We didn't catch the hands, but it appears both Dan Heimiller and Jason Potter have been eliminated from the tournament as their former seats are occupied by new players.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted | |
|
Busted |
Don't forget to check out our Day 1 coverage of the $50,000 Poker Players Championship. Also, be sure to check out the video below as Lynn Gilmartin catches up with the pros prior to the big event.
Level: 8
Blinds: 200/400
Ante: 50
Robert Cheung, who won a bracelet back in 2007 after taking down Event #38 $1,500 NLHE, had good start here on Day 1a, but his fortunes have quickly reversed. In a recent hand, Cheung was under the gun and raised to 650 after looking down at 
. He received a call from the small blind and it was heads up to the 
flop.
Cheung had flopped top pair with top kicker, not too mention the ace-high flush draw. He promptly bet 975 after the small blind had checked, and received a call. When the 
hit the turn, the small blind surprised Cheung by leading out for 2,000. Cheung thought for a moment before putting in a raise to 6,500, the small blind moved all in, and Cheung snap-called.
The small blind rolled over 
for the superior hand, meaning Cheung needed to hit the river. Unfortunately for him, the 
blanked and he was sent to the rail and no doubt off to another tournament.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted |
Action folded around to the button, who put in a raise to 1,275. The small blind got out of the way and action was back on Jonathan Zaun, who you might recall as the player who won a freeroll to get a seat in this event. He thought for a moment before stacking his chips, amounting to around 5,000, and pushed them in the pot. The button made a quick call and it was off to the races.
Zaun: 
Button: 
Zaun held the best hand when the money went in, which is oftentimes the only thing you can hope for in tournaments such as this. The 
kept Zaun's tens out in front, but it did provide the button with a flush draw. The dealer burned and slowly revealed the 
, filling the said flush draw.
Zaun simply nodded his head in reaction to the bad news, but knew not all hope was lost as he held an open-ended straight flush draw. If either the 
or 
hit the river, he'd be saved. The table reacted sharply when the 
peeled off on the river. It was the right number and color Zaun needed, but not the right suit.
Zaun collected his things and exited the Pavilion Room, nine hours after starting his first-ever World Series of Poker event.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted |
As we were walking through the field, a player at Nam Le's table motioned for us to come watch the action. His name is Robert "The Thorn" Rosengarten and he seems to be one of the most enthusiastic players in today's field. While most of the players are quiet and subdued, Rosengarten has his table in stitches.
While we were standing nearby, Rosengarten pointed to his friend on the rail explaining that he was his "agent" to which the table chuckled. He also pointed to the stage where the remaining bracelets are displayed in glass boxes and told us "You can even go touch my box up there!" no doubt referring to the one for this event which he plans on winning.
After the next hand was dealt, a player in middle position raised to around 600, Nam Le called, and then Rosengarten declared (loudly) "I've waited six years for this!" and pushed all his remaining chips into the pot. Action folded back around to the original raiser who called Rosengarten's all in. Nam Le debated for a bit before deciding to fold.
Rosengarten: 
Opponent: 
Rosengarten's queens were ahead and the flop came 
giving him a set, but also giving the other player a gutshot straight draw. The turn was the 
and Rosengarten said "I can't look!" and turned away before the river card was dealt. When the dealer put out the 
on the river, the table let out an "ooooh" seemingly just to throw Rosengarten off, and he turned around to see that he had indeed won the pot.
He now sits with around 10,000 in chips.
We were doing another lap around the tournament floor and happened to discover Pierre “Zoutechamp” Neuville, 68, who many may know as the "PokerStars Serial Qualifier." Neuville made a name for himself after qualifying for numerous live events on PokerStars.
At the start of 2011, heading into the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, the Belgian Neuville had qualified for 17 European Poker Tour events in a row through PokerStars satellites. Not only that, Neuville cashed in 30% of the live events, which was an amazing feat in and of itself.
If you want to be like Neuville and win your way into poker tournaments around the world, all you have to do is visit PokerStars and play today. In the meantime, keep an eye on Neuville, who currently sits on 33,000 in this event and is poised to make a deep run.
*Photo courtesy of the PokerStars blog
Just in case you missed it the first time . . .
| Player | Points | Cashes | Final Tables | Bracelets | Winnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ben Lamb | 572.65 | 3 | 2 | 1 | $1,130,494 |
| Chris Moorman | 486.20 | 5 | 2 | 0 | $1,051,466 |
| Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier | 479.25 | 4 | 2 | 1 | $811,639 |
| Phil Hellmuth | 458.25 | 4 | 2 | 0 | $527,970 |
| Sam Stein | 402.63 | 4 | 2 | 1 | $716,342 |
| Mikhail Lakhitov | 401.80 | 5 | 2 | 1 | $851,058 |
| Jason Mercier | 385.33 | 5 | 3 | 1 | $696,438 |
| Mitch Schock | 364.81 | 5 | 3 | 1 | $406,018 |
| Joe Ebanks | 360 | 3 | 1 | 1 | $1,179,031 |
| Sean Getzwiller | 343 | 3 | 2 | 1 | $672,627 |
*Through Event #49
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
33,000 | |
|
|
30,000 | |
|
|
21,000 | 14,950 |
|
|
20,000 | -2,000 |
|
|
14,500 | -1,500 |
|
|
12,000 | 7,800 |
|
|
11,000 | 6,900 |
|
|
8,700 | 50 |
|
|
3,500 | -9,500 |
The dinner break has concluded and the players are back to battling it out on the felt. Out of 1,932 players who began play today only 549 remain. Play will end today when we have 15% of the field remaining, or about 290 players.
