While we are in the first 20-minute break of the day, the orange section shows about 20 open tables. The players left total on the screens won't be updated until registration is closed, but this should already give you an impression of the action that has been going on through the first two hours of play.
We are up to 867 entries for the moment and registration is open for another two levels. Fellow PokerNews blogger Tim Duckworth has updated his stack via Twitter and we take the opportunity to share it with you as well:
Chad Holloway is even helping with the reporting when he is playing. Shaun Harris had a rollercoaster ride during the first two hours today, at one point as high as 6,000 chips before losing pots left and right. Down to his last 1,525, he was just all in with and against one of the biggest stacks in the room, Sergio Trevino, who called with .
Alas for Harris, the flop delivered one of the three sixes in the deck, and after Harris couldn't improve he was eliminated.
Another big stack is Aaron Henderson, who was kind enough to give us his name and chip count when we passed by.
Shortly after fixing herself up for our cameras, Kristy Arnett found herself in a blind versus blind situation. The action folded around to the small blind who called, and when Arnett raised to 250 from the big blind her opponent called. The flop was . The small blind checked to Arnett who bet 300 and her opponent again called. The turn brought the and both players checked.
After the fell on the river, Arnett's opponent bet 500 and Arnett called, but mucked after her opponent showed for the ace-high flush.
Arnett is looking fresh, even after the small hit to her stack.
Sergio Trevino opened for 350 from under the gun and Shaun Harris raised him to 1,025. Trevino made the call and the two players saw a flop of .
Trevino checked, then called a bet of 925 from Harris, and they saw the turn bring the . Once more Trevino checked and when Harris bet 1,400, Trevino moved all in. It was Harris’s tournament life on the line if he called, but he would be left short if he folded. Fold he did and another pot was shipped to one of the biggest stacks in the room.
On a flop, we saw Claudio Falcao and the small blind get involved in some heavy action with Falcao ending up all in for his last 2,175 chips with . His opponent showed while the big blind nodded in disbelief. "Two guys with small pairs and they both flop a set," he said.
The turn and the river changed nothing and Falcao doubled through. Meanwhile on the very same table we have Lee Davy struggling to get anything going, as he is down to 1,500 in chips.
Matthew Pitt lost a few chips when an early position raiser made it 250 and he called with . The flop was and both players checked. The turn was the and Pitt called a bet of 350.
He told us that he was planning to shove a diamond river card but when the fell his opponent sighed and bet 900. Thinking better of it, Pitt folded and when he asked his opponent if he would have called the shove he answered that it would have been a difficult decision.
Pitt didn’t quite hold on until the break before he needed to visit the restroom, though, and confirmed that he had indeed needed to empty his bladder. “Couldn’t take the excitement,” he explained.
Terrence Chan is here, representing Ultimate Poker, one of the few legal online poker sites in Nevada.
Chan is off to a good start with an early double up after flopping the nut straight against the top two pair of an opponent. The turn and river blanked, and Chan now has 6,000 chips' worth of ammunition to take to today's battlefields.
The overall number of entries has now reached 863, so we only need another 36 players to beat 2013's total.
On the table of possible chip leader Cameron Tullis we noticed a big pot going on with a board already completed. After the big blind had checked, Alexander Sun bet 900 into a 2,500 pot, then the big blind check-raised all in for 5,300 to send Sun into the tank.
Sun eventually made the call and turned over the for the flush whereas his opponent showed . The chips were counted and Sun doubled up.
Meanwhile on the table of our very own Chad Holloway, Shaun Harris had a rather rough start but since doubled up "a couple of times." The WSOP dealer who has dealt several final tables over the last few years is now back up to a healthy 6,050 in chips.
Chad Holloway completed from the small blind and the big blind checked. In fact it was checked all the way down to the river whereupon Holloway threw out a black T100 chip and got a call.
Holloway’s was good enough and a baby pot was pushed his way to keep chipping up.
On another table Ty Stewart, who has a last longer bet with Holloway, isn’t looking too happy as he nurses his remaining 1,500.
Meanwhile the aggressive Cameron Tullis, about whom we wrote earlier, is steadily growing his stack and appears to have broken the 10,000-chip mark.
and against one of the biggest stacks in the room, Sergio Trevino, who called with 
.
. The small blind checked to Arnett who bet 300 and her opponent again called. The turn brought the 
and both players checked.
fell on the river, Arnett's opponent bet 500 and Arnett called, but mucked after her opponent showed 
for the ace-high flush.
.
. Once more Trevino checked and when Harris bet 1,400, Trevino moved all in. It was Harris’s tournament life on the line if he called, but he would be left short if he folded. Fold he did and another pot was shipped to one of the biggest stacks in the room.
flop, we saw Claudio Falcao and the small blind get involved in some heavy action with Falcao ending up all in for his last 2,175 chips with 
while the big blind nodded in disbelief. "Two guys with small pairs and they both flop a set," he said.
and both players checked. The turn was the 
and Pitt called a bet of 350.
fell his opponent sighed and bet 900. Thinking better of it, Pitt folded and when he asked his opponent if he would have called the shove he answered that it would have been a difficult decision.
board already completed. After the big blind had checked, Alexander Sun bet 900 into a 2,500 pot, then the big blind check-raised all in for 5,300 to send Sun into the tank.
for the flush whereas his opponent showed 
. The chips were counted and Sun doubled up.
