Joe Hachem raised in late position, an opponent on the button called, and the flop fell . Hachem continued for 1,200, the player called, and both players knuckled when the turned. The completed the board, Hachem fired out anoth 3,800, and his opponent folded.
"Show one," the player requested. "But not the ace. The jack."
With a smile on his face, the 2005 Main Event champion obliged, showing the .
"So you had the prettiest card in the deck?" the player asked Hachem, who neither confirmed nor denied the claim.
In no particular fashion, Marvin Rettenmaier has really been chipping up here on Day 1 of the Main Event. We walked by his table and noticed that he had an extremely large stack sitting in front of him. When we asked him if there was any big hands he played to get the stack, he had no answer.
"Honestly, he's been chipping up just 10k at a time," Jeff Sarwer who was also at the table explained. "Just chipping up and crushing souls."
At an adjacent table, Tayfun Akbasli has also been chipping up, but not without hard work. Akbasli explained to us how on the first hand of the tournament his was cracked by pocket sevens, but he managed to survive and not go broke. Later on in the day, Akbasli explained that he ran into a straight flush with his king high flush, and once again managed to satay alive. Now, after jamming all in with a straight and make a correct queen-high call Akbasli is up over 100,000.
Both men are now near the top of our chip counts still early here in Day 1.
We arrived at the table on the river with the board reading . We're unsure of the previous action, but a player had pushed forward a bet of 6,600, leaving himself 16,175 behind, and David Vamplew responded with a stack of chips big enough to put his opponent all in. Vamplew's bet was already on the felt when we arrived, and his opponent was in the tank. He went back and forth between looking at the board, looking at Vamplew, stacking and unstacking his chips, and re-checking his cards. All the while, Vamplew was sitting virtually motionless, except for one had that was shuffling chips. As the seconds ticked off the clock, we recorded the following timeline:
7 minutes (after we arrived at the table): a player not in the hand threatened to call the clock. His neighbor advised him against it, and a third player advised Vamplew's opponent to take his time, because "there are no rebuys."
9 minutes: The potentially at-risk player asks Vamplew, "You're not going to call the clock on me, or anything." Vamplew gave no response, and merely continued to play with his chips.
10 minutes: Vamplew's opponent re-checks his cards once again, then contorts his mouth, eyes, and cheeks into a classic "muck-face" pose.
11 minutes: Vamplew's opponent reluctantly folded. Vamplew still said nothing, silently pushed his cards to the dealer, and collected his newly won chips.
Roberto Luongo is a national celebrity in his homeland of Canada, as the native Québécois has risen through the ranks of that nation's hockey hierarchy to become one of the best goaltenders in the world.
As the top netminder for the Vancouver Canucks, a perennial powerhouse during Luongo's tenure that nonetheless has failed to capture the coveted Stanley Cup, his face is instantly recognized north of the border. However, here in the hot and hockey-barren landscape of Las Vegas, Luongo is just another amateur taking his shot in the World Series of Poker Main Event.
Despite a roving contingent of Canadian media tracking his every move, and choice table along the rail that has attracted the inevitable crush of Canucks fans, each clad in their team's distinctive blue and white jersey, Luongo has applied his steady approach to Texas Hold'em here today.
Despite playing a full two levels by now, totaling four hours of play in which several players have either doubled up or gone bust, Luongo's stack appears to be untouched, still stacked neatly in the same arrangement as when the tournament started.
Luongo tried the same trick in last year's Main Event, playing an extemely tight style while trying to preserve his chip stack, and this traditional approach served him quite well. He finished in 634th place while wading through a field of 6,598 runners, earning $19,277 for making it past the money bubble.
We will be sure to track Luongo's progress throughout the day for the poker fans up north, as the renowned goalie tries to deflect the best shots from his opponents here at the 2013 Main Event.
From under the gun, Brian Kim raised to 725. Robert Varkonyi called behind, then a third player reraised to 2,700. Action got back to Kim, and he made it 7,200 to go. After Varkonyi folded, the three-bettor reraised to 14,500. Kim then shoved for approximately 27,000. His opponent tanked for a bit, then folded face up. Kim didn't show, collected the pot, and moved to 43,500 in chips.
Andrew Badecker opened with a raise to 800 from middle position, the cutoff seat called, Shawn Cunix called in the small blind, and the player in the big blind called. The flop came down , and action checked to Badecker. He bet 1,100 and took down the pot.
It's almost time to play legal, real-money online poker in Nevada on WSOP.com. To celebrate, a mega cash tournament has been organized, and you're invited!
Starting October 25, 2013 and running through November 2, 2013, the WSOP.com Online Championships will take place. A whopping $500,000 in added prize money will be available, including a special $100,000 Freeroll to kick off the series.
The $100,000 Freeroll will be available only to those who register and verify their WSOP.com account by August 31, 2013, and it will take place October 25 at 7 p.m. Las Vegas time.
. Hachem continued for 1,200, the player called, and both players knuckled when the 
turned. The 
completed the board, Hachem fired out anoth 3,800, and his opponent folded.
.
. We're unsure of the previous action, but a player had pushed forward a bet of 6,600, leaving himself 16,175 behind, and David Vamplew responded with a stack of chips big enough to put his opponent all in. Vamplew's bet was already on the felt when we arrived, and his opponent was in the tank. He went back and forth between looking at the board, looking at Vamplew, stacking and unstacking his chips, and re-checking his cards. All the while, Vamplew was sitting virtually motionless, except for one had that was shuffling chips. As the seconds ticked off the clock, we recorded the following timeline:
, and action checked to Badecker. He bet 1,100 and took down the pot.
