The UTG player raised to 300, J.C. Tran called from the cutoff, the small blind raised to 900, UTG called and Tran called. The flop was . The small blind bet 1,500, the UTG player folded, Tran raised to 3,500 and the small blind called. The turn was the and both players checked. The river was the . The small blind checked, Tran bet 4,000 and the small blind called. The small blind showed for top pair, top kicked, but Tran had the winner with for two pair.
World Champion Chris Moneymaker is playing to a stadium of spectators and fans located in the ESPN feature table area today. Chris was heads-up against a single opponent with a board of . His opponent led out and Chris made the call. His opponent bet when the fell on the turn and Chris called again. The river was the and Chris checked, as did his opponent.
Moneymaker turned over 8-5, flopping the open-ended straight draw and ending up with trips. The crowd let out a slight applause as he scooped up the chips.
As noted below, if there's an empty seat at your table after the first orbit or so there's a good chance a famous face will soon be joining you. And that's what happened at three different tables as Phil Ivey, Allen Cunningham, and Chris "Jesus" Ferguson took their seats.
Brad Daugherty became the first player to win $1 million at the World Series of Poker. That was his first place prize for taking down the 1991 main event. He has made six WSOP final tables and is among the players in today's field. Brad Daugherty co-authored several books with T.J. Cloutier and Tom McEvoy.
Mike "The Mouth" Matusow arrived slightly late to the start of play today and is playing at the Bluff featured table. As usual, Mike hasn't stopped talking since he arrived.
Mike was involved in a hand against a single opponent who led out preflop for 300. Mike called and the flop was . Both players checked and the turn was the . Mike led out for 600 after his opponent checked. His opponent called and the river brought the . Mike made it 1,100 to go and his opponent folded.
Between hands, Matusow has been rambling on about a poker player he knows that tends to rap while playing.
"Poker is fun, for everyone, except my opponent, who's on crack!" Matusow mocked. "You could compare his rap career to my swimsuit modeling career."
Ironic, that a man known famously for never being quiet at the poker table, is taking jabs at another player's chatter.
Former NHLer Rick Tocchet is among the players in the field. He scored 440 goals for six different teams (Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Los Angeles Kings, Boston Bruins, Washington Capitals, and the Phoenix Coyotes) during his 18-year career. He was an assistant coach for the Coyotes before he had to take an indefinite leave of absence after his involvment in the gambling ring as "Operation Slapshot."
The WSOP offered a boot camp this year, where some top pros would teach the intricacies of tournament poker. Apparently, some people got confused about which was the boot camp and which was the Main Event.
They needed some introductory lessons at Table 118. On the turn with a 10-high board, the player in seat 4 bet out, and the player in seat 8 called. That's pretty standard action for the turn, except for one thing -- the player in seat 4 then turned over his hand, showing pocket kings.
Everyone stared in shock, wondering why he did that. When asked, he said, "Because he called my bet."
Because there was no malice (just ignorance), the hand continued, and the river card paired the ten. Up against a good player, capable of making a laydown, this would be a great opportunity to bluff. If you had top pair on the flop, you just made trips on the river. But against this guy, on this day, the other player just chuckled and mucked his cards.
The guy with pocket kings might not fully understand the rules, but he won the pot.
Phil "The Unabomber" Laak went busto when he was eliminated by Jerome Bradpiece. The board ran out A-K-5-K-x and Bradpiece won the pot with A-K. Phil Laak mucked his hand as he headed to the rail.
He snuck out the side service entrance, saying something about, "No more bad beats..."
Jennifer Tilly was sitting nearby and stopped by Phil's table asking the other players what happened. Apparently, he didn't tell her anything yet.
Frank Kassela lost a big pot and is down to 3K. His lost to a player's . The flop was and Kassela led with a flush. The turn was the and the river was the giving his opponent a full house.