Day 1 of the AU$25,000 High Roller has come to a close. At the end of the first 10 levels on the structure sheet, 63 entries have been tallied and 31 of those remain. Leading the bunch will be World Series of Poker gold bracelet winner Andrew Hinrichsen with 346,000 in chips.
Hinrichsen got a lot of his chips when he busted Kahle Burns early on in the day. The two saw a queen-high flop in a five-bet pot and Hinrichsen set Burns all in. Burns had pocket kings and quickly called, but Hinrichsen got there on the river with his , spiking an ace.
Another player hitting the rail on Day 1 was current WSOP Player of the Year frontrunner George Danzer. Danzer was busted by Greg Merson, and that leaves Brandon Shack-Harris with the ball in his court. Shack-Harris is still alive with 18 players left in the Main Event, and he could overtake Danzer if he places first or second in that one. If he happens to bust early, or even if he doesn't, Shack-Harris may fire a bullet in this event to earn extra points. We'll keep you posted on that story tomorrow.
Registration for this event will remain open until the start of Level 13. That means the field size could increase, but this has already proven to be a star-studded affair, as expected. Daniel Negreanu, Antonio Esfandiari, Vanessa Rousso, and Ryan Riess all hopped in the event, but unfortunately for them, things didn't go so well and they were eliminated. On the other side of the coin, you've got Phil Hellmuth, Jonathan Duhamel, Greg Merson, and Mohsin Charania all advancing to Day 2.
As for now, it's off to get some sleep. Tomorrow the plan is to play down to the final table, and we'll be buckled in for a long day of exciting poker, as should you. Action starts at 2:30 p.m. local time, and we'll see you back here then.
Phil Hellmuth opened for 5,000 under the gun only to have Jason Mo three-bet all in for roughly 47,000. The button folded, and then Joe Reina four-bet jammed from the small blind for approximately 135,000.
"What's going on?" Hellmuth asked. "It's like the cards come off differently down under."
Hellmuth released his cards and the hands were tabled.
Mo:
Reina:
Mo had kicker problems, and they didn't get resolved as the board ran out a dry .
Meanwhile, Johnny Huynh was eliminated from the tournament over at Table 12.
We picked up the action on a flop when Brian Rast checked from the big blind and David Steicke bet 10,000 from the cutoff. Rast responded with an all-in check-raise to 36,000, and Steicke thought for nearly a minute before making the call.
Rast:
Steicke:
Rast seemed surprised to see Steicke turn over an overpair, and he watched helplessly as both the turn and river failed to deliver him salvation.
With around 10,000 in the pot and a board reading , [Removed:17] bet 7,200 and Dylan Wilkerson raised to 20,000. Yan responded by moving all in, and Wilkerson, who had about 90,000 total, hit the tank. As his buddy Brandon Shack-Harris, who just bagged and is among the final 18 in the Main Event, lingered on the rail, Wilkerson debated what to do. Eventually he dropped in a call and discovered the bad news.
Wilkerson:
Yan:
It was the third time today we've seen boat over boat, and unfortunately for Wilkerson he was on the bad end of it.
"He just always has it," a dejected Wilkerson told Shack-Harris as they exited the room.
Jeff Rossiter bet 8,700 on the board, and six-time World Series of Poker gold bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu made the call.
After the completed the board on the river, Rossiter set Negreanu all in. With approximately 32,000 behinds, Negreanu made the call.
Rossiter had rivered a set of tens with the . Negreanu had him on the turn with the , but one of the two remaining tens gave Rossiter the win. He moved to 143,000 in chips, while Negreanu was sent packing.
Action folded to Brian Rast in the small blind and he raised to 2,600. Reigning World Series of Poker Main Event champ Ryan Riess responded by moving all in for roughly 25,000 from the big blind, and Rast called him.
Rast:
Riess:
Riess was drawing to just one over, and he was left wanting as the board ran out a dry .
George Danzer opened with a raise to 1,600 from middle position, and Fabian Quoss called on the button. Greg Merson called from the big blind, and the flop came down . Merson checked, and Danzer bet 3,600. After Quoss folded, Merson check-raised to 9,200. Danzer went all in for around 30,000, and Merson made the call.
Merson tabled top pair with the . Danzer had one over card to the board and a flush draw with the .
The turn and river were the and , respectively, and Danzer was eliminated.
With Danzer's elimination, his 2014 World Series of Poker has come to a close. It was certainly one for the ages, though, as the German earned three gold bracelets and currently leads the WSOP Player of the Year race by 116.8 points. But, Danzer still has a sweat.
With Brandon Shack-Harris still in the 2014 WSOP Asia-Pacific Main Event and needing a second-place finish or better to steal the tittle at the buzzer, it's right down to the wire with this one. At the time of this writing, the Main Event has been cut down to 24 players with Shack-Harris wielding a top-10 stack.
Jan Suchanek opened for 1,400 under the gun and a short-stacked Ken Demlakian three-bet jammed from the button for his last 5,000. 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event champ Jonathan Duhamel then four-bet to 10,500 from the small blind, but the isolation didn't work as Suchanek called to see a flop.
Both players checked, the dealer burned and turned the , and Duhamel led out for 12,000. Suchanek quickly folded and the cards were turned up.
Demlakian:
Duhamel:
"I have zero outs," Demlakian said upon seeing his opponent's cards. Indeed, that was the case and he began to to stand as the dealer put out the meaningless on the river. "Good luck guys," Demlakian offered before taking his leave from the 2014 WSOP APAC.
Michael Egan put Tam Truong all in on the board. With 20,000-25,000 left in his stack, Truong tank-called all in. Egan tabled the for a full house, tens over jacks, and Truong mucked before making his way to the exit.
It's pretty much been the Jonathan Duhamel show here on Day 1 of the AU$25,000 High Roller from the 2014 World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific. He began the day by ripping off a higher full house against Peco Stojanovski's lower full house, and then he made quad deuces against Jan Suchanek to scoop another nice pot.
Just now, Duhamel sent the reigning Aussie Millions Main Event champion Ami Barer to the rail after he flopped top two pair and his hand held up.
On the flop, Duhamel had Barer all in and at risk. Duhamel had the for queens and tens, while Barer was hoping to hit with the for an open-ended straight draw.
The turn was the , and the river was the , though, and that run out left Barer in the dust as Duhamel climbed to over 200,000 in chips.
, spiking an ace.
.
flop when Brian Rast checked from the big blind and David Steicke bet 10,000 from the cutoff. Rast responded with an all-in check-raise to 36,000, and Steicke thought for nearly a minute before making the call.
turn and 
river failed to deliver him salvation.
, [Removed:17] bet 7,200 and Dylan Wilkerson raised to 20,000. Yan responded by moving all in, and Wilkerson, who had about 90,000 total, hit the tank. As his buddy Brandon Shack-Harris, who just bagged and is among the final 18 in the Main Event, lingered on the rail, Wilkerson debated what to do. Eventually he dropped in a call and discovered the bad news.
board, and six-time World Series of Poker gold bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu made the call.
completed the board on the river, Rossiter set Negreanu all in. With approximately 32,000 behinds, Negreanu made the call.
, but one of the two remaining tens gave Rossiter the win. He moved to 143,000 in chips, while Negreanu was sent packing.
. Merson checked, and Danzer bet 3,600. After Quoss folded, Merson check-raised to 9,200. Danzer went all in for around 30,000, and Merson made the call.
. Danzer had one over card to the board and a flush draw with the 
flop.
, and Duhamel led out for 12,000. Suchanek quickly folded and the cards were turned up.
flop, Duhamel had Barer all in and at risk. Duhamel had the 