We just walked by table 24 where Tommy Vedes is sitting on an enormous leather desk chair that one might find in the office of a big time corporate CEO. We don't know how he got it in here, but he is surely the envy of every uncomfortable poker player stuck in the same rigid chair for today's ten hours of play. When we asked Vedes about the chair, he said, "I got it at Office Max, bro. $200, whatever, it's worth it."
We also aren't sure whether this is technically legal to do, so we'll see if he gets to keep his throne or if he has to sit in the same chair as the rest of us peasants.
We came into this hand on a board reading and the big blind checked to Eddy Sabat on the button who bet out 525. The big blind then check-raised it to 2,125 and Sabat called.
The river came the and both players checked. Sabat showed for a flopped straight and took down the pot. He is up just a little, but it's better than being down!
David "ODB" Baker has been mixing it up early during Level 1. We caught him in two hands, neither of which went to showdown, which Baker took down with a river bet.
On the first, the board read and an opponent check-called 1,275 from Baker. The hit the river and when it was checked to Baker, he fired 4,150. His opponent folded, giving Baker the pot.
Shortly after that, another opponent called 825 from Baker on a board. When the fell on the river, Baker's bet of 2,650 also forced a fold.
We came in on the turn with the board reading and a middle position player bet out 1,350. Shannon Elizabeth in late position raised it up to 3,000, the player called, and the two saw the river . The middle position player bet out 5,500 and Elizabeth made the call.
The other player showed for a turned set, and Elizabeth giggled and shook her head as she flashed
She is down to 22,500, but it's ok because she is still gorgeous.
The diligent workers at the WSOP released a "Stat Pack" this morning for the media to incorporate into their updates; as such, we thought it'd be fun to share it with all of you fine readers. We'll be sprinkling these tidbits into the blog throughout the day, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled:
Age Demographics (thru 57 events)
· Average Age of Entrants: 37.33
· Average Age of Cashers: 36.31
· Average Age of Final Tables: 33.61
· Average Age of Winners: 31.10
We managed to get to Table 76 right after the dealer put out the turn. The board read and a player on the button fired out a bet of 1,625 into former Main Even Champion Huck Seed. Seed calmly sat and pondered for a few moments before ultimately raising to 6,525. Seed's opponent then stared blankly at the table for a minute or so deciding what his best option was. Eventually Seed's opponent made the call.
With the river Seed wasted little time before putting 12,000 in the middle. Seed's opponent seemed a bit distraught as he slumped over and stared at his lap with his head in his hands. A few more moments passed before the button folded and Seed was awarded the pot
We've picked up on a couple more players here in the Blue section of the Amazon Room, with Phil "The Unabomber" Laak over on table 291, seat three.
We also noticed in the WSOP featured players list that Dario Alioto's name was on the table table in seat five, however, we can confirm that Alioto played yesterday in Day 1c.
In his place now is James Van Alstyne, so we'll be sure to keep a close eye on the action there throughout the day.