Event 59: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em Day 1a | 2012 World Series of Poker

07-05-2012 00:12 UTC-6

Day 1a Ends Early in Level 9; Lee Leads & Ivey in Contention

[user196975]

Level 9 : 300/600, 75 ante

Phil Ivey looks to make another final table.

The first of two starting days in Event 59, $1,000 No Limit Hold’em, of the World Series of Poker is in the books. A total of 1,740 elected to play today and only 256 remain. Tournament officials stopped play once they had reached a point where just 15% of the field remained. Leading them all is Ronald Lee after bagging up 79,325.

Chasing Lee are Dominik Nitsche (67,800), David Stefanski (65,400), Ravneet Johal (60,050), Alin Pandilica (58,500), and Bobby Pham (57,025). Notables Phil Ivey, Steve Sung, Konstantin Puchkov, Leo Margets, Claire Renaut, J.J. Liu, Roland Israelashvili, Todd Terry, and Terrence Chan remain in the field as well.

It was day where bustouts were fast and plentiful. Notables Phil Hellmuth, Justin Bonomo, David "Bakes" Baker, Barry Shulman, David Chicotsky, Erik Seidel, Olivier Busquet, Alexander Kravchenko, Fabrice Soulier, Barry Greenstein, and Tommy Vedes all gave the event a shot but did not survive the day.

Ivey’s stack never seemed to slip through out the day. He got involved in a big hand with another player that saw him chip up. He was at the turn on a {8-Diamonds} {K-Hearts} {8-Spades} {10-Diamonds} board. Ivey check-raised to 7,000 and his opponent shoved on him. Ivey called and tabled {A-Clubs} {K-Spades} . His opponent was ahead with {10-Clubs} {10-Spades} but the river fell {K-Diamonds} and Ivey nearly doubled to 45,000.

Hellmuth took to the felt today as well looking for his 92nd career WSOP cash. He was short-stacked before the dinner break and didn’t last much longer into the seventh level before he busted.

Day 1b will begin tomorrow promptly at 12:00 PM PST and the surviving players will combine for Day 2 on Friday. The Day 1b field will play the exact same amount of time that Day 1a played — that is, until 42 minutes are left in Level 9. Follow all the WSOP action live on PokerNews.com.

07-04-2012 23:16 UTC-6

Ivey Climbs the Counts

[user196975]

We arrived at the table just in time to see Phil Ivey make an important decision. He was heads up at the turn with a {8-Diamonds} {K-Hearts} {8-Spades} {10-Diamonds} board. Ivey checked, his opponent bet 3,500 and Ivey took his time to raise to 7,000.

His opponent counted all his chips, pulled back his 3,500 bet and moved all in for 13,650. Ivey called and tabled {A-Clubs} {K-Spades} .

His opponent tabled {10-Spades} {10-Clubs} and stood up from the table, hoping to celebrate his double up. But the poker gods and the dealer had different plans; the river came {K-Diamonds} and Ivey stacked his opponent.

Player	Chips	Progress
Phil Ivey	44,500	22,500

Tags: Phil Ivey

07-04-2012 22:40 UTC-6

An Orbit with Phil Ivey

[user196975]

Level 8 : 200/400, 50 ante

The long days of tournament poker can wear on anyone, especially if you play 40 events or more. We like to give readers an inside perspective of what a normal day of tournament poker is like.

Today we're pulling back the curtains and giving you an inside look at one of the game's best players in the world - none other than Phil Ivey.

Hand 1 - Ivey's stack is somewhere in the 22,000 range. He folded preflop, picked up his phone and sent a couple texts from his Black Berry. Before the hand is over Ivey had three bottles of water delivered to him - and not from a cocktail server.

Hand 2 - He folded preflop and hadn't noticed us hovering by the table yet. He has a grin on his face and seems to be enjoying himself. He put his phone down and looked around the room. Then produced a second phone - an iPhone - and began texting on that.

Hand 3 - He tossed his cards away preflop and was nodding his head to a song only he could hear.

Hand 4 - Again Ivey folded preflop and went back to his Black Berry. He sent another text or two and it was time for the next hand.

Hand 5 - During the shuffle a new player arrived at the table and definitely noticed that Ivey was this table. Ivey gave the new player no more than a two second glance. From under the gun Ivey opened for 600 and action folded all the way around.

Hand 6 - For the first time since we arrived at the table Ivey watched each player in order as they all folded to his big blind. Ivey got a walk and stacked a few more green chips.

Hand 7 - During the deal Ivey took his time to tidy up his stack and get a quick count. Ivey was up to around 24,000 and watched and a middle position player opened for 800. Ivey folded and went back to texting on his Black Berry.

Hand 8 - He was on the button and took a deep stretch, leaning all the way back in his chair. He studied the tournament clock for a moment and looked back to the table where a middle position player opened for 800. Ivey folded and then picked up his iPhone.

Hand 9 - The under the gun player opened for 800, the same middle position player called, Ivey called from the cutoff, the player on the button called and both blinds decided to play too. The flop came {5-Hearts} {2-Diamonds} {J-Spades} , both blinds checked, the middle position player bet 1,500 and Ivey folded.

Tags: Phil Ivey

07-04-2012 19:03 UTC-6

Hellmuth's Recollection Isn't So Good

[user196975]

Level 6 : 100/200, 25 ante

Phil Hellmuth has three bracelets from the lowest price points.

We were passing by Phil Hellmuth's table and he was engaged in some friendly conversation with the players at the table.

"Have you ever won a $1,500 or $1,000 event Phil?" a player asked.

"I've won two. One was a $1,000 and I think we had around 2,800 players. The other one was a $1,500 and I think we had around 1,700 players," Hellmuth said.

The statement piqued our curiosity so we ran to do some quick research. Hellmuth actually has three WSOP bracelets from low buy in events - one $1,000 event and two from $1,500 events.

He earned his first $1,000 event bracelet in a 2006 rebuy event that attracted 754 players. His most recent $1,500 bracelet came in 2007 and there were 2,628 entrants. Interestingly, Andy Philachack finished runner-up to Hellmuth and is seated only a few tables away.

His first $1,500 event bracelet came in a 1993 No Limit Hold'em event that had 284 entrants.

Tags: Phil Hellmuth

07-04-2012 16:11 UTC-6

Red Section Review: Little and Kornuth Are Out; Soulier Joins Renaut

[user169505]

Jonathan Little is out earlu in Event #59

The Red Section have lost two quality players. Jonathan Little started the day terribly and it never really got any better. Little getting it in with {A-} {6-} in a race against {3-} {3-} where he finished last.

Adam Kornuth has had 6 World Series of Poker (WSOP) cashes this year including a twelve place finish in Event #39: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha for $43,076. We believe Kornuth missed a draw and shoved the river only to find a hero calling with pocket deuces on a board littered with Broadway cards, resulting in his elimination.

WSOP bracelet holder Fabrice Soulier is seated just a few tables from his good lady Claire Renaut. Renaut currently has 4,000 and Soulier sits on 3,100.

Player	Chips	Progress
Kevin Vandersmissen	7,375
Ali Eslami	4,700
David Vamplew	4,275
Claire Renaut	4,000
Jordan Young	3,200	200
Fabrice Soulier	3,100	100
Andrew Teng	3,100
Katie Dozier	3,100	100
Martin Finger	2,600
Victor Ramdin	2,300
Gianluca Rullo	1,400	-1,600
Mihai Manole	Busted
Jonathan Little	Busted
Adam Kornuth	Busted

Tags: Adam Kornuth Claire Renaut Fabrice Soulier Jonathan Little

07-04-2012 15:43 UTC-6

Bronze Review: WSOP Main Event Winner Mortensen is in; Mozdzen Bows Out

[user169505]

Former WSOP ME Champion Carlos Mortensen

Yesterday, all of the poker world was buzzing over the news that Antonio Esfandiari had taken home the biggest prize in sports history when he won the Big One for One Drop earning himself $18,346,673. That victory propelled him to the top of the all-time money list with $23,245,828 in live tournament earnings. Lying in sixteenth place on that list is a former World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event winner Carlos Mortensen with $10,811,436 in live tournament earnings. Mortensen is currently making a living over at Table Fifty and we have just seen him win a small pot to take his current catch to 2,100.

So Mortensen is in and Clayton Mozdzen is out. We believe he was crippled in a three way pot searching for a flush draw that never came. Raymond Matthaei hitting the board with his {A-} {K-} to cripple Mozdzen who was out a few hands later.

Player	Chips	Progress
Aaron Jones	5,400
Andy Black	3,800	800
Darryll Fish	3,400	400
Carlos Mortensen	2,100
Clayton Mozdzen	Busted

Tags: Carlos Mortensen Clayton Mozdzen

07-04-2012 13:37 UTC-6

Brasilia Room Gold Section Review

[user169505]

Just incase you have never been to the World Series of Poker (WSOP) before let us just take a few moments to describe your typical beginning of a $1k event. Firstly, we expect a huge field with a couple of thousand usually participating. This means we need a lot of room and we will have the use of the entire Brasilia Room and also tables in both Amazon and Pavilion.

The Brasilia Room is divided into four quarters called Gold, Silver, Bronze and Red. Here are some of the notable names who have just caught our eye bright and early.

Gold Section

With a smidgen under $2 million in live tournament earnings Todd Terry is a true live tournament grinder, with results stretching back as far as 2005. Todd's best performance to date is a 2nd place finish in a $2,000 World Series of Poker (WSOP) event where he cashed for $353,875, Terry resides over at Table 9.

It was only a few days ago that Nick Abou Risk was having visions of grandeur. He was deep in Event #54: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em when he eventually sunk in 22nd place for $14,321 and he is back on the horse over at Table Twelve.

The ladies were well represented in the Gold Section as well. Note the word WERE in that sentence. Debbie Pechac sat down at Table #5 and immediately asked everyone how their series had been going. One player replied that he had only just arrived and Pechac told him that she finished runner-up in the Ladies Event. Indeed Pechac earned $105,586 for her close brush with WSOP gold. But no sooner had she opened her mouth…she was gone! Pocket queens versus pocket aces and out she went.

Carla Solina is one of the most respected female players in Italian and European poker. She has a string of impressive results but has not yet cashed in a WSOP event. Maybe today will be the day for Ms Solina?

Player	Chips	Progress
Carla Solina	3,000
Todd Terry	3,000
Remy Biechel	3,000
Nick Abou Risk	3,000
Debbie Pechac	Busted

Tags: Carla Solina Debbie Pechac Nick Abou Risk Todd Terry

07-04-2012 11:49 UTC-6

Welcome to Day 1A of Event 59A: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em

[user169505]

Good afternoon and welcome to poker fans from around the world.

Today, this area of cyberspace is reserved for coverage of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Event #59A: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em. It is the beginning of a 4-day event, which includes 2-starting days (59A & 59B). This is not to be confused with a re-entry or rebuy event. You either play Day 1A or Day 1B — not both!

This event is always a popular event as players start to flock into town for the Main Event itself. Last year it drew in 4,178 players and $611,185 went to the eventual winner.

Each player will begin with three-thousand in tournament chips. There will be eleven sixty-minute levels (or cessation after we have 15% of the field left) with a twenty-minute break after every two levels, and a ninety-minute dinner break at the end of level 6.

Play will begin in all three of our main playing areas at 12:00 PM and we will be bringing you the Day 1A story right here at PokerNews.