2004 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion Greg Raymer has been eliminated from the tournament. We missed the hand, but Raymer graciously filled us in on the details.
With the final board reading , Raymer and his under-the-gun opponent got their chips in and while Raymer held for a straight, it was his opponent's lucky day as his under the gun raise found the gin board to decimate Raymer's stack.
Greg got the last of his chips in with against another opponent's . Once again, Raymer found himself on the wrong end of an unlikely scenario. The flop delivered two hearts and a spade, but turn and river delivered two more spades to give Raymer's opponent a flush, ending the former Main Event champ's tournament.
The numbers are in for the first half of Day 1. A total of 468 players turned up for this opening 11:00 A.M. flight, quite an unfriendly hour for those who were up late last night grinding. That's a fine showing.
We'd expect to see that number tail off a little bit for the second flight, as 7:00 P.M. on Sunday is not really the ideal time for a live game of poker for the online regs or the summering snowbirds down here in South Florida. Still there are about 75 players already confirmed for the "B" flight with another 100 or so expected to join up. The 600-runner mark seems easily within reach, and we may even push well higher than that before it's all said and done.
Chris Tryba is up early after risking nearly all his chips on a bluff.
When we walked up to the table, there was a partial board of in the middle of the table, and Tryba had checked. John Rhodes was his lone opponent, and Rhodes slid out a bet of 2,400 into a pot of 3,600. Tryba was having none of it, though, sneaking in a check-raise to 7,400 total. Rhodes didn't waste much time calling.
That led them to the board-pairing river, and Tryba motioned for the dealer to spread the pot. Satisfied by what he saw, he fired out a final bet of 12,000, about 2/3rds of his remaining stack. Rhodes spent several long minutes agonizing in the tank before checking his cards one last time and spinning them into the muck.
"Phew, that was a tough sell!" Tryba said as he wiped the imaginary sweat from his brow. He flipped up his airball , good enough to take the big pot and move him up to about 36,000 in the process.
The board shows 446 runners have thus far turned up for this first Day 1 flight, and at least 18 of them are women. We recognize Donna Jetter from her 7th-place run at the WSOP-C Harvey's Lake Tahoe a couple months ago. We also spotted Traci Brown, runner up in the Main Event at Choctaw. By virtue of that finish, Brown also locked up the title of Caino Champion for that stop, and that makes her the first lady to qualify for the season-ending National Championship in May.
We also see Jena Delk over there on the far side of the room, but she's a bit overshadowed by June Amer. You might not know Amer's name, but she's done quite a bit to prove herself here in West Palm Beach this week. Amer took down Event #7, the $550 NLHE event that finished up yesterday. That event was a record-setter, drawing a field of 664 runners to make it the largest $500+ buy-in event the WSOP-C has seen this season. She collected more than $65,000 for that win yesterday, and she's looking to parlay that prize money into another big win here in the Main.
We arrived at Chris Tryba's table and found him betting 1,200 on a board. His opponent popped it to 2,500 and Tryba came back over the top for 7,500. His opponent thought it over for about 30 seconds before giving it up.
Tryba showed for the flopped straight and is up to about 25,000.
The field is split between two levels of this Palm Beach Kennel Club as patrons begin to file into the stands for the 1:00 P.M. races.
Our last post included notable faces from the second floor, where there are about 25 tables in play. There are another 15 downstairs, and we've spotted a few more familiar faces. Plus a couple of former WSOP Main Event champions. Jerry Yang and Greg Raymer are both seated down there in the dungeon at adjacent tables. Also at Yang's table is Tristan "Cre8ive" Wade. Paul "X-22" Magriel is down there in a dimly lit corner too, and we've also spotted Circuit regulars Jeff Gibralter and Maurice Hawkins lurking about.
Registration will remain open until the end of the second level.
, Raymer and his under-the-gun opponent got their chips in and while Raymer held 
for a straight, it was his opponent's lucky day as his 
against another opponent's 
. Once again, Raymer found himself on the wrong end of an unlikely scenario. The flop delivered two hearts and a spade, but turn and river delivered two more spades to give Raymer's opponent a flush, ending the former Main Event champ's tournament.![[user66118]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
in the middle of the table, and Tryba had checked. John Rhodes was his lone opponent, and Rhodes slid out a bet of 2,400 into a pot of 3,600. Tryba was having none of it, though, sneaking in a check-raise to 7,400 total. Rhodes didn't waste much time calling.
river, and Tryba motioned for the dealer to spread the pot. Satisfied by what he saw, he fired out a final bet of 12,000, about 2/3rds of his remaining stack. Rhodes spent several long minutes agonizing in the tank before checking his cards one last time and spinning them into the muck.
, good enough to take the big pot and move him up to about 36,000 in the process.
board. His opponent popped it to 2,500 and Tryba came back over the top for 7,500. His opponent thought it over for about 30 seconds before giving it up.
for the flopped straight and is up to about 25,000.