Former World Series of Poker Main Event champion, Chris Moneymaker raised to 1,200 from under the gun and was called by Kenneth Chih-Hung to his immediate left. Wai Kwen Yuen called from the cutoff only to see James Loudon move all-in for 11,425 from the button.
Both blinds folded and Moneymaker called only to see Chih-Hung move all-in. Moneymaker instantly called to put both players at risk of elimination.
Moneymaker:
Chih-Hung:
Loudon:
A board reading saw Moneymaker send two opponents to the sidelines and his own chip count to the top of the leaderboard.
Moneymaker informed his table mates that he's having to leave the tournament for 90-minutes once play resumes after the dinner break, this massive pot should help prevent that downtime being too costly.
Paul Newey opened before the flop and Carl Harris made the call. Fatima Moreira de Melo over called from the big blind and the flop came . Moreira de Melo checked and Newey made a continuation bet of 1,350. Harris called, and so did Moreira de Melo.
All three of them checked on the turn and the hit the river. Moreira de Melo bet out 2,700 and Newey quickly folded. Harris played around with a 5,000 chip and eventually tossed it in to call. Moreira de Melo showed for the flopped top two. Harris open mucked his and said he was glad it only cost him that much.
The next hand Paren Arzoomanian made it 450 from the cutoff and Moreira de Melo called from the small blind. The big blind called as well and the flop came . Moreira de Melo check called a bet of 575 and the big blind folded. Moreira de Melo check called another 1,000 on the turn and 1,700 on the river. Arzoomanian mucked and so did Moreira de Melo.
"Nice hand" Arzoomanian commented while Fatima Moreira de Melo gathered the chips with a big smile on her face.
Chris Moneymaker has his iPad in front of him, but he's playing games on it and clearly isn't keeping up with the news. Or at least not with PokerNews. Moneymaker is one of the most famous American players on PokerStars' roster, but he was unaware that Amaya, owner of the PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker brands, received approval from regulators to operate in New Jersey.
You can read all about it on the PokerNews.com frontpage, and we suggest Moneymaker does the same. "Huh? What did I miss? When did that happen?" we overheard Moneymaker say as his table mates informed him on the recent developments.
Sara Chafak isn't here to fold, so much is clear. We watched her table for just three hands, and she was involved in all three of them.
In the first she opened to 225 from the hijack and Hanz de Vries in the cutoff three bet to 850. Jacob Hicklin in the small blind cold four bet to 2,650 and Chafak was quick to fold. De Vries made the call though. Hicklin made a continuation bet of 2,200 on and De Vries called again. The Dutchman gave up to the 5,000 second barrel Hicklin made on the turn.
The second hand Chafak opened to 275 and she picked up two callers; Jacob Hicklin on the button and Jamie Cleaver in the small blind. The flop came and after Cleaver checked, Chafak made a bet of 625. Hicklin folded but Cleaver called. Both players checked the on the turn and Cleaver bet out 850 on the river. Chafak thought about it for just a bit, before releasing her cards into the muck.
The third hand Chafak limp called a raise pre flop, only to fold post flop rather quickly.
Despite us witnessing three losing hands in a row, Sara Chafak is still up for the day quite a lot. She plays around 36,000 in chips at the moment.
The UK & Ireland Poker Tour is back to the beautiful Isle of Man for the third consecutive time, and this time you'll be able to follow all the action on PokerNews.com. It's the annual PokerStars home game as the island is home to the head office of worlds biggest online poker room.
Two years ago the tournament debuted with a £1.000 Main Event and 379 players entered. PokerStars Sport Star Fatima Moreira de Melo came close to grabbing the trophy, but lost heads up to Duncan Mclellan. Local hero Christopher Jonat finished fourth that year for £34,870.
Last year the tournament had a buy in of £700 and 402 players registered. Again a local came close to capturing the title, but David Hill eventually finished 3rd for £30,200. The title went to Josh Hart who picked up £57.484.
This year the buy-in has been lowered to £400 and the structure has been slightly altered as well. The tournament is now a re-entry with one re-entry per day permitted, making for a maximum of 4 bullets. The plan is to play 12 levels today, all of them 45-minutes long. The dinner break will be after level 7 (5:45 pm), the day should be done around 11:45 pm.
Sit back and check back in little over an hour for the start of Day 1a of the UKIPT Isle of Man as the action gets underway at 12 noon!
saw Moneymaker send two opponents to the sidelines and his own chip count to the top of the leaderboard.
. Moreira de Melo checked and Newey made a continuation bet of 1,350. Harris called, and so did Moreira de Melo.
turn and the 
for the flopped top two. Harris open mucked his 
. Moreira de Melo check called a bet of 575 and the big blind folded. Moreira de Melo check called another 1,000 on the 
on the turn and Cleaver bet out 850 on the 
