Event 57 - $10,000 World Championship No Limit Hold'em Day 1a | 2009 World Series of Poker

07-03-2009 16:13 UTC-12

Gracz Calls Heads, Flips Tails

[user80015]

Tournament poker has always been about having your hands hold, and winning your races.

Recently Michael Gracz was involved in a classic race with his {A-Diamonds}

against an opponent's {J-Hearts}

.

Gracz called heads, but flipped tails when the board ran out {5-Spades}

to see Gracz double his opponent to over 50,000 as he slipped to a still healthy 45,800 in chips.

07-03-2009 16:12 UTC-12

Slowing Down, Eyeing Day 2?

[user66118]

Everyone was a bit surprised with how quick and aggressive the play was for the first three levels of the day, but it seems like the players are finally settling into their deep stacks. There are fewer multi-way pots than we saw early on, and the pots that are being played are going relatively uncontested to showdown. Small ball and chip saving seem to be on the players' minds right now.

Well, some of them at least. There are still 50-big-blind races and massive over-shoves here and there throughout the room. But for the most part, the players seem content to try and ride their current stacks into Day 2. We'll have to wait and see if we get one of those late flurries of activity to finish up the day.

07-03-2009 16:10 UTC-12

Redmond Lee At 150,000

[user111541]

With only a little more than an hour left on Day 1a, Redmond Lee appears to be the big stack in the room with 150,000.

Tags: Redmond Lee

07-03-2009 16:03 UTC-12

Cajelais Takes Two Steps Back

[user75032]

There was lots of betting, raising and reraising by Erik Cajelais and his opponent on a flop of {2-Diamonds}

. The opponent's chips were all in with a big draw {Q-Diamonds}

; Cajelais was in there with top set, {9-Spades}

. The turn {6-Diamonds}

filled one of Cajelais' opponent's draws. The river {A-Spades}

did not pair the board to make a better hand for Cajelais.

Cajelais is down to 37,000.

07-03-2009 15:56 UTC-12

Two Races, Two Eliminations

[user75032]

It's hard to believe that players are already getting to the point where they're willing to take a race for their tournament life, but that's exactly what we're seeing. At one table, Darrell Dicken was all in with {10-Hearts}

and called by {A-Spades}

. The player with ace-queen emerged victorious by hitting running aces on the turn and river. Dicken is out.

At the other side of the room, Bryan Colin creseted the 100,000-chip mark by raising to 900 preflop, then moving all in when a short stack reraised to 3,000. The short stack called all in for about 12,000 with {A-Clubs}

. Colin had the tens, {10-Hearts}

. They held on an eight-high board.

07-03-2009 15:56 UTC-12

Jason Alexander Hits Runner-Runner

[user111541]

A player raised from early position to 1,150 and Jason Alexander made it 3,200 to go from late position. Action folded around and the original raiser who called the three bet.

The flop came {J-Diamonds}

. After a check from early position, Alexander bet 6,000. His opponent then moved all in for 26,500. After tanking for several minutes, Alexander made the call.

Early Position: {8-Diamonds}

Alexander: {10-Hearts}

The board ran out {J-Diamonds}

giving Jason Alexander runner-runner full house to overtake his opponent's flopped flush.

Alexander takes out his opponent and moves to 84,500.

Tags: Jason Alexander

07-03-2009 15:55 UTC-12

DeMaci Bets Big and Wins

[user108095]

We caught this hand on the turn with approximately 10,000 in the pot and a board of {4-Spades}

.

Peter Rho led out for 8,000 from middle position and Chris DeMaci made the call from the cutoff. Rho checked when the river brought the {A-Spades}

and DeMaci over-bet the pot, pushing 45,000 into the middle. Rho didn't bite and laid down his hand.

The table broke at the end of the hand, and DeMaci racked up 80,000 in chips before moving to his new seat.

07-03-2009 15:40 UTC-12

Real Quotes from the Poker Table

[user25067]

"So, how do you know what the average stack is?"

"I think it's like, the number of chips divided by the number of players. But I might be wrong."

(For the curious, the current average stack is 36,351.)

07-03-2009 15:34 UTC-12

Jerry Yang Eliminated

[user111541]

A short stacked Jerry Yang was all in before the flop with {J-Diamonds}

against the {A-Hearts}

of his opponent.

The flop came {9-Hearts}

giving Yang the best hand with a pair of sevens and an inside straight draw.

However, the {K-Diamonds}

fell on the turn putting Yang at risk.

The {4-Spades}

on the river sealed his fate, eliminating the '07 champ from the tournament.

Tags: Jerry Yang

07-03-2009 15:27 UTC-12

One More Level

[user66118]

We're back in action for the last level of the night with 921 players remaining. We'll play on for another 120 minutes before bagging and tagging for a four-night soak. The players who survive Day 1a will be back for Day 2a on July 7th.