Event 55: $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop Day 1 | 2012 World Series of Poker

07-01-2012 23:42 UTC-7

Dwan Keeps His Seat

Roland de Wolfe raised to 60,000 from early position, then Tom Dwan reraised to 190,000 from the hijack seat. It folded to the small blind where John Morgan called the reraise, and de Wolfe stepped aside.

The flop came {8-Hearts} {J-Diamonds} {Q-Hearts} , and Morgan quickly fired four lavender chips for a bet of 400,000. Dwan wasted no time declaring he was all in, the raise being to 940,000. Morgan sat quietly for a moment, then said he was calling.

Morgan: {A-Hearts} {10-Hearts}
Dwan: {K-Diamonds} {K-Hearts}

"Well, you have my blockers," said Morgan as he stood to watch the rest of the hand play out. The dealer then burned a card and delivered the {A-Clubs} turn, putting Morgan ahead of Dwan's kings.

At the sight of that card, Dwan leaned forward and had already begun to rise from his seat when the river fell… the {10-Clubs} , giving Dwan a saving straight!

"You had one foot in the car," someone said to Dwan. He grinned sheepishly, eyebrows raised, as he sat back down. "More than that," he responded.

Player	Chips	Progress
John Morgan	3,160,000 1,840,000	1,840,000
Tom Dwan	2,340,000 1,140,000	1,140,000

Tags: John Morgan Tom Dwan

07-01-2012 23:42 UTC-7

Stacked Table 391

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Donnie Peters

Table 391 in the middle of the outer section of the tournament is currently loaded with names. It's almost as if this table was hand-picked with superstars.

Below is a table with the current seat order of the players and some of their accomplishments in poker. Needless to say, it is absolutely stacked.

Seat	Player	Lifetime Earnings	WSOP Bracelets	WPT Titles
1	Vivek Rajkumar	$4,315,715	0	1
2	Tom Marchese	$3,813,868	0	1
3	Antonio Esfandiari	$4,899,155	1	2
4	Noah Schwartz	$2,513,817	0	0
5	Ben Lamb	$6,586,357	1	0
6	Jason Mercier	$7,770,291	2	0
7	Phil Ivey	$16,691,415	8	1
8	Eugene Katchalov	$7,127,354	1	1

	Total	$53,717,972	13	6

Here's what Jason Mercier had to say about the table on Twitter:

JasonMercier Jason Mercier This is prolly the toughest table I will ever play at- In my lifetime. Vivek, marchese, Esfandari, schwartz, ben lamb, me, Ivey, Eugene #JBL July 01 2012

The updated chip counts for the table can be found below.

Player	Chips	Progress
Antonio Esfandiari	5,800,000 30,000	30,000

Tom Marchese	4,680,000 1,280,000	1,280,000

Ben Lamb	4,400,000 250,000	250,000

Jason Mercier	4,300,000 595,000	595,000

Phil Ivey	2,665,000 485,000	485,000

Vivek Rajkumar	2,660,000 140,000	140,000
Noah Schwartz	2,000,000 950,000	950,000

Eugene Katchalov	1,105,000 368,000	368,000

07-01-2012 23:54 UTC-7

Smirnov Ice

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Tom Dwan opened to 76,000 from the button, Mikhail Smirnov three-bet to 300,000 from the big blind, and Dwan called. The flop came down {3-Hearts} {q-Hearts} {3-Clubs} , and both players checked.

The turn was the {2-Diamonds} , and Smirnov grabbed a twenty-stack of green T25,000 chips, betting 500,000. Dwan tank folded, and Smirnov raked in the pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Mikhail Smirnov	4,100,000 680,000	680,000
Tom Dwan	3,190,000 850,000	850,000

Tags: Tom Dwan Mikhail Smirnov

07-01-2012 23:55 UTC-7

Hansen Having His Way

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Four players saw a flop come {K-Hearts} {9-Hearts} {2-Spades} , and when it checked to Rick Salomon he fired 250,000. Gus Hansen then raised to 555,000 behind him, clearing out the others, and Salomon called. Both then checked down the {A-Diamonds} turn and {K-Diamonds} river.

Salomon tabled {10-Clubs} {10-Hearts} , at the sight of which Hansen said "I can beat that" as he showed {A-Spades} {9-Spades} and scooped the pot.

Soon after that one, Hansen was raising from the cutoff to 72,000 and Michael Mizrachi reraised to 201,000 from the button. It folded back to Hansen who called, and the flop came {7-Clubs} {3-Diamonds} {2-Hearts} . Hansen checked, and Mizrachi checked behind. The turn was the {4-Hearts} . This time Hansen bet 202,000, and Mizrachi called.

The river brought the {2-Spades} and a couple of checks. Hansen tabled {6-Clubs} {3-Clubs} for treys and deuces, and Mizrachi folded.

Player	Chips	Progress
Gus Hansen	5,600,000 1,300,000	1,300,000

Rick Salomon	3,200,000 450,000	450,000
Michael Mizrachi	640,000 610,000	610,000

Tags: Gus Hansen Michael Mizrachi Rick Salomon

07-01-2012 23:59 UTC-7

Rast the Earner

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Donnie Peters

From under the gun, Brian Rast opened with a raise to 75,000. A couple spots over, Giovanni Guarascio made the call. David Einhorn also called after action folded to him. He was acting from the big blind.

The flop came down {5-Clubs} {4-Clubs} {4-Hearts} and Einhorn checked. Rast bet 160,000 and Guarascio made the call. Einhorn folded.

The turn was the {8-Hearts} and Rast checked to his opponent. Guarascio checked back and the river completed the board with the {6-Spades} . Rast bet 150,000 and Guarascio folded.

On the next hand, Guarascio raised preflop and Rast called from the big blind to see the flop come down {Q-Diamonds} {10-Hearts} {4-Spades} . Rast checked and Guarascio bet 110,000. Rast called.

The {A-Hearts} landed on the turn and Rast passed over the action to Guarascio. He fired 215,000 and Rast called.

After the {8-Clubs} finished off the board on the river, Rast bet 450,000. Guarascio took a few moments, but decided to fold and Rast scooped the pot. With these two back-to-back pots, Rast has moved over 8.1 million.

Rast's good buddy, Antonio Esfandiari, peeked over as Rast was stacking up the pot and said, "Rasty the earner! All this guy does is earn, earn earn."

Player	Chips	Progress
Brian Rast	8,150,000 510,000	510,000

David Einhorn	5,150,000 340,000	340,000
Giovanni Guarascio	1,400,000 400,000	400,000

Tags: Brian Rast Antonio Esfandiari Giovanni Guarascio David Einhorn

07-02-2012 00:00 UTC-7

Feature Table Fireworks

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Chad Holloway

Things have been relatively quiet over at the Feature Table, but a hand just developed that may have been the biggest of the day at that particular table. We caught the action on the {J-Hearts} {5-Clubs} {3-Spades} flop when Guy Laliberté checked from the small blind and Tobias Reinkemeier bet 125,000 from the cutoff.

Laliberté responded with a check-raise to 425,000, Reinkemeier called, and it was off to the {6-Hearts} turn. Laliberté has been active and aggressive when he does play, and he continued that pattern by firing out 800,000. Reinkemeier thought for a brief moment and then put in the call.

The {4-Diamonds} river didn't see Laliberté miss a beat as he repeated his bet of 800,000. This time Reinkemeier looked at him inquisitively. "Guy, what are you doing? Do you have a straight?" Reinkemeier asked.

Laliberté remained silent as the minutes ticked by. Reinkemeier cut out chips, then went back to his cards, all in what appeared to be an attempt to get a reaction from Laliberté. "Are you gonna show?" he asked in one last-ditch attempt.

Laliberté did not respond and did not show when Reinkemeier ultimately folded.

Player	Chips	Progress
Guy Laliberté	6,400,000
Tobias Reinkemeier	2,700,000

Tags: Guy Laliberté Tobias Reinkemeier

07-02-2012 00:00 UTC-7

Break

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Donnie Peters

Level 8 : 15,000/30,000, 5,000 ante

The players are on their last 20-minute break of the night. Following the completion of this break, the field will play one more 60-minute level before bagging and tagging for the night.

07-02-2012 00:11 UTC-7

Chip Counts

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Mickey Doft

Player	Chips	Progress
Phil Hellmuth	8,140,000 910,000	910,000

Brian Rast	7,650,000 500,000	500,000

Frederic Banjout	7,575,000 825,000	825,000
Sam Trickett	7,245,000 1,315,000	1,315,000
Guy Laliberté	6,400,000
Antonio Esfandiari	6,120,000 320,000	320,000

Gus Hansen	5,738,000 138,000	138,000

Brandon Steven	5,350,000 120,000	120,000
David Einhorn	5,190,000 40,000	40,000
Bobby Baldwin	4,990,000 90,000	90,000

Philipp Gruissem	4,415,000 765,000	765,000

Mikhail Smirnov	4,380,000 280,000	280,000
Jason Mercier	4,270,000 30,000	30,000

Tom Marchese	4,160,000 520,000	520,000

Ben Lamb	4,065,000 335,000	335,000

Rick Salomon	3,500,000 300,000	300,000
Dan Shak	3,390,000 350,000	350,000
Robert Bright	3,305,000 75,000	75,000
Mike Sexton	3,245,000 425,000	425,000

Tom Dwan	3,210,000 20,000	20,000

Phil Ivey	3,210,000 545,000	545,000

Tobias Reinkemeier	3,180,000 480,000	480,000
Cary Katz	3,175,000 175,000	175,000

Noah Schwartz	2,935,000 935,000	935,000

Paul Newey	2,880,000 230,000	230,000

Read full

Level: 9

Blinds: 20,000/40,000

Ante: 5,000

07-02-2012 00:25 UTC-7

More for Mikhail

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Mikhail Smirnov raised to 95,000 from middle position, and John Morgan called quickly from one seat over. All others folded, and the flop came {K-Hearts} {4-Clubs} {K-Spades} . Smirnov fired 215,000, and Morgan again called right away. Both players then checked down the {3-Clubs} turn and {Q-Hearts} river.