With the board showing 
and a modest pot having already developed, a short-stacked player sitting in the big blind checked, J.C. Tran bet 250 from the button, and his opponent check-raised all in for 750 total. Tran thought a beat, then made the call.
His opponent showed 
for a set. "Returning the favor," chimed another player, suggesting perhaps Tran was giving back some chips he'd taken from his tablemate earlier.
Tran is sitting on about 2,300 at present.
The blinds may be small here in the early going, but that's not preventing some from getting all those 3,000 chips in at the earliest opportunity.
As we near the end of the first level, Dana Kellstrom -- who finished 620th in the Main Event last year -- was the beneficiary of one such hand. Preflop betting saw Kellstrom get most of his stack in the middle, and all of his opponent's. When all was said and done, Kellstrom's pocket queens held up against his foe's pocket tens.
Level: 2
Blinds: 25/50
Ante: 0
Just had an interesting situation come up over at Jason Somerville's table. With the board showing 
, Somerville bet 350 into a pot of roughly 1,200. When his opponent called, Somerville immediately put his cards in the muck, his bluff having been picked off.
Then Somerville's opponent attempted to muck his cards, and Somerville asked whether or not his opponent had to show. The discussion continued for a bit, with Somerville finally asking that the floor come over to make a ruling.
Somerville ultimately was sorry he'd pursued the matter. After the floor came over, it was determined Somerville was himself subject to a one-hand penalty for having put his cards in the muck without showing them -- in other words, if he hadn't have asked about his opponent showing his cards, Somerville wouldn't have been penalized himself.
Somerville spent his hand off sharing the story with Jason Mercier, playing at a nearby table.
![[user46392]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
They're still pouring into the Pavilion Room, and indeed many of them are pouring back out again almost immediately as early tournament casualties - all of this is happening so fast that the board isn't being updated very frequently, but by the evidence of all the tables that have been broken already and the new faces appearing at the tables that are left, this is quiet, organized carnage.
This game of musical chairs with cards has resulted in few rather interesting tables. Dave "Devilfish" Ulliott has appeared, and following his original table breaking he now finds himself sharing a table with Russian poker powerhouse Vitaly Lunkin. Both of them are above their starting stacks - Lunkin on 4,000 and Devilfish on 5,000 - and in a good position to bully the rest of their hapless table. Meanwhile a few tables away Terrence Chan is engrossed in conversation with young Italian pro Dario Minieri. Minieri, his English much improved since last WSOP, seems only too happy to have made a friend.
With this tournament shedding players like an elderly cat sheds hair on clean clothes just back from the dry cleaners, the laws of poker state that some of the folks still in have got to be doing well.
One of those enjoying a great start to the day is the dressed-for-success Tony Dunst. Looking the part in suit and tie, Dunst was already a relative big stack when a shorter opponent chose to put his whole stack in with 
preflop. Dunst was holding 
, and following his opponent's failure to spike a king, Dunst moved up to 9,500.
Dave "Devilfish" Ulliott's new table doesn't seem to be working out too well for him at the moment - he's just lost a chunky pot to knock him back down to 3,400.
Josh Stern opened for 200 in early position and Devilfish called to see a 
flop. Stern bet out 400 and Devilfish ominously asked him, "How much you got left?" However, in the event he just flat called, and they saw a turn.
The turn was the and Stern opted to check this time. Devilfish bet 700 - but Stern now check-raised all in for 1,625 more.
"They usually do that," sighed Devilfish as he considered his options.
"Save your chips," Stern advised - and after a little while Devilfish did just that, folding and letting Stern take the pot without a showdown.
A short while ago Gavin Griffin was eliminated after a river queen meant his pocket aces had been cracked by Terrence Chan's .
Chan is now sitting on a stack of about 11,500. From his Twitter feed, Chan appeared less than thrilled at having dispatched of Griffin. "First time in my life i've been genuinely unhappy to win an all-in in a big tourney," he recently reported.
He's nevertheless finding the player occupying Griffin's old seat an interesting replacement. As a martial arts enthusiast himself, Chan is finding a lot to talk about with the new player at the table -- Randy "The Natural" Couture. That conversation may not last too long, though, as Couture is down to 700.
A short bit after eliminating Bill Chen, action folded to the button where Cory Dowd raised to 150. The small blind was his only customer and the two players took a flop of 
with two hearts. The small blind checked before Dowd fired a continuation bet of 200. His bet was check-raised to 500 by the small blind to which Dowd made the call.
The turn added the 
to the board and the small blind checked. Dowd fired 625 and was called before the river completed the board with the . The small blind checked and Dowd fired a bet of 800. His opponent called, but then mucked his hand after Dowd tabled . He's now up to about 6,400 chips.
Following a couple of limpers, Theo Tran raised to 300 from the cutoff, and ended up with three callers total (the small blind plus both limpers). The flop came 
and all three players checked to Tran who bet 700. Just one player stuck around.
The turn was the 
. This time Tran's opponent led for 800 and Tran thought a while before making the call. The river was the 
, and both checked.
Tran's opponent showed 
while Tran turned over 
for the better pair. He has about 6,000 as we head to the first break of the day.
