So said Travell Thomas just now as the dealer delivered cards around the table. Soon Loukas Michael was raising to 1,300 from early position, a player a couple of seats over was calling, and Thomas was reraising all in for his last 5,100 from the button.
That's when the big blind reraised again to 10,000, prompting an all-in shove from Michael. That knocked out the player to his left, but after a long spell in the tank the big blind called all in as well for his last 14,000 or so.
All three players had pocket pairs — for the big blind, for Michael, and for Thomas. The board then rolled out , and sure enough we'd seen Thomas's bustout hand.
Michael notches a couple of knockouts on that one, in fact, while chipping up close to 70,000.
Play is rapidly winding down here in the first of today's two Day 1 flights. The short stacks are falling quickly, and Matt Glantz is among those who have been felted here near the end of Day 1a. He'll likely be back for Day 1b later, to be sure.
Meanwhile, we're starting to see a few players who have surged over the 100,000-chip mark, most notably Benedetto Bianco who appears at the moment to be leading all with nearly 150,000.
We'll be identifying the big stacks shortly once the bagging begins.
The tourney clock has been stopped with 10 minutes left in Level 9, and a draw of a card has determined there will be three more hands dealt before play is halted for this first Day 1 flight.
In one of the last hands of Day 1a, Francois Nabwangu had all but resigned himself to the fact that he wasn't going to be surviving the flight after committing the last of his short stack with and finding he was up against an opponent's .
But the flop came to give Nabwangu one pair, then the turn gave him another. The river then brought the , and it looks like he'll be bagging up some chips here shortly and return to try to double again early tomorrow.
And that does it for Day 1a here at Caesars Atlantic City! After nine action packed levels, Benedetto Bianco, leads the pack. He amassed a gigantic stack of 174,600. He is clear of the field by 60,000, as Leo Walker is the next closest player 113,500.
We have a few familiar faces who be moving on to Day 2. This list includes Gary Bolden (107,100) Alex Queen (22,000), Micah Raskin (106,000), bracelet winner Mitch Schock (59,600), five time ring winner Mark "Pegasus" Smith (33,000) and Christopher Leong, who has already won two rings here at Atlantic City. He will have a tall mountain to climb to get his third, as he has just 12,000.
Not everyone was so lucky to survive the day though. We lost current points leader Rex Clinkscales early, as well as Ting Ho, Chris Reslock, Kyle Bowker, Roland Israelashvilli, and Matt Glantz, who busted in the last level of the flight. All of these players have the option to either come back tonight at 7 to play Day 1b, or come back tomorrow morning and register at the start of Day 2. They can only do one of those.
We are now taking a break for dinner, before cards are once again in the air at 7 PM local time, which is in just over a hour. We will see you then!
The players have taken their seats, the tournament director has made the announcements, and the cards are in the air. We will post a list of the notables shortly.
We're seeing a few familiar faces during a first walk-through here at the start of the Day 1b flight, including some from just a couple of hours ago. Chris Reslock, Timothy Finne, Kyle Bowker, David Inselberg, and Catherine Dever are among those back again after having busted during the earlier session.
Steve Dannenmann had a short run of things in the first flight today, but he's off to a positive start in this flight. Dannenmann was one of three players who saw a flop of . It was checked to Dannenmann, who bet out 525, and only one player made the call.
Both checked the on the turn, and when the river brought the , his opponent fired out 1,000. Dannenmann didn't take long to make the call, and his was better then his opponents .
Another player back to take a second shot today is Roland Israelashvili.
The New York-based player who made a deep run in last summer's WSOP Main Event (finishing 25th) is hoping to match or better his fantastic finishes in this very event the last three years' running.
Last year Israelashvili managed to final table this event, taking sixth place. The year before that, he also made the final table, taking fifth place that time. And in 2010, he won the Main Event here, capturing the first of his two WSOP Circuit gold rings!
Things haven't begun so well this time for Israelashvili, however. Just now a hand arose in which a player in the hijack seat raised to 150 and got three callers including Israelashvili in the small blind. The flop came . It folded to the raiser who bet 350, and only Israelashvili stuck around. Both players then checked the turn card.
The river brought the and a bet of 1,100 from Israelashvili, and after some thought his opponent called. Israelashvili tabled while his opponent showed , and after a rocky first level Israelashvili is already down close to half the starting stack.
for the big blind, 
for Michael, and 
for Thomas. The board then rolled out 
, and sure enough we'd seen Thomas's bustout hand.
.
to give Nabwangu one pair, then the 
turn gave him another. The river then brought the 
, and it looks like he'll be bagging up some chips here shortly and return to try to double again early tomorrow.
. It was checked to Dannenmann, who bet out 525, and only one player made the call.
, his opponent fired out 1,000. Dannenmann didn't take long to make the call, and his 
was better then his opponents 
.
. It folded to the raiser who bet 350, and only Israelashvili stuck around. Both players then checked the 
turn card.
, and after a rocky first level Israelashvili is already down close to half the starting stack.