As we begin Level 6, the big board is showing just over 300 have registered so far for Day 1a, although a few of those have left us by now. Chris Reslock is one of those who has been eliminated, and Brian Ali — winner of this event two years ago — is also down for the count.
However, both Reslock and Ali can re-enter tonight's Day 1b, if they wish, as can anyone else eliminated during today's first flight. This flight will continue through Level 9 before ending, then after a break for dinner Day 1b will begin.
We didn't catch the hand that did him in, but we saw Kyle Bowker casually strolling through the tables talking to other players, and we also saw that his seat was filled with another player. He will have the chance to re enter later.
Terry Grimes has been eliminated, and following him to the rail shortly thereafter was Roland Israelashvili.
Israelashvili's last hand saw a middle-position player open, another call, and Israelashvili call as well from the big blind. The flop came . Israelashvili checked, the original raiser bet 1,200, the next to act raised to 3,100, then Israelashvili reraised all in for just over 10,000. That forced the middle-position player out, but the other called.
Israelashvili showed for top pair of jacks, but had to fade a flush draw as his opponent showed . The turn swiftly decided things, coming to complete the flush and make the river just an extra bit of trivia.
We missed the action preflop, but we saw that Phillip Hui was on the button and heads up with the player under the gun. The flop came all hearts, . It was checked to Hui, who wasted little time in firing out a bet of 750. His opponent called, and the turn brought another heart, the . It was checked again, and once again, Hui bet very quickly. This time, it was 1,650, and that was enough to get his opponent out of the hand.
While Hui doesn't hold any grey T 5,000 chips anymore, he does have a nice stack of orange T 1,000 chips that amounts to about 28,000.
A player in middle position opened for 700 and got three callers including Matt Glantz playing from the small blind. The flop came , and Glantz led with a bet of 1,400, forcing folds all around save a lone opponent in the cutoff.
The turn was the , putting a second pair on board. Both Glantz and his opponent checked. The river then brought the and a bet of 2,600 from Glantz, good enough to win him the pot.
We have completed six levels, and the players are once again on a 15 minute break. Once they return, we will play three more levels before the players bag and tag their chips, and come back tomorrow for Day 2.
Following a middle-position raise, Travell Thomas made it 2,650 to go from the cutoff, and when it folded around his opponent called.
The flop came , and when checked to Thomas fired a continuation-bet of 2,600 only to see his opponent check-raise over the top by pushing 25,000 out in front of himself — well more than what Thomas had left behind.
Thomas waited a few seconds, then exhaled as he tossed his cards away to preserve his remaining chips.
You may not recognize the name Micah Raskin, but he has been on quite the heater in 2013. He already has two six figure scores, taking 3rd in the $25,000 High Roller at LAPC last month. He also finished 8th at the $25,000 high roller in PCA in January. He also took home the A$5,000 6-max turbo event at the Aussie Millions for just under $80,000. Well he's riding the momentum of those tournaments today as he's off to a great start here in today's event.
We just caught Raskin in a hand on the turn, with the board reading . Raskin and his opponent both checked, and the river was the . Raskin's opponent fired 3,500 into the pot, which had about 6,000 in it, and Raskin went into the tank. Eventually, he gave his chips a kiss before putting them in, and he tabled for eights full of aces.
His opponent showed for a chopped pot, and each player collected half the chips in the middle. After that hand, Raskin is one of our chip leaders, now sitting on 65,000.
. Israelashvili checked, the original raiser bet 1,200, the next to act raised to 3,100, then Israelashvili reraised all in for just over 10,000. That forced the middle-position player out, but the other called.
for top pair of jacks, but had to fade a flush draw as his opponent showed 
. The turn swiftly decided things, coming 
to complete the flush and make the river 
just an extra bit of trivia.
. It was checked to Hui, who wasted little time in firing out a bet of 750. His opponent called, and the turn brought another heart, the 
, and Glantz led with a bet of 1,400, forcing folds all around save a lone opponent in the cutoff.
and a bet of 2,600 from Glantz, good enough to win him the pot.
, and when checked to Thomas fired a continuation-bet of 2,600 only to see his opponent check-raise over the top by pushing 25,000 out in front of himself — well more than what Thomas had left behind.
. Raskin and his opponent both checked, and the river was the 
for eights full of aces.
for a chopped pot, and each player collected half the chips in the middle. After that hand, Raskin is one of our chip leaders, now sitting on 65,000.