$2,200 No-Limit Hold'em
Day 1 Completed
2014 World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific
$2,200 No-Limit Hold'em
Day: 1
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2014 World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific
Buy-in
2,200 AUD
Prize Pool
430,000 AUD
Entries
215
Level
23
Blinds
8,000 / 16,000
Ante
2,000
Ruha Leads Advancing 33 Players; Heimiller, Thomas & Gross Lurking
Level 10
: 400/800, 100 ante
On Saturday, the 2014 World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific continued with Day 1 action from Event #2 $2,200 No-Limit Hold’em. The tournament – one of the new events added to the WSOP APAC schedule – attracted 215 players, but after ten one-hour levels of play, just 31 remained with Sam Ruha and his stack of 122,000 leading the way.
Ruha got some of his chips in Level 7 (200/400/50) when Daniel Negreanu opened for 950 from middle position and Ruha called. The 
flop saw Ruha call a bet of 1,600, and then he called one of 2,800 when Negreanu bet the 
turn. Both players then checked the 
river and Negreanu rolled over the 
for a pair of sevens. It was no good though as Ruha held an overpair with the 
. Negreanu would fall later in the night while Ruha went on to bag up the chip lead.
Others who made it through with big stacks included Tim O’Shea (100,200), Michael O’Grady (82,200), Bill Zahris (82,100) and Sam Nee (68,400).
Straight out of the gate the tournament was characterized by one thing – eliminations. The reigning WSOP champ, Ryan Riess, was among the first to go when he ran kings into aces, but he was far from the last. Among those to exit on Day 1 were Vanessa Rousso, Jack Salter, Jonathan Dimmig, Jonathan Duhamel, Phil Hellmuth, Antonio Esfandiari, Brandon Shack-Harris, Jackie Glazier, Jonathan Little, Scott Clements, Bruno Politano, and George Danzer.
After finishing in 22nd place in Event #1 and surpassing Shack-Harris atop the 2014 WSOP Player of the Year leaderboard, Danzer jumped into Event #2 just as registration came to a close. Danzer managed to work his 6,000 starting stack up to 15,000 or so, but that's as high as he'd get.
Danzer lost a good deal of his chips when he raised from the button and then called a shove from the player in the small blind. Danzer was ahead with 
against his opponent's 
, but a king on the river saw the German fall to six big blinds.
He got it in a short time later after two players had limped, one of which called him with 
. Danzer held 
but failed to improve. He confirmed that he will be playing Event #3 $1,650 Pot-Limit Omaha on Sunday.
While dozens fell, a lucky throng of players made it through to Day 2 including Dan Heimiller (55,200), Kitty Kuo (45,400), Russell Thomas (13,000), and Jeff Gross (13,000). The latter two will have their work cut out for themselves if they hope to make the money at the top 24 and contend for the $107,500 first-place prize.
The remaining 33 players will return to action at 12:30 p.m. local time on Sunday, and the plan is to play down to the final table of nine. Of course the PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be there every step of the way to bring you all the action and eliminations from the Crown Casino in Melbourne, Australia.
End-of-Day Chip Counts (full)
Level 10
: 400/800, 100 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
122,000 | 17,000 |
|
|
||
|
100,200 | 200 |
|
|
||
|
82,200 | 200 |
|
|
||
|
82,100 | 82,100 |
|
|
||
|
68,400 | 68,400 |
|
|
||
|
66,700 | -1,300 |
|
|
||
|
65,200 | 36,200 |
 |
||
|
55,000 | 7,000 |
 |
||
|
54,600 | 54,600 |
|
|
||
|
54,300 | -5,700 |
|
|
||
|
54,000 | 11,000 |
|
|
||
|
53,600 | -1,400 |
|
|
||
|
48,000 | 48,000 |
|
|
||
|
45,400 | -19,600 |
|
|
44,300 | -15,700 |
|
|
||
|
39,300 | 39,300 |
|
|
||
|
31,400 | 31,400 |
|
|
||
|
22,900 | -1,100 |
|
|
||
|
22,100 | 3,100 |
|
|
||
|
18,500 | 18,500 |
|
|
||
|
17,800 | 17,800 |
|
|
||
|
17,200 | 17,200 |
 |
||
|
16,000 | 16,000 |
|
|
||
|
16,000 | -17,000 |
|
|
||
|
15,700 | 15,700 |
|
|
||
Ambassador
Seven More Hands
Level 10
: 400/800, 100 ante
The tournament staff just announced the remaining players will play seven more hands before bagging and tagging for the night. We're headed out to capture any last minute action and to compile a list of chip counts, so stay tuned for those as well as a full recap of the Day 1 action.
Kyriakou Takes from O'Grady
Level 10
: 400/800, 100 ante
Michael O'Grady opened for 2,200 and received a call from Tim O'Shea in the small blind. Michael Kyriakou came along from the big and three players saw a flop of 
. Two checks saw O'Grady continue for 3,200, only Kyriakou called, and then both players checked the 
turn.
When the 
completed the board on the river, Kyriakou led out for 4,600 and O'Grady snap-called. Kyriakou tabled the 
for two pair, and it was good as O'Grady flashed the 
before mucking his hand.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
82,000 | -8,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
68,000 | |
|
|
||
Thomas Catches the River
Level 10
: 400/800, 100 ante
Russell Thomas was all in preflop and at risk for his last 10,000 chips with 
and got called by an opponent one seat over with 
. There was no help until the 
turn but the 
river delivered the over card. His girlfriend Kitty Kuo came over to cheer and then headed back to her table.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
21,000 | 8,000 |
|
|
||
Stojanovski Surging
Level 10
: 400/800, 100 ante
Peco Stojanovski, who had just moved from a different table, opened with a standard raise and then called when a short-stacked opponent moved all in.
Stojanovski: 
Opponent: 
Stojanovski had the goods, and there would be no sweat as the flop gave him a full house. His opponent could win with a runner-runner royal flush, but of course that didn't happen as the blanked on the turn followed by the 
on the river.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
60,000 | 17,000 |
|
|
||
Dutt vs. Zhao
Level 10
: 400/800, 100 ante
Feng Zhao opened with a raise from the cutoff only to have Surag Dutt three-bet to 3,700 from the button. The blinds both folded, Zhao four-bet all in for 20,150 total, and Dutt hit the tank for a couple minutes before making the call.
Dutt: 
Zhao:
Zhao was ahead, but Dutt was drawing to two live cards. The 
flop paired Zhao, but it really didn't change a thing. Dutt was still looking for paint, and while the 
turn wasn't it, that card did give Dutt a gutshot straight draw. Fortunately for Zhao, it didn't come in as the blanked on the river.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
43,000 | |
|
|
||
|
|
18,000 | -17,000 |
|
|
||
Level: 10
Blinds: 400/800
Ante: 100
Kuo Finishes Off Benson
Level 9
: 300/600, 75 ante
Not long ago, Kitty Kuo crippled Gary Benson down to just 3,000, but the Australian legend refused to go down without a fight. Benson stuck it out for as long as he could, but eventually he called off from the big blind holding after Kuo had moved all in from the small with 
.
Benson got it in good, but Kuo hit gin on the 
flop. Benson had flopped a pair and an open-ended straight draw, but both the turn and river would blank to allow Kuo's straight to hold. With that, Benson took his leave from the tournament.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted | |
|
|
||