Joe Serock raised to 925 from middle position and got one caller from the small blind. Both quickly checked the flop. The turn brought the and another quick check from Serock's opponent, and Serock paused just a beat before checking behind once more.
The river was the , pairing the board. Serock's opponent again acted quickly, pulling three light blue (500) chips off his stack and tossing them forward for a bet of 1,500. Serock didn't hesitate at all before making the call.
"Good call," his opponent said, tabling . Serock showed , and took the pot, thereby adding to what is one of the bigger stacks in the room at present.
We caught up just as the dealer was scooping in the preflop pot, but it appeared that Eli Elezra had raised from the hijack. He was called by button and it was heads-up going to the flop, which came .
Elezra check-called an 875 bet from his opponent. Both players checked the turn, however, when Elezra checked again on the river, his opponent bet enough to put Elezra all in. Elezra quickly mucked and slipped back down to 3,800.
So said Sam Grizzle, half-standing, half-sitting in his chair. Grizzle has been steadily accumulating chips here on Day 1a. He's also been accumulating new acquaintances from all across the globe. As will happen at the World Series of Poker, where players come from all over.
"I mean we got France, Germany, England," he continued, pointing one by one to his opponents. The latter — one of the English players — had just open-raised from middle position, and when the table folded around he flashed one card to his side of the table.
"And that was the bad one," said the player with a grin. "What was it?" asked one who didn't see the player's card.
"'What was it?'" said Grizzle. "That's a funny question," he added. He'd seen the player had shown a face card. "He showed the deuce," suggested Grizzle with a smirk, then turned his attention back to international matters.
A player in early position opened for 900 and directly behind him, Jake Cody three-bet to 2,400. Action folded back around to the original raiser, who then four-bet to 5,500. Cody paused, then verbally announced he was all in. His opponent called off his remaining stack and hands were revealed.
Cody:
Opponent:
Cody's opponent was in just about as bad a shape as you can be in and the ensured his fate of elimination.
Cody is appears to be our current chip leader with 70,000.
Players are back and cards are in the air! We are looking at about 18 more minutes' worth of poker tonight before play concludes. At present 530 of those who began Day 1b are still with us, all hoping to join the 256 who made it through Day 1a.
So said a player earlier as he arrived at Humberto Brenes's table. Brenes responded with a grin. "I'm hungry!" he said, eyes wide.
Just now Brenes opened for 1,675 from middle position, and it folded around to that same player in the big blind. He checked his cards, and after flashing his hand quickly to Brenes he mucked. Brenes quickly showed his and scooped the pot.
We didn't catch the exact preflop action, however, it appeared that the player in the hijack seat opened and, directly behind him in the cutoff, Nam Le three-bet enough to put him all in. Everyone else folded and Le's opponent called all in for about 10,000 to put himself at risk.
Le:
Opponent:
The board kept Le in the lead - eliminating his opponent and chipping Le up to 31,000 in the process.
Some last-minute scouting reveals a few more big stacks to report, the biggest belonging to Alex Cordero who is sneaking up on the 100,000-chip mark as we near the end of play.
flop. The turn brought the 
and another quick check from Serock's opponent, and Serock paused just a beat before checking behind once more.
, pairing the board. Serock's opponent again acted quickly, pulling three light blue (500) chips off his stack and tossing them forward for a bet of 1,500. Serock didn't hesitate at all before making the call.
. Serock showed 
, and took the pot, thereby adding to what is one of the bigger stacks in the room at present.
.
turn, however, when Elezra checked again on the 
river, his opponent bet enough to put Elezra all in. Elezra quickly mucked and slipped back down to 3,800.
board kept Le in the lead - eliminating his opponent and chipping Le up to 31,000 in the process.
