Today was full of sicko tables and lots of action here in Event #9: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em. There were 477 players spread out among the Brasilia room, each trying to win their table. At the end of the day there were 60 players left, all of whom return tomorrow.
Action was fast and furious all day and we saw plenty of big names rise and fall. Some of the big names that will return tomorrow include Chris Klodnicki, Cherish Andrews, Victor Ramdin, Nick Binger, Matt Salsberg, Antonio Esfandiari and Bradon Cantu. Even though plenty of big name pros made it through the day, there were plenty of others who hit the rail, including three of the biggest names in poker: Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey, and Daniel Negreanu.
Arguably the strongest table today seated Jason Mercier, Dario Minieri, Tony Gargano, Kevin Saul, Darren Elias, Jason Somerville and Matt Berkey together. It was Dario Minieri who came out on top of that one though. In an interview with PokerNews.com today, Minieri discussed some strategy for the No-Limit Hold'em Shootout Format. Minieri was able to close out his table when Kevin Saul held against his . Saul was ahead with his jacks, but the flop changed his fortunes, coming and giving Minieri a pair of kings. The rest of the board ran out , giving Saul no help.
Tomorrow at 1 p.m. local time we will return with the final 60 players split up into 10 tables of six players each. Those 10 winners will return on Day 3 to play down to a winner at the final table. PokerNews.com will be here for all the action on day 2 of Event #9 so make sure to tune in for updates all day.
Dario Minieri bested Kevin Saul as the two battled heads up at their table. Saul has been Eliminated and Minieri advances to the next round of the shootout.
On the final hand, Saul held against Minieri's . Saul was ahead with his jacks, but the flop changed his fortunes, coming and giving Minieri a pair of kings. The rest of the board ran out , giving Saul no help. Minieri won the pot and the table and will continue play in round two tomorrow.
That's how Esfandiari described his victory today at his shoot out table. "We got it all in and my cards came and his didn't. But you want more specifics don't you?"
Esfandiari eventually told us that his opponent moved his short stack all in with and Esfandiari called with . Esfandiari told us he caught up and it was good enough for a victory today.
Steve O'Dwyer is engaged in a heads-up battle with Matthew Salsberg, a producer known for his work on Entourage and Weeds. Only the winner will advance to round two of this tournament tomorrow. Salsberg has the bigger stack, and often looks like he's getting the better of the recent EPT Grand Final Main Event winner, but O'Dwyer enjoyed a recent double up and is still battling hard.
On the double up hand, Salsberg raised to 800 from the button, and O'Dwyer immediately pushed all-in. After asking for a count, Salsberg quickly called and tabled . He was slightly behind O'Dwyer's . The board ran out , and O'Dwyer won the pot to stay alive. He now has 17000 in chips, but is still well behind Salsberg's larger stack.
Phil Ivey returned, but only long enough for a few hands. In one hand, somehow all the money got in the middle and Ivey was holding . He was called by a player holding , but Ivey had him covered.
The board rolled out and Ivey was knocked down to just about 2,000 chips. On the next hand Ivey moved all in after seeing a flop. He was called by two players and after the turn and river, one player showed . Ivey mucked, and left the Brasilia room post haste.
On the flop, with the board showing , Daniel Negreanu faced a bet of 1,000. He raised to 2,200, and his opponent called. The turn was the , putting four hearts on board, and Negreanu's opponent again bet out, this time for 2,000. Negreanu quickly called. The river was the , and Negreanu's opponent quickly pushed all-in. Negreanu didn't look too happy about the situation, but he didn't seem like he wanted to fold either. He muttered "Brutal, man," and went into the tank for a minute. Eventually, he pushed his remaining chips forward, and his opponent turned over for a flopped flush. Negreanu turned over for a lower flopped flush, and Kid Poker, gracious in defeat, made his exit.
The buzz inside the walls of the Rio extends beyond just the tournaments on the 2013 World Series of Poker schedule. Online poker in Nevada is a very, very hot topic right now, and WSOP.com is making a lot of noise.
While the site has yet to launch, you can head to the Lambada Room of the Rio or look for one of the beautiful and friendly WSOP.com ladies walking the hallways to sign up for a free, personal WSOP.com online poker account. This is a great way to get a jump on the site's registration, and plenty of people have already taken this opportunity.
What's more is that the WSOP will be hosting daily raffles for everyone that has taken the time to register for WSOP.com at the Rio. What can you win? Plenty of fantastic prizes including 36 WSOP seats!
Players 21 years of age and older who sign up for a WSOP.com account will automatically be entered into the “36-Seat Giveaway” where a randomly-selected winner will win a seat into the next day’s first WSOP gold bracelet event. One of the events eligible in this promotion is the $111,111 One Drop High Roller No-Limit Hold’em tournament that is expected to feature a $10,000,000 prize pool and allow you to play poker with the biggest names in the game. In total, $182,333 in WSOP seats, including a seat to the WSOP Main Event, are being given away during this one-of-a-kind WSOP.com promotion.
In addition to the 36-Seat Giveaway, a “Hot Seat” promotion will allow any player who signs up for a WSOP.com online account and wears their WSOP.com patch on their chest at the table while playing an event to be randomly selected to receive 500 bonus dollars deposited directly into their WSOP.com online account once the site has received all regulatory approvals and launches.
With 62 WSOP gold bracelet events and three winners promised for the Main Event, this promotion includes $32,000 worth of value to those participating.
In last year's Event #36: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout, Craig McCorkell bested a field of 587 players and took down a WSOP bracelet along with $368,593 after three days. Action is just on the horizon for today's Event #9: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout and it is expected that the numbers will be similar for the event.
The event has a 2,000 player cap once again this year, but there are still plenty of seats available. The goal for the player's in today's shootout event is simple; Win your table. Win your table and you make the money. Once every table has reached a winner, players will move on to day two, where they will have to win a second table to advance again.
Players will start with 9,000 chips and the blinds at 25-50 and cards will be in the air in just about 15 minutes so make sure you stay tuned in for updates from the entire day.
against his 
. Saul was ahead with his jacks, but the flop changed his fortunes, coming 
and giving Minieri a pair of kings. The rest of the board ran out 
, giving Saul no help.![[user253053]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
and Esfandiari called with 
. He was slightly behind O'Dwyer's 
. The board ran out 
, and O'Dwyer won the pot to stay alive. He now has 17000 in chips, but is still well behind Salsberg's larger stack.
. He was called by a player holding 
, but Ivey had him covered.
and Ivey was knocked down to just about 2,000 chips. On the next hand Ivey moved all in after seeing a 
flop. He was called by two players and after the 
turn and 
river, one player showed 
, putting four hearts on board, and Negreanu's opponent again bet out, this time for 2,000. Negreanu quickly called. The river was the 
, and Negreanu's opponent quickly pushed all-in. Negreanu didn't look too happy about the situation, but he didn't seem like he wanted to fold either. He muttered "Brutal, man," and went into the tank for a minute. Eventually, he pushed his remaining chips forward, and his opponent turned over 
for a flopped flush. Negreanu turned over 
for a lower flopped flush, and Kid Poker, gracious in defeat, made his exit.
