This unique $1,000,000 guaranteed tournament obviously attracted its fair share of hopeful amateurs, and while many are still holding their own, the shrinking tournament area has become a playground for number of experienced professional players.
The antics of Yevgeniy Timoshenko and Darryll Fish, who are engaged in a heated prop-bet battle based on shooting hoops with limes from their discarded Coronas.
Meanwhile, Erick "E-Dog" Lindgren was seen receiving congratulations on his recent runner-up finish at the 2013 World Poker Tour Championship.
Phil Hellmuth recently took his seat after a table change, missing the basket on an easy toss with his water bottle as he walked by, and proving that the "Poker Brat" should probably avoid the Benjamin-based basket toss game occurring at the next table over.
A number of other notable pros are still alive as well, proving that even in the first ever "Millionaire Maker" event, the rich just get richer.
Ray Henson opened to 600 in middle position and received two callers, one in the hijack and another in the big blind. The flop fell , the player in the big blind and Henson both checked, and the player in the hijack fired out 1,100. Both players called.
The turn was the , the trio checked, and the completed the board. The player in the big blind checked, Henson flipped forward 700, and only the player in the big blind called.
Jon Aguiar opened to 600 from early position, a player in middle position moved all in for around 3,000, and the action folded back to Aguiar, who called.
Aguiar:
Opponent:
Aguiar, a 2012 World Series of Poker bracelet winner, flopped two pair when the dealer fanned , and the hand was over when the turned. A meaningless completed the board, and the player's million-dollar dreams vanished into thin air.
We passed by Royce Cohen's table minutes ago, and noticed his stack had grown in size since the last time we checked in.
Asked for a count, Cohen obliged by informing us that he had pushed past the 55,000 mark, putting him among the leaders as this Day 1b nears its conclusion.
We came to the table in the middle of the river action, as the board showed . Action had checked to Victor Ramdin, who was staring down his lone opponent. Both players had big stacks in front of them, and Ramdin bet 4,000 into a pot of about 6,000. His opponent tanked for about a minute, then pushed four yellow chips forward for the call. Ramdin turned over for rivered trips, and his opponent mucked.
Our first Phil Hellmuth appearance in the Pavilion followed the age old script poker fans have come to know and love.
After raising to 700 from UTG+1, the world's most accomplished championship bracelet collector watched as no less than four opponents came along, each eager to bring the bad beat pain down on the "Poker Brat."
Flop:
Hellmuth led out for 750 and shed three of the four stragglers, but an opponent called his bet from the button, bringing the on the turn.
Despite the relatively innocuous card, Hellmuth immediately changed gears and checked to his opponent. This move elicited a bet of 1,700 from the button player, and Hellmuth was incredulous as he folded, flashing an Ace as he threw his cards away.
His opponent, perhaps sensing a once in a lifetime opportunity to needle Phil Hellmuth, offered to pay the living legend $500 cash if he could guess his hand. Hellmuth responded quickly by saying "Ten-Four suited," but his opponent slid his cards into the muck while shaking his head in the negative.
After an opening raise to 800, four players called, including Arizona Cardinals defensive end Calais Campbell. The five players saw a very coordinated flop: . Action checked around to Campbell, who bet 1500. Only one player called. The was the , and both players checked, and they checked again when the river put four hearts on the board. Campbell’s opponent showed for top pair, but Campbell tabled for a winning two pair. Campbell is now up to about 16,000.
On the last break, we spotted a few railbirds talking with a giant of a man. Standing at 6'8", 300 pounds, we assumed that he was a professional athlete of some kind. At that point, the camera phones came out, and the group started talking about the Arizona Cardinals.
"Carson's our guy," the man said, referring to the team's new quarterback Carson Palmer.
He then hinted at his age, saying that in his rookie year he played in Super Bowl XLIII against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
After a few clicks at the PokerNews Live Reporting desk, we discovered that the gentleman is Calais Campbell. Campbell, who is entering his sixth season as a defensive end for the Cardinals, has recorded 262 tackles and 27.5 sacks in his career. As a senior at the University of Miami, Campbell was named to the All-ACC team and earned MVP honors at The U.
Campbell has one small cash in his Hendon Mob profile, and according to WSOPdb.com, this is his first WSOP appearance. He currently sits with 9,000 chips - double the starting stack - and appears to be having a blast at the table.
“I love playing poker and I always watch it on TV so I wanted to take a shot and play in an event. It’s so far tons of fun," he told PokerNews during a break. "I’ve seen a lot of players here at the Rio that I’ve seen on TV so it’s been surreal for me. There are a lot of great players and it feels good to get some reads on a few of them. In my first flight I was intimidated because it was my first event. I lacked confidence so I think it messed with my game and I ended up busting early."
"Now, in my second flight I feel like I can be a professional poker player in my mind. If I played more often I think I would be doing better but it’s definitely not a game I play enough to know advance that far; maybe if I get lucky. I do think I’m making good reads now, making good calls, good folds, and playing how I normally play, just a lot more relaxed the second time around."
When asked if he would be playing in another event, he said, “I plan on playing in maybe three other events, all in no-limit. I’m not sure which ones yet. I have to look at my calendar and plan it out but I will definitely be back for more action.”