Event 49 - $1,500 No Limit Hold'em Day 1 | 2008 World Series of Poker

06-28-2008 21:11 UTC-7

Young or Old?

[user65508]

Young Phan just arrived at a new table and a player sitting across from him asked his name. Young, without missing a beat, introduced himself as, "Old Phan."

The player asked him again, and Young smiled, repeated his answer. The player seemed a bit confused.

"I'm old Phan, used to be Young Phan." The rest of the table, knowing who he is, all chuckled at the joke.

06-28-2008 21:23 UTC-7

Still Going Fast

[user65508]

We've been updating the current pace of the tournament for most of the afternoon and even though we're coming up on the eighth level of the day, we're still moving along at a very, very fast pace.

We started the day with 2,700 players as we're down to just 440 left. We reach the money at 270, which puts us 170 away from the money. We lost more than 100 players in just the first level after dinner. At this rate, we'll be under 100 by the time the night comes to a close.

Level: 8

Blinds: 400/800

Ante: 100

06-28-2008 21:34 UTC-7

Michael Craig Eliminated

[user22113]

Michael Craig reraised his opponent all in preflop. The showdown pitted Craig's {A-Diamonds}

to this opponent's {A-Clubs}

. Craig's opponent remarked, "This is a bad call," as he completed the action. Bad call or not, the flop was enough help to complete the nut flush and send Michael Craig to the rail as the board ran out {10-Clubs}

.

06-28-2008 21:34 UTC-7

Photo Shoot?

[user65508]

From out of nowhere, four striking women, who were dressed very elegantly, approached Young Phan at his table. They all four stood behind him and a Harrah's floor staff allowed a photographer to approach the table and snap a few pictures of Phan surrounded by these women.

After a few pictures at the table, Phan left and walked to the corner where they snagged a few more pictures. The girls posed with their arms around Phan, hugging him and mugging for the camera. It appeared as if a live photo shoot was taking place right inside the Rio.

"I think they're from Sapphires," one spectator mentioned.

They weren't. Young Phan has helped the magazine Rounder get distributed at casinos around the strip, like Bellagio and others. Phan explained to us that they were just taking some pictures for an upcoming issue and that they've actually taken his picture at several tournaments over the last few months.

Either way, we're pretty confident that not one player at his table minded. Not in the slightest.

06-28-2008 21:41 UTC-7

Pham Takes a Swim in River

[user65508]

David Pham called a player's all-in on a flop of {7-Diamonds}

. Pham held {Q-Clubs}

for an open-ended straight draw while his opponent had pocket fives. The {8-Clubs}

fell on the river to make Pham's straight and he's up to 36,000 after eliminating the player.

06-28-2008 21:49 UTC-7

Joe Awada Eliminated

[user65508]

Joe Awada moved all-in preflop holding A-Q from the small blind. The player in the big blind called and showed A-K. Awada was out kicked and couldn't catch up to improve.

06-28-2008 22:03 UTC-7

Black Loses Stack

[user65508]

Andy Black just lost a big pot after running pocket queens into his opponent's pocket kings. His opponent was all in preflop and even though both players spiked a set on the flop, Andy couldn't improve to win the hand. After the hand, Andy is down to 20,000.

06-28-2008 22:07 UTC-7

Raining Kings

[user65508]

Hevad "Rain" Khan called an opponent's all-in on a flop of {10-Diamonds}

holding pocket kings. His opponent held pocket sixes and failed to improve, increasing Rain's chip stack up to 39,000.

06-28-2008 22:12 UTC-7

Allen Kessler Eliminated

[user65508]

Allen Kessler, who had just been on a monster run at his table, has been eliminated by Nancy Todd Tyner. Allen raised to 2,500 preflop and Nancy had called. The flop came {3-Clubs}

and Kessler moved all in. Nancy called and showed {K-Clubs}

and was up against Allen's pocket nines which had flopped a set.

The turn was the {A-Clubs}

and the

on the river was no help to Allen.