Event 44 - $2,500 Seven Card Razz Day 1 | 2009 World Series of Poker

06-22-2009 11:52 UTC-12

Let's Get Ready to Razz!

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For some (masochists) it's their favorite game. For others, it's a stomach-churning roller coaster. Yes, it's time for the WSOP's annual Razz event, this year sporting a super-sized $2,500 buy-in, up from $1,500 in past years.

A slew of familiar faces and many of poker's elite will be taking their seats in the Brasilia Room in the next few minutes and we're looking at a 5:15 p.m. start. Stay tuned for all the bricks, wheels, groans, lucky catches, and cries of "one time!" you can handle.

06-22-2009 12:16 UTC-12

Shuffle Up and Deal

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Cards are in the air.

Level: 1

Blinds: 0/0

Ante: 0

06-22-2009 12:42 UTC-12

Who's Here?

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Naturally, players are still trickling in and there are still a slew of empty seats at the tables, many of which started off play four-handed.

That said, we've already spotted Razz aficionados Kenna James, Sergey Rybachenko, Daniel Negreanu, Archie Karas, Jeff "yellowsub86" Williams, Matt Hawrilenko, Billy Baxter, Scott Seiver, Thor Hansen, Shannon Elizabeth, Amnon Filippi, Van Marcus, David Bach, Perry Friedman, Chad Brown, Justin Smith, Richard Brodie, Chip Jett, Jani Sointula, Linda Johnson, Barbara Lewis, Nikolay Evdakov, Shirley Rosario, Jan Fisher, Bryan Micon, Marco Traniello, Dennis Phillips, Bill Chen, Dan Shak, Darus Suharto, Jeff Lisandro, Mike Sexton, Justin Bonomo, Frank Kassela, Gavin Griffin, Ted Lawson and Eskimo Clark.

06-22-2009 12:48 UTC-12

A Few More Arrivals

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We just caught sight of Annie Duke taking her seat, along with Brett Richey, Dario Minieri, David Levi, Dutch Boyd, Joe Tehan, Matt Glantz and Kiril Robstov.

Also playing today are a few of our own here at PokerNews, including Tournament Reporting Manager Garry Gates, blogger Dave "F-Train" Behr, and crack field reporters Marc Hodge and Mickey Doft.

06-22-2009 12:51 UTC-12

Let's Hear it for the Ladies

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It's always great to see more women taking up poker, and it appears that many of them have found their niche with Razz. Thus far, we've counted 20 women in this field, which has yet to reach 300 players. That's an unusually large percentage, given that women typically make up around 2.5% of any given tournament field.

Among the ladies in the field are Clonie Gowen, Shirley Rosario, Linda Johnson, Annie Duke, Jan Fisher, Shannon Elizabeth, and Barbara Lewis.

06-22-2009 13:04 UTC-12

Bill Chen Can Beat a Full House

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Bill Chen (X)(X) {2-?}

(X)
Opponent (X)(X) {A-?}

(X)

Bill Chen completed the bet on third street, his opponent raised with an ace up and Chen made the call. He faced a bet on fourth street after catching a king.

"OK, I'll make a loose call," Chen quipped as he tossed in his chips.

Chen led on fifth street when his opponent paired fives and got a call, then led again on sixth when he caught trip fives. Again, his opponent called. Chen bet seventh street and finally, his opponent gave up his hand.

"What you got there?" asked Daniel Negreanu, sitting a few seats away.

"I can't show," quipped Chen.

"You got a full house?" Negreanu asked of Chen's opponent.

He got a sheepish nod in reply.

Chen took down the pot and is off to a good start with 8,700 in chips.

06-22-2009 13:07 UTC-12

Dario Takes Advantage

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Dario Minieri (X)(X) {7-?}

(X)
Opponent (X)(X) {9-?}

(X)

A player with a {9-?}

up completed, Dario Minieri raised and he got a call. Minieri led the betting on fourth, fifth, and sixth streets, getting called down the whole way, despite his seven-high board. His opponent finally gave up his hand when Minieri bet out on seventh.

Everyone's favorite scarf-wearing Italian is now up to 8,000.

06-22-2009 13:17 UTC-12

Tehan Rebounds from Rough Start

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Joe Tehan (X)(X) {7-?}

(X)
Brett Richey (X)(X) {2-?}

(X)

We picked this hand up on fourth street, with Joe Tehan betting out and Brett Richey making the call. Tehan led again on fifth and Richey looked him up. Tehan paired on sixth, but bet out after Richey checked. Richey made the call, then check-called Tehan's seventh street bet.

Tehan showed 8-7-6-5-4 and Richey mucked. After a bit of a rough start, Tehan is back up to 6,500. Richey is currently on 9,400 chips.

Level: 2

Blinds: 0/0

Ante: 0