We join a three-handed pot in progress on a tough Table 155. On a flop of , Jamie Robbins and George Danzer checked, and Thayer Rasmussen put out a bet of 700. Robbins called, and Danzer elected to put in a check-raise to 2,500. Rasmussen ducked out but Robbins called once again.
The turn card came the , and this time Robbins was the check-raiser. Danzer put out another 4,000 chips, drawing a raise to 9,000, which he called.
The river card came the , and Robbins kept the heat on with a bet of 11,000. Danzer went into the tank, looking uncomfortable in his chair. He finally called, and Robbins tabled for the full house.
After dropping that pot, Danzer is down to 7,800 and has a long uphill climb ahead of him today.
Beth Shak is in the Orange Section today, playing at a table near the rail. Shak was one of three players who paid 250 chips to take a flop of . She check-called the late-position player's bet of 500 chips and was heads-up to the turn. When that card hit, Shak led into her opponent for 1,000. He made the call.
The river fell . Shak made another sizable bet of 1,500 chips. Her opponent folded.
Tony G. raised to 225 from under-the-gun and got two callers. An opponent in late position then reraised to 1,200. Tony made the call and the other two players folded.
Tony and his opponent both checked down a board of , and Tony checked again at the on the river. When his opponent bet 2,000, Tony mucked and his opponent took the pot without showing his cards.
Pro Contingent: Katja Thater, John Duthie, Roland De Wolfe, Andy Black, Vitaly Lunkin, Ludovic Lacay, Sorel Mizzi, Steven Van Zadelhoff, Ted Lawson, Jon "Pearljammer" Turner, Wooka Kim, Jennifer Tilly, Luke Staudenmaier.
Pro Athlete Contingent: Orel Hershiser
Amateur Contingent: Lots of dudes in PokerStars swag
For the majority of the satelliters and part-time players, the chance to play at a Main Event featured table is an opportunity to get some face time on TV and pick up a few sponsorship dollars by slamming patches on every free square inch of T-shirt real estate. But today, there's a price to be paid for drawing the main table.
Eli Elezra was in Seat 6 to start the day, and the action was seven-handed with two empty chairs for the first orbit. The seat to the left of Elezra was soon filled by Dutch pro Lex Veldhuis, tipping the table toward seats six and seven. Just a few minutes later though, Allen Cunningham would climb into seat one, re-balancing things a bit.
It's no easy chore over there under the bright lights as the featured table may well be the most treacherous in the room.
On the other side of the stage, Sammy Farha has joined Greg Mueller at the secondary featured table.
Erik Cajelais was the only caller of a preflop raise to 250. He called again on a flop of when his opponent bet 500. On the turn , Cajelais' opponent slowed down and checked. Cajelais took the opportunity to bet 900. He was called.
The river fell . Cajelais' opponent woke up and led out for 1,200, a bet that Cajelais raised to 4,200. His opponent called and mucked when Cajelais showed down for trip threes.
It's a good first hour for Cajelais -- he's up to 41,000 already.