Here are a few early hands from a couple of tables.
Table 408
Folded to Brian Aleska on the button, he raised it up and received the call from Greg Mueller in the big blind. A flop would see Mueller check and then call the bet of Aleska. When the hit the turn, Mueller would again check, but this time let it go when Aleska flicked out a bet.
Table 407
Jesse Yaginuma opened up the action with a raise from the cutoff and was greeted with a call from Chad Layne on the button. On the flop, Yaginuma would bet and Layne would promptly make it two bets to go. Yaginuma then put in the third bet and a call from Layne would see a dealt on the turn. This time Layne would simply call when Yaginuma bet and a completed the board on the river. Again Yaginuma bet and Layne called as Yaginuma turned over his . It wasn't good enough for Layne's as he raked in the pot.
Matt Matros opened with a raise from the cutoff only to find Matt Sterling three-bet on the button. Millie Shiu called from the small blind and it folded back to Matros who also decided to tag along.
The dealer pounded the table and spread out a flop of . Shiu and Matros checked to Sterling who continued out with a bet. Both players called and the turn brought the . Two checks back to Sterling and he tossed out yet another bet. Once again, he received two calls.
The completed the board on the river and all three players checked. Matros tabled for a rivered pair of queens and both of his opponents mucked their hands, allowing Matros to drag in a sizable pot early.
The cards are in the air on all ten tables and the players are ready to go. Each table starts five-handed and will of course play down to just one. Let's do it!
Welcome back to the Rio for continued coverage of Event 25: $1,500 Limit Hold'em Shootout. Yesterday saw 366 players whittled down to 50 and that's how many will be returning today. By the end of the day, we will have another World Series of Poker final table.
The day will start with ten tables each playing five-handed and of course, as this event is a shootout format, only one survivor from each table will advance through to the final table.
The likes of Victor Ramdin, Mike Leah, Justin Bonomo, JJ Liu, Ari Engel and Brock Parker will be all at the felt today and looking to take down their table and advance to the third and final day. Interestingly Ari Engel was at the final table of this event in 2011.
Also returning and in with a chance to take down their shootout table will be Scott Seiver and Greg Mueller. Both of these players made a deep run in Event 9: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Re-Entry, with Mueller going on to win six-figures for finishing in 7th place. Don't forget Matt Matros either as he already won a bracelet this summer in Event 16: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em - Six-Handed.
Make sure to take note of Table 408 today as Liu, Ramdin, Bonomo and Mueller will be seated together, of course, only one of these big names can make it through, so it should be fiercely fought battle.
It's all set to begin at 1:00 PM and PokerNews will be here every step of the way. By the end of the day only ten will remain. Stay tuned to find out who they will be!