A player in middle position raised to 700 and was called by the player in the small blind. Fresh off his eliminating Raymond Rahme, David Randall three-bet to 2,400 from the big blind, quickly chasing out both of his opponents.
Randall shrugged his shoulders as he tabled 
.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
143,000
8,000
|
8,000 |
It's bee a rough start for 2005 Main Event Champion Joe Hachem. Last we saw, he was sitting on half his starting stack. However, he just took down a decent pot to get his stack back up to 20,000.
We caught the action on the flop, which was 
. There was 2,250 in the pot, and Hachem's opponent fired out 1,100. Hachem clicked it back to 2,800, and his opponent called. The 
hit the turn, and it was checked to Hachem, who fired out 5,700. His opponent tanked for a while before letting his hand go. This could be the start of a comeback for the former main event champ.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
20,300
3,300
|
3,300 |
|
||
In years past, Phil Hellmuth has made a grand spectacle of his entrance into the Main Event. One year, he entered as Caeser, accompanied by woman dressed as Greek Goddesses. Another year, he entered as a boxer ready to go 12 rounds with the rest of the field.
However, to the disappointment or relief of most of the room, Hellmuth had a quiet entrance to this main event. He simply walked into the Amazon room, and took his seat over at Table 443, just like any other player. Is Hellmuth turning over a new leaf? This is what he tweeted earlier.
phil_hellmuth phil_hellmuth Surprise, surprise (to me as well!), just sat in Day 1A of WSOP ME (Main Event)! Was playing Monday (1C), but Slept 14.5 hrs + hopped in.
July 07 2012
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
27,500 | |
|
||
Igor Kurganov's been having his best year so far, after he managed to win the €25,000 European Poker Tour Monte Carlo High Roller for $1.4 million. Kurganov will not add another succes to his resumé in the World Series of Poker Main Event, as he just busted.
Kurganov told us he raised to 700 from the hijack with a 36,000-chip stack. The button called with 14,000 behind and the small blind, Don Nguyen, called with a 42,000 stack.
The flop came down 
and the small blind checked to Kurganov who bet 1,200. The button moved all in for 13,000 and the Don Nguyen called. Kurganov called as well.
The turn was the and Don Nguyen put Kurganov all in. He made the call creating a three way all-in showdown.
| Igor Kurganov |  |
| Button |  |
| Don Nguyen |   |
Kurganov was looking for an ace, jack or eight in order to survive, but the river was a 
. Kurganov is out and his WSOP is over. Don Nguyen was up to 95,000 chips, but as of right now he's down to just 6,000 chips.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted | |
|
|
||
David Williams was struggling to gain momentum after losing most of his stack early, but has now managed to gain back plenty of chips to sit with a fairly healthy 11,000 in chips. We arrived at the table during the hand in question with a 
flop out on the felt. Williams was in the big blind position and was going head-to-head with the small blind player. Williams' opponent led for 650 on the flop and Williams called.
The 
on the turn would see the player again lead, this time for 1,050. Another call and the 
would complete the board on the river. This time the player would slow down, opting to check. Williams then flicked out a bet of 1,000. The player called and Williams tabled his 
, with the pair of nines good enough to rake in the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
11,000
6,600
|
6,600 |
Mike "The Mouth" Matusow describes a tough hand he was faced with during these early levels of the Main Event.
A player in middle position opened the action with a raise to 600. Eric Froehlich called in the cutoff, the button player called and both blinds came along for the ride. On the 
flop, the three players set to act before Froehlich checked. Froehlich then bet 1,800 and only the small blind player would continue to play.
Both Froehlich and his opponent would then check the 
turn and watch as the dealer flipped over an river. The small blind led for 1,000 here and Froehlich promptly raised it up to 2,275. A call would see both players turn their hands over.
Froehlich's 
was strong enough to send the 
of his opponent into the muck.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
23,000
5,500
|
5,500 |
|
||
Over here in the Tan Section we noticed the aggressive Bjorn Li limping in from the small blind after a player limped from under the gun. Roberto Luongo checked from the big blind and three players were allowed to see the 
flop. It was here that all three players checked.
The 
on the turn saw a bet of 875 come out of Li's stack. Luongo folded and the under the gun player raised it up to 2,400. After about 30 seconds Li moved all in, a bet that would put the shortstacked under the gun player all in. The under the gun player quickly folded and Li took down the pot.
With tables breaking through out the tournament players are scattered around. We recently noticed Sofia Lovgren, Brian Mienders, and La Sengphet take their seats over here in Tan.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
58,000
10,000
|
10,000 |
|
|
58,000 | |
|
|
47,000
8,000
|
8,000 |
|
|
41,000
3,000
|
3,000 |
|
|
39,000 | |
|
|
38,000
3,400
|
3,400 |
|
|
36,000
9,000
|
9,000 |
|
|
34,000
11,500
|
11,500 |
|
20,000
11,000
|
11,000 |
|
|
17,500 | |
|
|
17,200
1,700
|
1,700 |
|
7,000
6,000
|
6,000 |
|
|
||
Jim Bechtel, the winner of the 1993 World Series of Poker Main Event, has just been eliminated. He was all in preflop against three other players. The flop came down 
and Bob Rawls bet 1,800. The other two active players, one being Claudio Rinaldi, both folded and Rawls was left up against the at-risk Bechtel.
Bechtel held the 
for two overs against the 
for Rawls. The turn was the 
to give Rawls a set and left Bechtel needing just a five on the river to chop the pot and stay alive.
The river completed the board with the and Bechtel was eliminated.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted | |
|
|
||
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
110,000 | |
|
|
39,000
3,000
|
3,000 |
|
13,000 |
