[user75032]
Antony Lellouche
We picked up the action at latecomer Antony Lellouche's table with four cards already on the board, . Lellouche was in the big blind and bet 1,675. His opponent, the button, called that bet. A third club hit the river, . Lellouche bet 3,000. His opponent quickly raised to 8,000, a raise that Lellouche mulled for twenty seconds before calling. He may have wished he didn't call; his opponent turned over the nut flush, , to drag the pot.
Lellouche is down to 29,000 as a result of the hand.
[user75032]
Rep Porter
Did Rep Porter have a real hand or did he sense weakness? Porter was in the small blind for a hand in which the cutoff raised to 1,200. Porter re-raised that bet to 3,600. It was enough to chase the big blind from the hand but the cutoff quickly called.
On a flop of , Porter bet 4,000. His opponent shook his head and mucked his cards, allowing Porter to climb to 42,000.
[user75032]
Registration for Day 1a of this tournament is open all the way through Level 4. Sorel Mizzi and John Tabatabai have taken advantage of that largesse and recently joined the field.
[user75032]
It didn't take Sorel Mizzi long to jump into action. He apparently led the charge on the early streets of a board. At the river, Mizzi check-called 3,500 from his opponent, who turned over total air -- . Mizzi tabled a pair of eights, , to take down the pot.
"Wow," said another player at the table. "I thought you had queens."
Antonio Esfandiari had been watching from one table away. "He's the best," Esfandiari called out. "The Mizzi-nator. Plays a pair of eights like they're aces."
[user38449]
Full Tilt qualifier Yves Farges
Several of the players in today's field earned their seats via qualifying tournaments on Full Tilt Poker. Yves Farges is one of those players and he was lucky enough to win a main event package and then some.
Farges explained during the last break that he invested just $104 on Full Tilt to get here. He first joined and won a $10 rebuy event, which earned him a seat in a $322 super satellite. The super sat. had 92 players and gave away two seats. He claimed one of them and Shaun Deeb snatched up the other.
Along the way, Farges told us he managed to knock out Full Tilt Pro Martin Kläser in the $322 super, claiming one of Full Tilt's pro bounties worth $200, meaning the seat essentially cost him nothing.
Farges is currently sitting with about 43,000 in chips and to the immediate left of WPT pro Antonio Esfandiari.
[user66118]
Kyrcacos Kyrcacou
We joined a heads-up pot in progress as the dealer spread out a flop of . With about 5,000 chips already in the middle of the table, native Cypriot Kyrcacos Kyrcacou check-called a bet of 3,300 from his opponent, Maor Feldinger. On the turn, the drew another check from Kyrcacou, and he would once again call a bet, 6,100 this time.
The river came the , and it killed the action as both players tapped the felt in turn with an open palm. Feldinger tabled , and it was the winner; Kyrcacou nodded in acknowledgement as he returned his cards to the dealer, his chip stack now a little lighter at 30,500.
[user75032]
Nicer on TV
Antonio Esfandiari is in the house. That means the side action has picked up. He's sitting one table away from Sorel Mizzi and the two have become involved in some heated battles of "Lodden Thinks" for $100 a pop. The game involves finding a third-person and asking them a "how many" question. In this case it was a player at Mizzi's table, who was asked: (1) how much he thinks Mizzi has spent on massages in his life; and (2) how many people he thinks had touched the bottle of water in Mizzi's hand before Mizzi.
Esfandiari shipped the first questions when Mizzi "bought" the under at $32,000. His tablemate had locked in $60,000.
Esfandiari bounced out of his seat and laughed in Mizzi's face. "I punish you, you dumbass" he said.
"He seems so nice on TV," Mizzi replied to his table.
Esfandiari also shipped the second question when Mizzi bought the under at 22 and his tablemate answered 2,400, a number that drew incredulous laughs from Mizzi and Esfandiari.
"You're such a fish," Esfandiari teased Mizzi as Mizzi tried to reason with his tablemate why 2,400 was a ridiculously high number.
[user75032]
Huck Seed seems to have his table well under control. He opened the button to 600, then called a re-raise to 1,950 made by the small blind. On a flop of the small blind fired out another 2,500. Seed called almos instantaneously, then bet 8,000 when a hit the turn and the small blind checked. The small blind then open-folded . Seed showed one queen, , then claimed afterwards that he had made three queens. Whether or not it was true, he's up to 62,000.
[user66118]
John Tabatabai
Four players limped into the pot before tournament newcomer John Tabatabai raised it up to 1,400 from the button. Jeff Lisandro and the other three limpers all came along to the flop with 7,300 chips already piled in the middle of the table.
The dealer spread , and the first three players checked. The man in the cutoff seat grabbed his whole stack of ~12,000 and shoved them forward, only to see Tabatabai move all in for more than 30,000 right behind him. Next to act, Jeff Lisandro followed suit with an all in of his own worth close to 32,000. The other two meddlers ducked out of the way, and the cards were turned up.
The news was not good for Lisandro, and he stood up from his chair with a frown and a shake of the head. The turn was the , no help to anyone. The that filled out the board was a blank as well, locking up a huge pot for Tabatabai. Lisandro continued to stare forlornly at the ceiling as the dealer pushed the pot away from him.
After the dust settled and the chips were counted down, Tabatabai has moved up to just about 80,000, leaving Lisandro crippled all the way down to just 1,975.
[user75032]
The games of Lodden Thinks are raging in the back of the room but there's also a poker tournament going on at the same time. Antonio Esfandiari and Sorel Mizzi had to set aside their side action for a few moments when Esfandiari become embroiled in a sizable pot. He was the preflop aggressor in a three-way pot and bet 3,100 on a flop of . One player with position on Esfandiari called.
The turn came . Both players checked through to the river. With about 11,000 in the pot, Esfandiari made a small bet of 3,000. "Double it," his opponent said, raising to 6,000 Esfandiari thought things over for about a minute and a half before dejectedly flicking his cards towards the dealer.
![[user75032]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
. Lellouche was in the big blind and bet 1,675. His opponent, the button, called that bet. A third club hit the river, 
. Lellouche bet 3,000. His opponent quickly raised to 8,000, a raise that Lellouche mulled for twenty seconds before calling. He may have wished he didn't call; his opponent turned over the nut flush, 
, to drag the pot.
board. At the river, Mizzi check-called 3,500 from his opponent, who turned over total air -- 
. Mizzi tabled a pair of eights, 
, to take down the pot.
. With about 5,000 chips already in the middle of the table, native Cypriot Kyrcacos Kyrcacou check-called a bet of 3,300 from his opponent, Maor Feldinger. On the turn, the 
, and it was the winner; Kyrcacou nodded in acknowledgement as he returned his cards to the dealer, his chip stack now a little lighter at 30,500.
the small blind fired out another 2,500. Seed called almos instantaneously, then bet 8,000 when a 
, then claimed afterwards that he had made three queens. Whether or not it was true, he's up to 62,000.
(ace-high flush draw)
(top set)
(bottom set)
, no help to anyone. The 
that filled out the board was a blank as well, locking up a huge pot for Tabatabai. Lisandro continued to stare forlornly at the ceiling as the dealer pushed the pot away from him.
river. With about 11,000 in the pot, Esfandiari made a small bet of 3,000. "Double it," his opponent said, raising to 6,000 Esfandiari thought things over for about a minute and a half before dejectedly flicking his cards towards the dealer.
