergeron got a good boost to his stack.
on an ace-high board, at which time his massage came to an end. Bergeron thanked the massage therapist, paid his $40 bill, and gave her a $10 tip. Needless to say, Bergeron is feeling good.