$5,150 Circuit Championship Day 1 | 2009 WSOP Circuit - Caesars Atlantic City

03-12-2009 14:44 UTC-4

Gazing at the Pros

[user66118]

One notable latecomer has just joined our field. When the players returned from their break, Bill Gazes was among those walking through the big double doors. He has taken his seat directly to the left of east coast shark Nick Frangos, toughening up his table considerably.

03-12-2009 14:56 UTC-4

Same Names, Different Day

[user66118]

Most of these big Atlantic City events draw a lot of familiar faces. This is certainly true here today at Caesars. We've already spotted more than half of the final table from the last Circuit stop up here, the Harrah's Championship in December.

Dwyte Pilgrim took home seventh-place money in that event a few months ago, and he's back to try once again for a Main Event ring. Pilgrim is sporting some new bling this time around; taking down Event #4 earlier this week earned him his first big hunk of gold, which he is proudly showing off today.

Also in the field is fifth-place finisher Allen Bari, who is a force to be reckoned with on the felt. Each of the top three finishers from December are back here this week too: Kyle Bowker, Phillip Reed, and champion Brent Roberts.

03-12-2009 15:12 UTC-4

Little Man Comes Up Big

[user22113]

Its been a tough day for Dwyte Pilgrim. Most recently he lost a good amount of his chips to Mike "Little Man" Sica. With the board reading {5-Clubs}

, Pilgrim bet 1,400. Sica raised it up to around 6,500 and Pilgrim tank-called. Sica turned up {Q-Diamonds}

and Pilgrim flashed the {8-Spades}

before mucking his hand.

Sica has crossed the 30,000 mark while Dwyte Pilgrim busted a few hands later.

Tags: Dwyte Pilgirm Mike Sica

Level: 4

Blinds: 100/200

Ante: 0

03-12-2009 15:31 UTC-4

Bax Picks Up a Small Pot

donpeters

Cliff "JohnnyBax" Josephy bet 700 after his opponent checked the action to him on a flop of {9-Clubs}

. His opponent called.

The turn brought the {Q-Clubs}

and both players checked rather quickly before the dealer put the {J-Diamonds}

out on the river. After his opponent took a brief moment before checking, Josephy fired out 1,500 to pick up the pot without a showdown.

Tags: "JohnnyBax"Cliff Josephy

03-12-2009 15:43 UTC-4

Stout Folds to Kim's "Bluff"

donpeters

The flop came down with three spades, {K-Spades}

and Sang Kim led for a bet of 1,000. The cutoff seat folded before Matt "All in at 420" Stout raised to 3,000 on the button. Kim took a few moments and then reraised to 8,000. "Player raises. 5,000 more," announced the dealer.

Stout took his time and stared at Kim for about a minute. Kim just sat there in his chair staring straight ahead with little movement, except for his breathing. Stout then folded. "Show this time?" he asked.

Kim obliged and revealed the {A-Spades}

.

"Nice bluff," joked Stout.

Tags: "All in at 420"Matt Stout Sang Kim

03-12-2009 15:48 UTC-4

Nepo-whaaaa?

donpeters

The player under the gun limped before the cutoff raised to 550. Alex "Jedi" Nepomnyaschiy called from the big blind and the under the gun player called as well.

The flop came down {Q-Diamonds}

and all three players checked.

The turn brought the {7-Clubs}

and action checked to the cutoff. He fired a bet of 900 and only Nepomnyaschiy called.

After the river brought the {10-Hearts}

, Nepomnyaschiy led for 3,100. As soon as his opponent tossed out the chips to make the call, Nepomnyaschiy announced "nuts," turning up the {K-Spades}

for the nut straight. His opponent quietly mucked his hand.

When asked to spell his last name, Nepomnyaschiy simply said, "Let me write it down, it's kinda long."

Tags: "Jedi"Alex Nepomnyaschiy

03-12-2009 16:00 UTC-4

Check-Raising the Table

[user66118]

We pick up a three-handed pot on the flop, with 1,600 chips already in the middle of the table. The board showed {J-Diamonds}

, and action was on Rhett Butler. He checked, and Ylon Schwartz put out a bet of 725. Gary Schoengold was next, and he made the call. Butler followed suit, and all three men went to the turn.

The dealer turned the {9-Spades}

on fourth street, and all three men checked. Fifth street was the {3-Diamonds}

. Butler checked, Schwartz bet 400, and Schoengold called. Butler had one last decision to make, and he opted to check-raise to a total of 3,100. Schwartz took a minute to ponder before making the call. Not to be outdone, Schoengold matched the bet as well.

"I have a full house," said Butler.

"Let's see it," prompted Schwartz, holding his cards over the muck. Butler obliged, tabling {J-Hearts}

. It was good; both of his opponents slid their cards back to the dealer, and Rhett Butler raked in a nice pot. He has climbed up close to the 30,000-chip mark. Schwartz, meanwhile, dropped a significant chunk of his stack in that hand; he is all the way down to 6,075.

Tags: Rhett Butler Ylon Schwartz

03-12-2009 16:15 UTC-4

Riccobono Pushed Off a Pot

donpeters

Al Riccobono raised the action to 650 before the flop and both blinds called. The flop came down {9-Diamonds}

and both the small blind and big blind checked to the preflop raiser Riccobono.

Riccobono fired out 1,300 and the small blind made the call. The big blind tanked for a minute or two and then decided to fire all in. This move got two quick folds from Riccobono and the small blind.

Despite being moved off the pot, Riccobono still sits with around 39,000 chips due to a nice full house that paid off earlier.

Tags: Al Riccobono

03-12-2009 16:24 UTC-4

Presto! Winston Vanishes

[user66118]

We have just learned the details of Roy Winston's early elimination. With a few limpers in front of him, Winston raised it up to 600 in the first level. The small blind reraised the pro up to 2,100, prompting the rest of the table to fold. Winston made the call though, heads up for the remainder of the hand.

The flop came down {K-?}

rainbow. The small blind checked, and Winston fired 4,100 chips at the pot. His opponent called.

Fourth street came a repeat {8-?}

. When Winston saw his opponent check once more, he moved all in for just about 13,000. This sent the small blind deep into the tank for several minutes. A quick conversation ensued as the unknown player tried to get some information out of the pro. Finally, he made the call, tabling {A-?}

.

"Good call," said Winston, turning over {5-?}

. The river blanked off, and that was the end of Roy's day.

Tags: Roy Winston