Event 10 - $2,500 Pot Limit Hold'em/Omaha Day 1 | 2009 World Series of Poker

06-03-2009 11:41 UTC-12

Pot-Limit Action Coming Up

Shamus

We're about 20 minutes away from the start of Event No. 10, the #2,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em/Pot-Limit Omaha event. Dealers are stacking chips and the first few players are starting to trickle in. Stay tuned.

06-03-2009 12:06 UTC-12

A Few Minutes Away

Shamus

Looks like we're still a few minutes away from getting started here. At the moment the big board says we have 345 entrants so far for this one, but that number will surely increase.

Level: 1

Blinds: 0/0

Ante: 0

06-03-2009 12:19 UTC-12

Shuffle Up and Deal!

Shamus

Cards are in the air.

06-03-2009 12:20 UTC-12

Two Games for the Price of One

Shamus

As is the case with most of the other WSOP tournaments, each level of Event No. 10 will last 60 minutes. Players will switch back and forth between pot-limit hold'em and pot-limit Omaha, playing nine hands of each game (e.g., one orbit) at a time. Levels will begin with PLO.

Within each level, the blinds for PLH will always be a bit larger than those for PLO. Thus here in Level 1, the blinds for PLO will be 25/50, while for PLH will be 50/75. In Level 2, PLO will be 50/75, and PLH will be 50/100, and so forth. In other words, the blinds for PLO will be exactly one level behind those of PLH throughout the tourney.

Within a given level, we won't be noting when the games are switching back and forth, since the time for the change will be unique for each table. In other words, we'll have PLO hands being played at one table while PLH hands are being played at another.

We will, however, be sure to clarify at the start of each hand we report whether it is PLO or PLH. (Even though the cards should tell you.)

06-03-2009 12:29 UTC-12

Fricke Quickie

Shamus

In a PLO hand here in the first orbit, WSOP Champions Invitational winner Tom McEvoy limped in for 50 from middle position, the player in the cutoff called, and Jimmy "Gobboboy" Fricke raised to 250 from the button. The blinds and McEvoy folded, and the cutoff called.

The flop came {A-Hearts}

. The cutoff checked, Fricke tossed out a bet of 500, and his opponent folded. Fricke chips up to about 8,100. (Players began with 7,500.)

Tags: Jimmy Fricke Tom McEvoy

06-03-2009 12:39 UTC-12

Early Sightings

Shamus

We're scanning the room for familiar faces. The total number of entrants has cruised past the 400-player mark. Among those playing today include Scott Fischman, Daniel Negreanu, Jeff Shulman, Clonie Gowen, Yevgeniy Timoshenko, Dave "Devilfish" Ulliott, Jordan Morgan, Lex Veldhuis, and Neil Channing.

06-03-2009 12:42 UTC-12

A Little Flush

Shamus

Jonathan "Fiery Justice" Little just knocked out an opponent with a flush in a PLO hand. Little is up to 15,300.

Tags: Jonathan Little

06-03-2009 12:43 UTC-12

Pot-Limit Betting

Shamus

Those without experience playing pot-limit games sometimes have trouble estimating exactly what it means to "bet the pot." It's not too hard to figure out, though.

If no one has entered the pot yet, the most a player can bet is the size of the pot. Let's say we're heads up on the river and there is 1,000 in the middle. You check to me on the button. The most I can bet here is 1,000. Simple enough.

What sometimes gets tricky is figuring out in pot-limit games how much a player can raise after a bet has been made. Let's say I do bet the pot (1,000) in that previous example, then you decide to check-raise the pot. How much can you bet?

For you to bet pot, you'd be putting enough chips in the middle to call my raise (1,000) plus the equivalent of the new pot size after your call -- in this case 3,000. So for you to check-raise the pot, you'd be betting a total of 4,000. (And I thought this was a friendly game.)

Remember that preflop, the blinds constitute the initial betting, so once again, for someone to open-raise the pot, that player would be betting the equivalent of the big blind plus the new pot size. For instance, here in the PLO half of Level 1, the blinds are 25/50. So to open with a pot-size raise, a player would be betting 175 (50 + 125).

"String bets" are not allowed at the WSOP -- in other words, players cannot make multiple moves when betting, like one often sees in the movies (e.g., "I call your 50, and raise you another 125.") However, it is sometimes helpful to think of the pot-sized bet in two parts when calculating it (a call plus a raise).

06-03-2009 12:50 UTC-12