39th Annual World Series of Poker Main Event Day 1d | 2008 World Series of Poker

07-06-2008 12:50 UTC-7

Cagey or Crazy

MarcC

Amongst the late arrivals are players who are taking the early stages very cagily, assessing their surroundings and soaking up the experience.

Of course there are those that are anything but cagey and have no problem getting all their chips in the middle preflop with pocket tens only to run into an opponent's pocket aces! Teach him right, you might say. Don't be silly, this is poker, the cruel game we all love. You've guessed it, a ten fell on the river.

07-06-2008 12:49 UTC-7

Williams Down Early

donpeters

The flop was {A-Diamonds}

when David Williams checked and was bet into by his opponent. The amount was 500 and Williams made the call.

The turn came the {5-Hearts}

and Williams checked again. His opponent bet 2,000 and Williams again made the call.

The river was the {2-Diamonds}

and Williams check-called a bet of 3,000 from the other player. He wasn't thrilled to see his opponent table {A-Clubs}

for two pair. Williams showed {A-Spades}

.

On another hand early in the day, Williams held {J-?}

on a board that read {A-?}

. When his opponent bet on the river, Williams folded face up and mumbled something about being counterfeited.

He has dropped to 12,200 in just the first few hands of the day.

Tags: David Williams

07-06-2008 12:46 UTC-7

Chan Rivers Forrest

[user25067]

With the board reading {Q-Hearts}

, Forrest Griffin check-called a 1,000 bet from Johnny Chan. Chan turned over {K-Spades}

, his kings up counterfeiting the two pair Griffin flopped with {Q-Diamonds}

.

'You have the best hand, Forrest--until the river," said Chan as he raked in the pot.

Tags: Forest Griffin Johnny Chan

07-06-2008 12:44 UTC-7

More Notables in the Blue Zone

[user25067]

Johnny Chan, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, Phil Laak, Mark Seif, and UFC fighter Forest Griffin are all playing today.

07-06-2008 12:44 UTC-7

We Mean NO Excessive Celebration

[user42991]

Today's start of day 1d was a great example of Harrah's new policy against excessive celebration. After "shuffle up and deal" was announced, a gentleman over on Table 3 stood up in his chair and clashed a set of cymbals that he brought with him. Before he could even get down from the chair, three floormen and one floorwoman were at his chair. The gentleman was issued a warning and was told that if he brought them out again, he would be penalized.

Excessive celebration will not be tolerated this year.

07-06-2008 12:44 UTC-7

Mortensen Off To Strong Start

[user67765]

We caught the action on the turn on a board of {A-Spades}

with an under-the-gun player leading out with a bet of 800. Carlos Mortensen then raised to 2,500 and his opponent made the call.

The river was the {10-Hearts}

and it was checked to Mortensen, who fired out 5,000 with his opponent making the call.

Mortensen tabled {9-Clubs}

for a set of nines as his opponent cringed and showed {A-Diamonds}

for two pair. Mortensen is off to a great start and is up to 29,000 chips.

Tags: Carlos Mortensen

07-06-2008 12:41 UTC-7

Self-Policing

Shamus

Patrick Bruel just had a bit of misfortune fall his way. Holding pocket tens, he got another shorter-stacked player to put all of his chips in the middle after a 10-5-5 flop. His opponent had pocket jacks.

Alas, a jack fell on the turn, and Bruel has quickly fallen down to 6,000.

When the other player yelled out "There is a God!" after winning, someone from a nearby table cried "Excessive celebrating!" Seems most players are aware of the so-called "Hevad Khan" rule.

Tags: Patrick Bruel

07-06-2008 12:41 UTC-7

Poker Vs. Tennis

[user38971]

There appear to be tennis fans in the room today, and plenty of them are being distracted by the Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal fifth set taking place today.

This marks the third time that Federer and Nadal will do battle at Wimbledon, and history appears to be in the making. So much so, that Gus Hansen had been more focused on the game than his own game, turning in his seat to face the televisions before ultimately deciding to leave his table and focus his attention solely on the game.

He's walked back to his table occasionally, just to check on things, but he is certainly more interested in tennis right now than poker.

07-06-2008 12:40 UTC-7

2001 Main Event Champion Carlos Mortensen

[user67765]

Another superstar and world champion in today's field is the 2001 WSOP Main Event champion, Carlos Mortensen.

With two WSOP bracelets, 14 WSOP cashes, two WPT titles, and over $8.5 million in tournament earnings, Carlos is one of the most respected and experienced players in today's field.

Tags: Carlos Mortensen

07-06-2008 12:38 UTC-7

Who's in the Blue Section?

[user75032]

Seated right in front of our media table, at Blue #1, is none other than Howard Lederer. Other notables we've spotted in Blue include Steve Dannenmann, Jeff Shulman, Maria Ho, John "the Razor" Phan, Allen Cunningham, and Men "the Master" Nguyen. It's early yet -- we expect that the section will fill out a bit more in the next hour or two.