Vanessa Selbst has joined the small group of players eliminated here on Day 1. After losing about two-thirds of her starting stack earlier in a big PLO hand versus Jonathan Duhamel, Selbst battled gamely but then met with more misfortune in a stud hand.
Keeping up with the tradition of arriving late for tournaments, Phil Hellmuth has finally been spotted taking his seat in the tournament area. He will join the likes of Todd Brunson and Paul Volpe at table #371.
We arrived at the table in time to see Vanessa Selbst and Jonathan Duhamel looking down at a flop of . Selbst was in the small blind and fired out 2,000. Duhamel cut out a raise to what looked to be 10,600 after Selbst's original bet was pulled in .
The two headed to the turn and saw the hit the felt. Selbst checked and Duhamel fired 14,500. Selbst thought for about 45 seconds before moving out a raise to 68,700. Duhamel did not waste much time before quietly announcing that he was all in.
"Shit," sighed Selbst. Almost immediately after the word left her mouth she moved out a call.
Duhamel:
Selbst:
Both players had a straight but Duhamel's was higher with a straight to the eight. The river paired the board with the and Duhamel ended the hand with a winning sevens full of fives. Selbst was forced to ship a vast majority of her stack over to Duhamel and now sits on just 44,000 in chips. Duhamel, however, has soared to one of the top stacks in the room with about 290,000 in chips.
Selbst took to Twitter immediately after the hand:
The buzz around the tournament floor today has mostly surrounded Doyle Brunson's decision to play this event. This has been the only event on the 2013 World Series of Poker schedule that Texas Dolly has played and despite his quiet demeanor, his presence in the room is well-known. Prior to playing this event, the 79-year old gambling legend sent out a series of tweets that sweetened the deal for him playing in this event. Brunson has bets with 28 players that see him earning extra money if he cashes, makes the final table, and/or wins the tournament.
Since the inception of this event, Brunson has cashed twice and made the final table during one of those runs. In 2006, which was the inaugural year, Brunson scored an eighth-place finish which was good for $274,560. Two years later, Brunson finished in 16th place which pocketed him $124,320. Brunson has not cashed in this event since.
Could these bets fuel the fire within Brunson to propel him into a deep run? Only time will tell, but we'll certainly keep tabs on his progress throughout one of the most prestigious poker tournaments of the year.
. Selbst was in the small blind and fired out 2,000. Duhamel cut out a raise to what looked to be 10,600 after Selbst's original bet was pulled in .
hit the felt. Selbst checked and Duhamel fired 14,500. Selbst thought for about 45 seconds before moving out a raise to 68,700. Duhamel did not waste much time before quietly announcing that he was all in.
and Duhamel ended the hand with a winning sevens full of fives. Selbst was forced to ship a vast majority of her stack over to Duhamel and now sits on just 44,000 in chips. Duhamel, however, has soared to one of the top stacks in the room with about 290,000 in chips.
