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2010 World Series of Poker
WSOP Tournament of Champions
Day: 1
Event Info
2010 World Series of Poker
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Prize Pool
$1,000,000
Total Entries
27
Level
19
Blinds
8,000 / 16,000
Ante
2,000
Players Left 1 / 27
Filter
Sometimes it's a little difficult to hear the table talk from media row, but we're pretty sure we heard this right. Antonio Esfandiari, Daniel Negreanu and T.J. Cloutier were talking prop bets and Negreanu "hypothetically" offered Cloutier $1 million to kiss Esfandiari on the cheek.
"Nope, no, can't do it," mumbled the Texan.
"Hell, for $1 million I'd FRENCH kiss you!" Esfandiari cackled.
"What if he shaved off some of the stubble?" Annie Duke offered, pointing to Esfandiari's five o' clock shadow.
Cloutier just shook his head and stared at the felt as he tried not to turn red. No man-on-man love for this cowboy.
Barry Shulman raised to 300 under the gun, and Mike Matusow called from middle position. On the 
flop, Shulman bet 500. Matusow bumped it to 1,500, and Shulman called. Barry checked the [8sh] turn and called when Matusow bet 2,000. Shulman check-called another 5,000 on the 
river to see Matusow roll over 
for his second set of the day.
"I'll be alright as long as I keep making trips," Matusow said, building his stack to 45,500. Shulman is down to 21,000.
The table has been joking about how they can't bluff Mike Matusow since he's calling down everything. Somehow that transitioned into a discussion about the new aggressive style of play driven by "those Internet kids."
"I thought you were one of them," one player told Matusow.
He responded, "Well, I'm definitely the youngest guy at this table."
With about 15 minutes remaining in the first level, Howard Lederer finally arrived at the ESPN featured table.
"Good morning, doctor," Antonio Esfandiari offered as a greeting. "Doyle's been stealing your blind."
Greg Raymer raised his small blind to 250, and Mike Matusow called from the big blind. If you wanted the last season of High Stakes Poker, you'd think a body double has been sent to play for the Mouth today. He's gone from uber-nit on that show to playing every single hand. Funny how a freeroll changes the game.
The flop fell 
. Raymer bet 300, and Matusow called. On the turn, Raymer bet 600, and Matusow called again. The 
river paired the board, and Raymer tried one more time to take down the pot with a 2,000-chip bet. Matusow called with 
. Raymer mucked, saying "Just an ace."
"Just an ace?" chided Mike. "Never leave home without top pair." Mr. Mouth is the table chip leader with 38,000, while Raymer is down to 25,000.
Daniel Negreanu opened for 200, Joe Hachem three-bet to 700 and Negreanu called.
The flop came down 
. Negreanu checked, Hachem bet 600 and Negreanu raised to 2,000. Hachem re-popped it to 6,600 and after a bit of a think, Negreanu laid it down.
Just like that, we have our first elimination of the day.
With about 4,000 in the pot and the board reading 
, John Juanda bet 3,500 and was raised to 8,200 by Jennifer Harman. After about a minute of deliberating, Juanda went all in for his remaining 29,100. This sent Harman into the tank for about three minutes before she made the call.
Harman tabled 
and Juanda couldn't beat it. He wished the players at the table good luck and graciously exited the area.
Jennifer Harman is off to a great start with about 67,000.
Stop the presses! Today is an historic day in the history of poker. Greg Raymer is wearing pants! We're not sure we've ever seen him play in anything but shorts. Even in Deauville, France in January, when we were wearing a coat, gloves, scarf, and snow boots, he trudged around in the sludge and sleet in shorts and sandals. But today is such a big occasion, that the Fossilman actually purchased a slimming pair of slacks. That's respect.
Sammy Farha raised to 300 when it folded to him on the button, and Mike Matusow defended his big blind. The Mouth has said several times already that he's got his eyes on Farha's chips. Matusow took the lead with a 325 bet on the 
flop, and Farha called. Both players checked the 
turn, and Matusow went back to betting after the river. Farha called the 650, and Matusow could only show 
. Farha's 
for kings and nines took down the pot. Mike's going to have to try harder than that to get to Sammy's stack.
