John Kabbaj is up to 93,000 after flopping a set of sevens from er... heavens. It was last year's bracelet winner who kick-started the action, raising it up preflop to 750 with before being reraised to 2,500. Kabbaj made the call.
The flop rolled out to give Kabbaj top set. His opponent led for 2,800, Kabbaj raised to 10,500, and the initial aggressor made the call. On the turn, Kabbaj took the lead, betting 17,000, which was subsequently called.
on the river triggered a check, followed by an all-in for 16,500 from Kabbaj. The Brit's foe called, but quickly mucked upon being met with the bad news.
We walked up to a flop of , and a player in the two seat was betting 4,000 into a pot of about that much. Phil Laak check-called from the big blind, and the dropped on the turn. Laak checked again but then shoved when he faced a second bet of 5,000. His opponent called all in for the rest of his own chips, and the cards were on their backs:
Laak:
Opponent:
Laak had made his flush, and his opponent was going to need to fill up or better to stay alive. The river was safe, though, and Laak's vaulted up to 104,500 as he reduces the field size by one.
We arrived tableside to see a flop. Alec Torelli (mid position) bet out. Florian Langmann (cutoff) raised. Torelli shoved, and Langmann called. They waited briefly for some TV cameras which never appeared, and then revealed their hands.
Torelli: for the flopped straight
Langmann: for top pair and an open-ended straight draw
Turn: making both players a queen-high straight
River:
"Sorry man," said Langmann as the turn dropped on the felt. The dealer started to chop the pot, and pushed half of it to Torelli. "Hey hey, what are you doing?" asked Langmann, suddenly alarmed; he hadn't registered that it was a chopped pot. The dealer turned over all the mucked cards to prove it.
"I play too much Omaha," laughed Langmann once he'd realized his mistake. "Then I'm not sorry."
The disappointed Torelli remained on around 24,000. Langmann is still flying high, although not as high as he thought he would be after that, on 85,000.
From under the gun, Alex Kamberis raised to 900. The cutoff seat made the call and the two were off to a flop of . Kamberis fired 1,625 and his opponent called.
The turn brought the and Kamberis fired again. This time he increased his bet to 3,800. His opponent made a raise for all of his chips and instantly Kamberis folded. He dropped down to 43,000 in chips.
We posted the number of Day 1b runners as 1,489, but we weren't entirely sure that was the official, official number. These things have a way of being sneaky sometimes, you know. In any event, a nice chat with the tournament staff has finally locked it up at 1,489, honest and verified.
That puts the combined field from the first half of Day 1 at 2,614 players. That's a significant increase over last year's 1,989 runners by this point, a bit more than 30% in fact. Don't read too much into that, though; the WSOP powers-that-be have been fiddling with opening and closing registration for Day 1d -- the perennial favorite day to play -- to try and balance the numbers across the starting days a bit better and thus avoid the lockout fiasco of last year's Main Event.
Kevin MacPhee raised from under the gun to 800 and was called by the hijack seat. The flop came down and both players checked.
The turn brought the and MacPhee fired 1,250. His opponent called. The river completed the board with the and MacPhee check-folded to a bet of 2,750. He's now down to 25,300 in chips after losing this pot.
Perry Friedman was in middle position and raised to 900 preflop. Another player in middle position re-raised to 3,000. The flop came and Friedman check-called a bet of 3,000 from his opponent.
Both players checked the on the turn. The came on river and Friedman checked before calling a 5,000 bet from his opponent.
Friedman showed which was good against his opponent's . He's now up to 26,000 chips.
With slightly over 5,000 chips in the middle, the board read . Ronnie Bardah was up first and fired 2,600. His opponent tanked for a little while, but ended up not making the call. Bardah won the pot and now has 46,000 in chips.
Again a cry of, "All in and a call!" sets us running over to catch a glimpse of another showdown, this time at Table 288.
It looked like the money got in on the turn, but whatever the circumstances were surrounding the shove, George Lind was all in for his last 19,000 with . His opponent was working with , and the board full of rags shipped the pot to the PokerStars Team Online pro. He's back at 40,000 now and has recovered from his early sluggishness.
![[user4144]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
to give Kabbaj top set. His opponent led for 2,800, Kabbaj raised to 10,500, and the initial aggressor made the call. On the 
turn, Kabbaj took the lead, betting 17,000, which was subsequently called.
on the river triggered a check, followed by an all-in for 16,500 from Kabbaj. The Brit's foe called, but quickly mucked upon being met with the bad news.
, and a player in the two seat was betting 4,000 into a pot of about that much. Phil Laak check-called from the big blind, and the 
dropped on the turn. Laak checked again but then shoved when he faced a second bet of 5,000. His opponent called all in for the rest of his own chips, and the cards were on their backs:
was safe, though, and Laak's vaulted up to 104,500 as he reduces the field size by one.
flop. Alec Torelli (mid position) bet out. Florian Langmann (cutoff) raised. Torelli shoved, and Langmann called. They waited briefly for some TV cameras which never appeared, and then revealed their hands.
for the flopped straight
for top pair and an open-ended straight draw
making both players a queen-high straight
and Harrington's opponent checked once more. Harrington bet 3,000 and was called once more. He showed 
and his opponent mucked.
and both players checked.
and MacPhee fired 1,250. His opponent called. The river completed the board with the 
and MacPhee check-folded to a bet of 2,750. He's now down to 25,300 in chips after losing this pot.
which was good against his opponent's 
. He's now up to 26,000 chips.
. Ronnie Bardah was up first and fired 2,600. His opponent tanked for a little while, but ended up not making the call. Bardah won the pot and now has 46,000 in chips.
. His opponent was working with 
, and the board full of rags shipped the pot to the PokerStars Team Online pro. He's back at 40,000 now and has recovered from his early sluggishness.