When you think of tournament grinders, Aaron Massey is one of the first names that come to mind if you are a follower of the circuit. Massey seemingly spends the entire year on the road grinding tournaments, and this year is no different, as he already has seven cashes under his belt this year, including a $73,000 score at the Chicago Poker Classic, where he won a $1,000 heads up tournament.
Well Massey just sat down at his table, and he will surely be one of the names to keep an eye out for today.
We walked up to Raymond Dandrea's table to see him in the middle of a big pot for this stage of the tournament. There was about 5,500 in the middle, and the dealer had already completed a board of . Dandrea was first to act, and he fired out 2,700. His opponent tanked for about a minute before calling, and Dandrea let out a sigh before table for bottom pair.
His opponent rolled over for a rivered straight, and he collected the pot, while Dandrea falls to 14,000.
Los Angeles based poker pro Ray Henson hadn't been seen much on the WSOP Circuit before this year, but he is playing more events, and is reaping the benefits from it. Last December, Henson barely missed out on the final table at Harrah's Rincon, finishing 11th. However, he made up for that when he won the $1,000 buy in event in Los Angeles a month later, taking home over $42,000 for his efforts.
He hasn't show any signs of slowing down here in Colorado. Just yesterday, Henson won his 2nd ring, winning a $365 event, pocketing $16,128 in that one. Henson has taken his seat at the second late registrants table, and he will be one to keep our eyes on today.
Action started with a raise to 350 from early position, and Chris Tryba was one of two callers on the button. The flop came down , and the original raised fired out 375. Tryba was the lone caller, as the small blind folded, and the two went heads up to the turn.
That card was the , and the original raised made it 600 this time. Tryba sprung to action with a raise to 1,400, and he was called. The river brought the , which was about as scary as a deuce on the river could be can be. After it was checked to Tryba, he fired out 2,600, and his opponent folded. After collecting hte pot, Tryba is now up to 23,000 early in the day.
We just filled our first table of late registration, and as you would expect in an event like this, we recognized a few of the players at the table. Allen Kessler is in the one seat, talking to the table as he is prone to do. We also have Kevin Boudreau, who's big break came when he finished 2nd in a $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha at the WSOP in 2010. Lastly, we have Nathan Bjerno, who final tabled the Circuit Main Event in Los Angeles earlier this year, finishing in 8th place.
As expected, we've seen a few circuit grinders at the tables so far. Phillip Hui has a ring and came oh so close to his second in Caesars Atlantic City, where he finished 2nd in a $365 event. We also have Ryan Reiss, who is fresh off a 4th place finish in a $365 event earlier this series. There's also Raymond Dandrea, who bubbled the final table of the Main Event in Rincon March of 2012.
In addition to those players, we also spotted Chris Tryba and Justin Gardenhire. We did see Jeffrey Fielder walking around, but he has yet to sit down at a table. Fielder has been on fire recently, winning the Main Event in Choctaw for over $310,000, then finishing 6th at the Caesars Main Event in Las Vegas less then a month later.
We just completed our first run through of the tables, and everyone of them is short handed. The most players we saw at one table was six, even though the tables have 10 seats available. We will hold off on posting a list of notables until more players have filed in.
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. Dandrea was first to act, and he fired out 2,700. His opponent tanked for about a minute before calling, and Dandrea let out a sigh before table 
for bottom pair.
for a rivered straight, and he collected the pot, while Dandrea falls to 14,000.
, and the original raised fired out 375. Tryba was the lone caller, as the small blind folded, and the two went heads up to the turn.
