Event 34 - $1,500 No Limit Hold'em Day 1 | 2009 World Series of Poker

Event 34 - $1,500 No Limit Hold'em

Day 1 Completed

06-16-2009 19:55 UTC-12

Day 1 Concludes

Shamus

James Taylor, among chip leaders at end of Day 1

"Don't take your chips home with you."

Warned the announcer as players began the end-of-night ritual of counting and then bagging up their hard-won chips.

Play has concluded for Day 1. According to the big board, there are 240 players remaining from our original starting field of 2,095. We'll have the official numbers overnight, as well as chip counts for all of those who will be continuing with the quest for that $521,932 first prize and the WSOP gold bracelet.

Thanks for following along today, and be sure to rejoin us tomorrow at 2 p.m. Vegas time for the restart of Event No. 34!

06-16-2009 19:52 UTC-12

Hellmuth Hanging In

Shamus

Another nice little rush for Phil Hellmuth as the night concludes. First he used pocket kings to eliminate a short-stacked player with pocket tens.

Next he won a modest-sized pot with pocket eights after flopping a set. He has about 75,000 as the night draws to a close.

Tags: Phil Hellmuth

06-16-2009 19:45 UTC-12

Katchalov Catches Good

Shamus

Several had limped to see the flop come {J-Clubs}

. It checked to a player in middle position who bet 3,600, then Eugene Katchalov raised to 11,200. It folded back around and the original raiser thought for a while, then pushed all in, and Katchalov called.

Katchalov turned over {J-Spades}

for top two, and his opponent {A-Spades}

. The turn was the {10-Spades}

and the river the {3-Diamonds}

, and another player hit the rail. Katchalov chips up to about 85,000.

Tags: Eugene Katchalov

06-16-2009 19:38 UTC-12

One for the Money, Two for the Show, Three to Get Ready, and Four to Go

Shamus

They've stopped the clock with ten minutes left in the level, drawn a card, and determined that four more hands will be played tonight.

It does not appear we'll be bursting that cash bubble until early tomorrow.

06-16-2009 19:36 UTC-12

Can We Get a Little More Drama Over Here?

Shamus

The calls for cocktails are increasing as time runs out on Day 1. For some players, so is the drama.

A short-stacked player just pushed all in with pocket deuces and got called by a player holding ace-jack. The dealer burned a card then spread out the flop: ace... jack... deuce. The turn and river were blanks, and the short stack survived.

Another one tenuously holding on as we approach the cash bubble.

06-16-2009 19:28 UTC-12

Big Stacks

Shamus

As we course toward the end of Day 1, here are few especially big stacks around the room we'd like to report:

James "sirgamble11" Taylor -- 172,000
Scott Dorsch -- 150,000
Martin Jacobson -- 120,000
Steve Bredbury -- 110,000
Randy Pheifer -- 110,000

06-16-2009 19:22 UTC-12

Fernandez Fares Best

Shamus

We just had an three-way all-in confrontation between Robert Fernandez, Amanda "Mandy B" Baker, and Liya Gerasimova (who had both players covered). Fernandez had A-J, Baker A-Q, and Gerasimova pocket jacks.

The board came {7-Clubs}

, which meant Fernandez' ace-high straight was best. He's up to 60,000, Gerasimova is down to 6,000, and Baker is out.

Tags: Amanda Baker Liya Gerasimova Robert Fernandez

06-16-2009 19:13 UTC-12

Ferguson Laying Low

Shamus

Chris "Jesus" Ferguson is here, but hasn't made a lot of noise through the nine-and-a-half levels of play. Just saw him raise to 2,500 before the flop, then fold when an opponent reraised to 7,000.

Ferguson currently has a stack of 14,000. The average at the moment (with 279 players left) is 33,790.

Tags: Chris Ferguson

06-16-2009 19:06 UTC-12

Darden Dares

Shamus

The table folded around to Paul Darden sitting in Seat 9 who completed from the small blind. The player in the big blind, in Seat 1, stood up and leaned over to get a clear view past the dealer of Darden's stack. Darden held his hands open to show he had about 21,000 sitting before him. His opponent checked.

The flop came {6-Hearts}

. Darden quickly tossed out four (500) light blue chips for a bet of 2,000, and without much hesitation his opponent raised to 4,600. Darden wasted no time pushing his remaining chips in the middle, and his opponent went into the tank.

Finally, after a long look inward, the big blind let it go. Darden is up to 28,000.

Tags: Paul Darden