The player in the hijack seat raised to 300, Scott Seiver called from the cutoff, George Danzer called from the button, and Anton Allemann also called from the big blind. Allemann took two cards, the original raiser took one, Seiver took two, and Danzer one.
It checked to Seiver who bet 1,500, and only Allemann called. "Ninety-eight," said Seiver, turning over . Allemann tabled for a better ninety-eight, and dragged the pot.
Allemann is up to 13,500 with two add-ons left, while Seiver sits with 7,200 and two add-ons.
The higher the buy-in of the tournament, the more massage therapists you see around the room. These guys have money, we all know that. They also like to spend it on the finer things in life. One of those things is constantly getting a massage while playing poker. One quick gander around the room can see Phil Ivey, Nick Schulman, Justin Smith, Brandon Adams and John Monnette all relaxing while their muscles worked.
Dario Minieri lasted just over one level of play today. We caught up with the action just in time to see Minieri's -X-X-X lose to Dario Alioto's . Minieri had already used up all of his add-on chips and was sent to the rail as the first player out of the event today. If you're wondering how someone can blow 30,000 chips so fast, here's a look at the rest of the stacks at Minieri's table to get a feel for where they may have gone.
Jeff Lisandro raised to 300 from UTG+1, and Dee Tiller called from the button. Billy Baxter then raised to 1,700 from the big blind, and both Lisandro and Tiller called.
Baxter stood pat, Lisandro took one card, and Tiller drew two. Baxter checked, Lisandro bet 3,500, then Tiller raised to 7,000. Baxter folded -- a and an showing as he did -- then Lisandro called the raise with his remaining chips.
Tiller turned over . Lisandro showed his hand -- he'd made a nine -- and the dealer quickly mucked his cards as Lisandro passed an add-on chip the dealer's way.
"The ten-pound bass had to go deep into the water for that one!" said Tiller afterwards. When Vanessa Rousso asked what he meant, Tiller explained that was a reference to his online screen name and nickname -- "The Bass."
J.C. Tran immediately asked Tiller if he were a fisherman. Tiller said yes, and Tran noted he had recently taken up fishing. Meanwhile Lisandro and Rousso appeared to be discussing how Tiller had fished for that eight.
Tiller is way up to 21,000 now, plus he has all three of his add-on chips.
Billy Baxter raised from the cutoff set to 400. JC Tran was in the small blind and called before Jeffrey Lisandro reraised from the big blind. Baxter folded and then Tran followed suit.
"You guys draw too good," said Lisandro as he scooped in the chips to move back to 6,000. He's only got one add-on chip left.
Nick Schulman won this event last year to capture his first WSOP gold bracelet and add to his stout poker resume. Schulman has two WPT titles and over $4.1 million live tournament earnings. He's also a common fixture in the highest cash games around the world.
Last year, Schulman bested a field of 96 entrants to take home $279,742 for first place. He's already cashed once for a nice score in the $50,000 Poker Player's Championship this year, finishing 9th for $152,739. He just sat down to the right of Erik Seidel and will be looking to go back-to-back if he can.
We've got a few players in this tournament that not only share similar traits and interests, but they share the same blood. Both Mizrachi brothers are here, Michael and Robert, as are the Brunson family with Doyle and his son Todd. The two Binger brothers are also here with Michael and Nick and then you've got the married couple of Vanessa Rousso and Chad Brown. Both Mizrachi brothers already made a final table together in this year's $50,000 Poker Player's Championship at the 2010 WSOP. It'd be great to see one of these duos can follow suit.
At the end of the first level, David Williams open-raised to 250 from the button, and Doyle Brunson called from the big blind. Brunson drew two cards, while Williams took just one.
Brunson checked, Williams bet 500, and Brunson made the call. Williams showed , and Texas Dolly mucked.
Brunson has 4,000 chips at present, but still has all three of his add-on chips. Williams has 7,800, but only one add-on chip left.
This tournament has some interesting rules to it that allow for play to be a little faster and more aggressive. First, there is no limping allowed pre-draw. If you're going to enter the pot, you must raise. This seems most interesting in blind-versus-blind situations. If action folds to you in the small blind, you cannot complete. You can only raise or fold.
Second, post-draw bets have to be at least double the amount of the current big blind. For example, if the blinds are 50-100 and you want to bet post draw, you have to bet at least 200.
Both of these rules should help to spice things up a bit.
. Allemann tabled 
