John D'Agostino opened for 700 from the button, then Sergii Baranov reraised to 1,700 from the big blind and D'Agostino called. The flop came , Baranov led for 1,700, and D'Agostino called. Both then checked the turn.
The river brought the . Baranov reached out from beneath the sweater draped over both shoulders to bet 2,500, and after thinking a couple of beats D'Agostino called. Baranov flipped over , and D'Agostino mucked.
Greg Mueller recently took his seat at a table including Mike Sexton, Tom Schneider, and Alexander Kostritsyn among other tough foes. He soon picked up the stack of black placards indicating the games being played and quickly sorted through them, stopping for a moment at one.
"Oh my God… Deuce-to-Seven Triple Draw?!" he said with mock horror, grinningly adding a "FML" for good measure.
The Poker Players' Championship, of course, requires players to rotate through eight different poker variants — 2-7 triple draw, limit hold'em, Omaha-8, razz, stud, stud-8, no-limit hold'em, and pot-limit Omaha — spending an orbit on each.
We picked up with the action on fourth street to find Shawn Buchanan sparring with 2009 champion of this very event, David Bach. Bach checked over to Buchanan who fired out a bet. Bach came over the top with a raise and Buchanan called to see fifth street. Buchanan picked up three spades showing on fifth and led out once more after a check from Bach.
Sixth street gave Bach a pair of tens but he checked over to the aggressor. Buchanan fired out a bet once again and Bach called. The players were dealt their final card and Bach tapped the table for one final time. Buchanan fired out a bet and Bach called.
Buchanan fanned for aces full of eights which prompted a chuckle from Bach. Before mucking his cards Bach flashed the to show that he held at least a set of tens. Buchanan dragged in the pot and saw a small victory early here in this prestigious event.
Michael Mizrachi is here. "The Grinder" is not only trying to defend his 2012 victory in this event, but also to win his third Poker Players' Championship in four years.
Just now came an Omaha-8 hand in which George Lind III raised the button and Mizrachi defended from the small blind. The pair saw the flop come . Mizrachi check-raised a bet from Lind and Lind called, then when Mizrachi led at the turn, Lind stepped aside.
Mizrachi showed one of his hole cards — the — and Allen Kessler commented from across the table that he'd folded a hand containing the other three fives.
Three players -- Event #23: $2,500 Seven-Card Stud winner David Chiu, Mike Leah, and Scott Seiver — had reached the river in a PLO hand with the board showing and a pot of about 10,000 having been built between them.
Chiu fired a bet of 7,500, and after a bit of a think Leah called the bet while Seiver instantly folded. "Ten-high straight," said Chiu, showing , and after rechecking his cards Leah mucked.
Jennifer Harman opened with a raise to 800 from the cutoff and found Shawn Buchanan toss out a three-bet to 2,000 from the small blind. The big blind released and Harman took a moment before opting to flat call.
The flop brought down and Buchanan continued out for 2,100. Harman called the bet and the fell down on the turn. Buchanan slowed down with a check and Harman checked it back to see the finish off the board. Buchanan checked once more and Harman checked it back again.
Buchanan tabled for kings and queens but was ultimately behind Harman's for a straight to the king. Harman dragged in the pot and now sits on what looks to be 156,000 in chips.
The big board showing the number of entrants just nudged up over the 100-player mark for Event #55: The $50,000 Poker Players' Championship.
Late registration actually extends all of the way to the start of Level 6 (i.e., before the beginning of Day 2), so there's still plenty of time for more to join this one.
Here is a list of all the players who have ever cashed in this event complete with their total money earned from those cashes:
Player
Money Earned
Michael Mizrachi
$3,010,573
Freddy Deeb
$2,360,462
Scotty Nguyen
$1,989,120
Andy Bloch
$1,813,988
Chip Reese
$1,784,640
Brian Rast
$1,720,328
John Hanson
$1,641,679
Bruno Fitoussi
$1,448,599
David Bach
$1,436,646
Michael DeMichele
$1,243,200
Vladimir Schemelev
$1,131,904
Phil Hellmuth
$1,063,034
Matt Glantz
$945,070
Barry Greenstein
$928,919
Chris Klodnicki
$896,935
Erick Lindgren
$781,440
Phil Ivey
$777,600
David Singer
$749,280
David Oppenheim
$745,545
Minh Ly
$665,763
Amnon Filippi
$586,080
Huck Seed
$560,769
Jim Bechtel
$549,120
Erik Sagstrom
$522,393
Owais Ahmed
$482,058
TJ Cloutier
$480,480
Dewey Tomko
$474,624
Kenny Tran
$444,000
Lyle Berman
$444,000
John Juanda
$436,865
Luke Schwartz
$406,736
Doyle Brunson
$398,880
Vitaly Lunkin
$368,812
Daniel Alaei
$342,099
Robert Mizrachi
$341,429
Roland Israelashvili
$317,882
Ralph Perry
$314,880
George Lind
$300,411
David “Bakes” Baker
$272,275
Stephen Chidwick
$253,497
Jeff Lisandro
$248,635
Scott Seiver
$243,978
Patrick Bueno
$230,880
Ville Wahlbeck
$219,655
Mike Wattel
$215,444
Patrik Antonius
$205,920
Robert Williamson III
$205,920
Gavin Smith
$205,920
Bill Chen
$205,856
Brett Richey
$204,579
Ben Lamb
$201,338
Thor Hansen
$188,256
Chau Giang
$184,087
Mikael Thuritz
$182,463
Jason Lester
$168,529
Erik Seidel
$162,381
Nick Schulman
$152,730
Alexander Kostritsyn
$152,730
Yan Chen
$143,400
Joseph Michael
$142,320
David “ODB” Baker
$142,197
Daniel Negreanu
$142,080
Joe Cassidy
$137,280
David Levi
$137,280
Cong Do
$137,280
Gabe Kaplan
$131,424
Abe Mosseri
$129,957
Lyle Berman
$129,957
Josh Arieh
$124,723
Mike Binger
$124,723
Gus Hansen
$123,895
John Hennigan
$120,994
Mark Gregorich
$117,216
Allen Bari
$113,030
Sebastian Ruthenberg
$108,503
Viktor Blom
$105,235
Tim Phan
$103,008
Greg Raymer
$103,008
Ray Dehkarghani
$99,590
David Chiu
$99,590
Ilya Bulychev
$98,330
Chris Reslock
$88,800
Mike Matusow
$88,800
Tony G
$83,630
Steve Billirakis
$72,914
John Kabbaj
$72,914
Here are a few more interesting tidbits about this event:
Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi has won the event twice, once in 2010 and the other time in 2012.
Both Barry Greenstein and Andy Bloch have cashed four times in this event. No player has cashed for just three times.
Freddy Deeb, John Hanson, Bruno Fitoussi, David Bach, Vladimir Schemelev, Matt Glantz, Phil Ivey, David Singer, David Oppenheim, Huck Seed, Dewey Tomko, Doyle Brunson, Daniel Alaei, Ralph Perry, Jeff Lisandro, Mike Wattel and Brett Richey have cashed twice each.
With the board showing and about 8,000 in the middle, John Racener (small blind) checked, Sergii Baranov (big blind) checked, and John Hennigan bet 5,000. Racener then check-raised to 18,000, forcing a quick fold from Baranov and a slow one from Hennigan.
Vanessa Selbst opened with a middle position raise only to have Eugene Katchalov make it three bets from two seats down. Action folded back to Selbst and she called to see a flop.
The two watched as the dealer spread on the felt. Selbst rapped the table and Katchalov fired out a continuation bet. Selbst came over the top with a check-raise and Katchalov called. The turn was the and Selbst kept up the aggression by dropping out a bet. Katchalov raised and Selbst wiggled in her seat a bit. She thought for a moment before choosing to call.
The river was the and Selbst checked over to Katchalov. He casually tossed one last bet in and Selbst came right over the top with a raise. Katchalov pursed his lips as if surprised by the bet. Eventually, however, he called.
"I got lucky," said Selbst, flipping over for a rivered Broadway straight. Katchalov threw his hand into the muck and Selbst dragged in the pot.
, Baranov led for 1,700, and D'Agostino called. Both then checked the 
turn.
. Baranov reached out from beneath the sweater draped over both shoulders to bet 2,500, and after thinking a couple of beats D'Agostino called. Baranov flipped over 
, and D'Agostino mucked.
/ 
/ 
for aces full of eights which prompted a chuckle from Bach. Before mucking his cards Bach flashed the 
to show that he held at least a set of tens. Buchanan dragged in the pot and saw a small victory early here in this prestigious event.
. Mizrachi check-raised a bet from Lind and Lind called, then when Mizrachi led at the 
— and Allen Kessler commented from across the table that he'd folded a hand containing the other three fives.
, and after rechecking his cards Leah mucked.
and Buchanan continued out for 2,100. Harman called the bet and the 
fell down on the turn. Buchanan slowed down with a check and Harman checked it back to see the 
finish off the board. Buchanan checked once more and Harman checked it back again.
and Selbst checked over to Katchalov. He casually tossed one last bet in and Selbst came right over the top with a raise. Katchalov pursed his lips as if surprised by the bet. Eventually, however, he called.
for a rivered Broadway straight. Katchalov threw his hand into the muck and Selbst dragged in the pot.
