When we walked over to Ted Lawson's table we found him knee-deep in a quickly growing pot. He was in the cutoff position with the board reading . The player to Lawson's left had a 5,000 chip in front of the bet line and the player in the small blind had moved all in over the top. Lawson eventually mucked his hand with his frustration evident by the toss of his ards. After a few moments the next player mucked face up.
"I had a flush draw and strait draw!" Lawson told the table.
Nicholas Rampone was heads up in a pot with position as we approached the table. The board read and Rampone bet 575. His opponent opted to check-raise to 1,200 and Rampone called.
When the turn brought the , the player first to act quickly checked. Rampone fired 2,525 and was called. The river was the which brought another quick check. Rampone thought for a bit before checking behind, only to muck his hand when his opponent tabled .
A player in middle position raised to 125, and Gavin Griffin three bet in the cutoff to 275. The blinds folded, and his opponent made the call. The flop came out , and Griffin's opponent bet 275. Griffin called, and the turn brought the . His opponent once again led out, this time for 600. Griffin decided to raise this time, upping it to 1,600. His opponent fired back with a raise to 3,100, and Griffin called. The river brought the , and Griffin then faced a big bet of 5,600. Griffin threw in the call, then mucked when his opponent showed for a broadway straight. We are just twenty minutes into the tournament, and Griffin has lost half his stack after that hand.
The tournament director has gone over the rules and has said the magic words, "Shuffle up and deal!" We are working on picking out the famous faces in the room and will post a list shortly.
Good afternoon! We are coming to you live from Ceasers Palace where the $1,500 WSOP Circuit Main Event is about to get underway! The Circuit series has already been to California and Texas this calendar year, but now it is back where it all started!
We are expecting a packed house today, as play for this event will start with Day 1a. Today we will play down to the top 15% of players, and then we will end for the night. Tomorrow will be Day 1b, where players who were knocked out today can re-enter, along with players who will be entering for the first time.
Once those two day ones are finished, the remaining players will combine to play Day 2 on Sunday, and by the end of Monday night, we will have a champion crowned!
Last year, Christopher Johnson topped a field of 496 players, taking home $153,559 and the WSOP Circuit gold ring. Big name pros JJ Liu, David Williams, Erica Schoenberg, David Levi and Jimmy Fricke all made the money.
It certainly looks to be an exciting day here at Ceasers Palace. Be sure to stay tuned to Pokernews for all of the action. Thanks for reading, and enjoy the wall-to-wall coverage!
. The player to Lawson's left had a 5,000 chip in front of the bet line and the player in the small blind had moved all in over the top. Lawson eventually mucked his hand with his frustration evident by the toss of his ards. After a few moments the next player mucked 
and Rampone bet 575. His opponent opted to check-raise to 1,200 and Rampone called.
, the player first to act quickly checked. Rampone fired 2,525 and was called. The river was the 
which brought another quick check. Rampone thought for a bit before checking behind, only to muck his hand when his opponent tabled 
.
, and Griffin's opponent bet 275. Griffin called, and the turn brought the 
. His opponent once again led out, this time for 600. Griffin decided to raise this time, upping it to 1,600. His opponent fired back with a raise to 3,100, and Griffin called. The river brought the 
, and Griffin then faced a big bet of 5,600. Griffin threw in the call, then mucked when his opponent showed 
