With the big blind away from the table, Eddy Sabat limped in from under the gun. A player raised to 600 behind him, and it folded around to Sabat who called the raise.
The flop came , and both players checked. The turn was the . Sabat checked, his opponent bet 900, and Sabat called. The river then brought the . Sabat again checked, and the preflop raiser bet 1,575. Sabat thought a moment, then made the call.
As he called, his opponent sheepishly said "six-high," tossing his cards face down as Sabat tabled his . Sabat now has 32,000.
A player in middle position raised to 550 and Kenny Tran popped it to 1,750 on the button. The players in the blinds folded and the middle position four-bet, making it 5,100 to play. Tran took about 30 seconds before making the call.
The flop came down and the middle-position player checked. Tran bet 6,500 and forced a fold from his opponent, chipping up to about 34,000.
Seat 4 raised to 550 from early position and action folded to Chris Ferguson in the cutoff. The 2000 Main Event Champion looked at his cards, paused and then put in a raise to 1,550. John Phan released from the button and the blinds got out of the way. Action was back on Seat 4 but instead of calling a raise out of position, he decided his best option was to fold. Even with that win, Ferguson is still down a bit sitting with 23,500.
Five players made it to see the flop; all five checked and they got to see a turn for free. It checked around to a player in mid position who bet 400. William Thorson was the only caller.
They went heads up to the river and this time the mid-position player bet out 1,100. Thorson raised to 6,600, but his opponent instantly announced all in for an additional 10,600. Thorson dwelled up for some minutes, actually, literally scratching his head. Eventually he folded, and dropped to 11,500.
With so many entrants, it's typical for many Main Event players to arrive at their Day 1 tables and not know any of their competitors. That's not the case for the players at Table 50 in the Pavilion. The table is currently the home of the two most recent North American Poker Tour Main Event winners. In Seat 1 we've got PokerStars Team Pro Vanessa Selbst who took down the NAPT Mohegan Sun back in April. Meanwhile in Seat 3 you can find Tom Marchese who won the Main Event at the tour's February stop at the Venetian.
Put us in line with the players who would rather take a different seat than try their luck against those two.
Level 2 is normally an opportunity to see flops, but not so on George 'The Panzer' Danzer's table. When I arrived, there was 3,400 in front of the PokerStars Team Pro: Germany, seated in the small blind, and 8,700 before his middle-positioned opponent. "You go all in, I call," commented Danzer as he reluctantly threw his cards into the muck.
Despite that slip, Danzer still his head above water with 34,000.
The cutoff seat raised to 400 and Ryan Daut reraised from the big blind to 1,400. The cutoff made it 3,500 and Daut flatted. The flop came down and Daut checked. His opponent fired 5,000 and Daut made the call.
The turn was the and both players checked before the river produced the . Daut checked and his opponent fired 10,000. Daut mucked his hand, folded the . His opponent showed only the and raked in the pot.
Bryan "The Icon" Micon raised to 525 after a player in the cutoff limped in front of him. Another player in the big blind called and so too did the limper.
The flop fell and both players checked to Micon who continued for 575. The player in the big blind check-raised to 2,075 and only Micon called.
Both players checked the on the turn, but after the rivered Micon's opponent led for 1,575. Micon released, and his stack slipped to 23,075.
There were four players in preflop who created a pot of 2,300 when the flop came . Seat 8 checked and Emmitt Smith bet 1,000. The players in the cutoff and button both folded and Seat 8 made the call.
The turn was the and Seat 8 checked. Smith fired out a huge bet of 15,000 and Seat 8 called. When the came on the river, Seat 8 moved all in. Smith had fewer chips and made the call for his tournament life. Smith turned over for flopped trips that turned into a full house, but Seat 8 showed for a bigger full house.
Smith took the beat in stride and told the table, "Nice seeing you all." He had a smile on his face as he exited the Pavilion Room. It looks like the future NFL Hall of Famer will have to wait until next year to add a WSOP Championship to his résumé.
, and both players checked. The turn was the 
. Sabat checked, his opponent bet 900, and Sabat called. The river then brought the 
. Sabat again checked, and the preflop raiser bet 1,575. Sabat thought a moment, then made the call.
. Sabat now has 32,000.
flop; all five checked and they got to see a 
turn for free. It checked around to a player in mid position who bet 400. William Thorson was the only caller.
river and this time the mid-position player bet out 1,100. Thorson raised to 6,600, but his opponent instantly announced all in for an additional 10,600. Thorson dwelled up for some minutes, actually, literally scratching his head. Eventually he folded, and dropped to 11,500.
and the pot sitting at around 6,500, Ryan D'Angelo fired out 2,800 and was check-called by his opponent.
went check, check as the dealer delivered the 
on the river.
to best his opponent's 
and Daut checked. His opponent fired 5,000 and Daut made the call.
. Daut checked and his opponent fired 10,000. Daut mucked his hand, folded the 
. His opponent showed only the 
and raked in the pot.
on the turn, but after the 
and Seat 8 checked. Smith fired out a huge bet of 15,000 and Seat 8 called. When the 
came on the river, Seat 8 moved all in. Smith had fewer chips and made the call for his tournament life. Smith turned over 
for flopped trips that turned into a full house, but Seat 8 showed 
for a bigger full house.
