It was a very short day for two-time bracelet winner Carter Phillips. So short that we weren't able to make it three rounds through the tables before he was eliminated. Phillips also played and busted last night, so he is done for this main event.
To no one's surprise, Nghi Van Tran is staying very active today, as we just caught him bombing the river in another big pot early.
We caught up with the action on the turn, with the board reading . It was a battle of the blinds, as the small blind fired out 700. Tran made the call, and the river brought the . The small blind fired again, this time for 1,200, and Tran assembled a stack of chips, and slid them into the middle, a raise to 5,450.
This decision put the small blind deep into the tank. He thought for about two minutes, most of the time with his head in his hands, before saying "ok I believe you." He showed for top two pair, and asked Tran "did you have it?" Tran just cracked a small smile as he took in the chips to get his stack back up to 21,000.
The list of notables in today's Day 1c is slowly growing, as we just spotted a few familiar faces. We saw three time ring winner La Sengphet, bracelet winner Mitch Schock, and Erik Roussakis, who made back-to-back Circuit Main Event final tables just a few months ago, finishing 5th at Harrah's Rincon in December, and 9th at the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles.
We missed the hand, but when we went over to David "ODB" Baker's table, we saw that he had scored a double up to over 40,000, while Nghi Van Tran was left with just 1,500. We talked with Baker and his friend Ray Henson, and they filled us in on what happened.
Baker opened the action for 500 in early position, and his bet got three callers. Tran was in the big blind, and he made it 2,000 to go. Baker was the lone caller, and they went heads up to a flop of . Tran fired out 3,000, and Baker made the call.
The turn was a blank, and Tran checked to Baker, who bet out 5,000. Tran moved him in, and Baker instantly called.
Baker:
Tran:
Baker's set of sevens had Tran drawing dead, and he secured the big double up to make him one of our early chip leaders.
Cary Marshall won the Main Event at Harvey's Lake Tahoe last November, pocketing $139,620 in the process. Well Marshall is here looking for another Main Event ring, and he has some momentum on his side following a 3rd place finish in the $580 preliminary event yesterday. However, it's not been a great day for him so far, as he is down to 9,000.