Despite the repuatation of limit, the action was fast and furious throughout the day with the initial field of 625 sliced down to 189 (according the screen) within eight levels.
At first, it appeared as though Phil Ivey was going to plow his way through the field like a maniacal farmer, but as the day drew to a close, his chip stack headed south whilst others began to take control.
David Williams, in particular, was continually adding chips to his stack, ultimately finishing the day on 41,800, but on second glance it would appear as though Lowball finalist Jameson Painter has earned the title of end-of-day chip leader with 47,600.
With the likes of John Juanda, Sorel Mizzi, Chad Brown, Matt Hawrilenko and Jeff Shulman still alive, Day Two should be an action-packed feast of poker fun and frolics. Join us tomorrow, same bat channel, different bat time: 3:00 p.m. local time.
Justin 'Boosted J' Smith has been eliminated from today's event, desperately short and all in, I believe, on a flop of . David Baker removed the second player by betting the king on the turn with , only for Smith to take one glance at his opponent's hand and muck his cards. Meanwhile, Baker has made a minor recovery and is now up to around the 12,000 mark.
As we enter into the final 15 minutes, some of the notable chip counts are as follows:
David Williams -- 27,500
Dewey Tomko -- 6,500
Sorel Mizzi -- 30,000
Brock Parker -- 12,500
John Juanda -- 14,500
Chad Brown -- 11,000
Matt Hawrilenko -- 24,500
Mark Gregorich -- 2,500
John Myung -- 16,000
Jeff Madsen -- 25,000
Svetlana Gromenkova -- 4,000
Phil Ivey -- 20,000
Jeff Shulman -- 21,000
Barry Greenstein -- 9,000
David Baker -- 13,000
Marco Traniello -- 18,500
Ted Forrest -- 11,000
Terrence Chan has taken three nasty hits in a row, all of them courtesy of Matt Hawrilenko.
Hit #1
Chan raised under the gun and Hawrilenko called in the big blind to see an flop. Hawrilenko check-raised, Chan duly bet/called and they proceeded.
Hawrilenko bet out on the turn and again on the river. Chan called both streets, but mucked to Hawrilenko's .
Hit #2
We'd actually wandered off for a while, but it looked as though Hawrilenko had bet out on every street from the small blind and Chan had called every time from the big blind. At the end of it, Hawrilenko flipped for another set and Chan mucked again.
Hit #3
Hawrilenko raised it up from the button and Chan reraised from the small blind. Hawrilenko called, and they saw their third consecutive flop together; it was . Chan bet out and Hawrilenko called.
Chan was a little more wary on the turn, merely check-calling this time, and was downright scared by the river - he check-folded to another bet from Hawrilenko and dropped to 15,000. Hawrilenko was by now up to 24,000.
Two-time bracelet winner Brock Parker is struggling with 10,000. He raised preflop from middle position and was reraised by the small blind. Parker called. Parker then called bets on the flop of turn of a board, before checking down the river. Parker mucked upon being shown .
flop.
. David Baker removed the second player by betting the king on the turn with 
flop. Hawrilenko check-raised, Chan duly bet/called and they proceeded.
turn and again on the 
river. Chan called both streets, but mucked to Hawrilenko's 
.
. Chan bet out and Hawrilenko called.
turn, merely check-calling this time, and was downright scared by the 
river - he check-folded to another bet from Hawrilenko and dropped to 15,000. Hawrilenko was by now up to 24,000.
board, before checking down the 
.