It took two hours and twenty five minutes, but we finally had a player hit a royal flush. Joe "The Show" Gualtieri, on Red #4, Seat 8, rivered a royal flush against one opponent but could not convince his opponent to call his river bet. Gualtieri will receive a $100 gift certificate from Professional Massage, the official massage therapist of the World Series of Poker.
Gualtieri told us that he hopes that Harrah's and the World Series of Poker, who charged players in today's event 4.2% as a house vig ($420 a player) will take $5,000 out of the roughly $2,000,000 in house vig they will collect from the Main Event and donate it to the Autism Canada Foundation, a charitable organization based in Canada devoted to engaging, educating, empowering and uniting people to find a cure for autism.
Ray Romano
Ray Romano raised to 600 from the hijack seat, and a player in the small blind reraised to 2,200. Romano called.
The flop came . The SB bet 3,000, and Romano went into the tank. Finally, after three minutes he called the clock on himself. With one second left to make a decision, Romano pushed all in with his 28,000.
His opponent folded, showing , and Romano showed his .
"I thought you had pocket kings," said Romano. He's up to 38,000.
Raymond Rahme doesn't have to be too concerned about his earlier gaffe of mucking the winning hand at showdown. He just doubled up from 16,000 to 32,000 when he flopped a set of fours and his opponent turned top two pair, aces and tens. Rahme bet 400 on the turn into a pot of 1,200. His opponent raised to 2,000. Rahme reraised to 4,000 and his opponent moved all in. Rahme made the call and dodged the remaining aces and tens when the river fell .
Robert Altman raised to 600 from under the gun, and Steve Sung called from the button. Barry Greenstein then reraised to 4,200 from the big blind, and both players called.
The flop came . Greenstein led out for 5,000, and Altman responded by shoving his remaining 9,850 all in. Sung folded, and Greenstein let it go as well.
Greenstein has slipped to 14,000. Sung has 20,000. And Altman is back up around 17,000.
Eli Elezra
All of the chips went into the middle on a flop of with Eli Elezra holding two pair with , but needing to avoid a lot of cards as he opponent flipped over for flush and double-gutshot straight draws.
The turn was the but the river brought the to complete the flush as Elezra slips to 8,900.
Donnie Peters
Maya Antonius -- both stunning and serious on day one
Maya Antonius raised under the gun to 600. Charles Kelley reraised to 2,000 from middle position. Everyone folded back around to Antonius and she made the call.
The flop came down . Antonius checked and Kelley bet 2,000. Antonius called.
The turn fell the and Antonius checked again. Kelley bet 6,000 and Antonius made it 12,000 to go on a check-raise. Kelley made the call.
The river was the and Antonius led for 12,000. Kelley only had 7,000 left and made the call.
Antonius showed and Kelley showed . Andrew Black was on the rail watching and mentioned, "It's a sick hand, you can't get away from it."
Antonius is up tp 54,200 and Kelley was sent to the rail.
Freddy Deeb
Freddy Deeb and Alan Epstein got most of their chips in on the turn with the board showing 10-7-3-7. The rest of Epstein's -- and most of Deeb's -- went in when the river brought a queen.
Deeb held 10-10 for tens full, but Epstein had Q-Q for the better boat. Deeb has tumbled back down to 6,000, while Epstein is up to 50,000.
A clean-shaven Tino Lechich
After T6 poker pro Tino Lechich limped from under the gun, and two other players made the call, Craig Gray bumped it up an additional 1,000 from the big blind. Lechich made the call.
The flop came and Gray fired out 2,000 which Lechich called.
The turn brought the and both players checked. The river was a repeat and this time Gray tossed 4,000 into the middle. Lechich deliberated for several minutes before giving up his hand to slip back to 17,400 chips, with Gray up to over 28,000.
A few hands after winning a medium-sized pot Chau Giang won a bigger-than-medium sized pot a bit later on. With the board reading Giang's opponent moved all in for 12,525 and Chau took some time wrestling with the decision before making the call. And a good call it was--he held top two with to his opponent's small two pair with , and when the fell on the river Giang picked up a pot that boosted his stack to 37,100.
on a board of 
against an opponent holding 
.
. The SB bet 3,000, and Romano went into the tank. Finally, after three minutes he called the clock on himself. With one second left to make a decision, Romano pushed all in with his 28,000. 
, and Romano showed his 
.
. Greenstein led out for 5,000, and Altman responded by shoving his remaining 9,850 all in. Sung folded, and Greenstein let it go as well.
with Eli Elezra holding two pair with 
, but needing to avoid a lot of cards as he opponent flipped over 
for flush and double-gutshot straight draws.
but the river brought the 
to complete the flush as Elezra slips to 8,900.
and Antonius checked again. Kelley bet 6,000 and Antonius made it 12,000 to go on a check-raise. Kelley made the call.
and Antonius led for 12,000. Kelley only had 7,000 left and made the call.
and both players checked. The river was a repeat 
and this time Gray tossed 4,000 into the middle. Lechich deliberated for several minutes before giving up his hand to slip back to 17,400 chips, with Gray up to over 28,000.
Giang's opponent moved all in for 12,525 and Chau took some time wrestling with the decision before making the call. And a good call it was--he held top two with 
to his opponent's small two pair with 
fell on the river Giang picked up a pot that boosted his stack to 37,100.
