2014 World Series of Poker

Day 1 of the $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold’em event is completed and what a fantastic day of poker it was. By the time registration closed there were 557 player who had bought in. Fast forward to the end of the tenth level of play and only 69 of those had chips that they needed to bag up.

One man who has chips aplenty is Russia’s David Martirosyan who had the welcomed problem of figuring out how to cram 119,500 chips into his overnight chip bag.

Martirosyan first came to our attention during the last level of the night when he made a big lay down that ultimately saved his tournament life. Jesse Yaginuma raised to 2,000 from the cutoff, Martirosyan three-bet to 6,000 from the small blind and Yaginuma called.

The flop came down and Martirosyan led for 5,000 and Yaginuma called. Martirosyan fired again on the turn, making it 11,500 to play. Again, Yaginuma called. The river was the and Martirosyan tapped the table and checked only to see Yaginuma move all-in.

Martirosyan went deep into the tank for several minutes before folding his hand. He would later inform us that he “made a big fold.”

As play was drawing to a close, Martirosyan doubled through Yaginuma when the chips went into the middle of a flop, Martirosyan holding and Yaginuma . A on the turn saw Martirosyan fall way behind but a spiked on the river to gift him a straight and the double up was complete.

A couple of hands later he got his stack in with and ran into the of Shankar Pillai. Again the turn came to Martirosyan’s rescue as he hit the to improve to a set. That hand pushed him to 95,000 and he added an additional 20,000 before play ended for the night.

Martirosyan’s nearest rival ended Day 1 only 1,900 chips behind him. Matt Damadeo was down to 2,550 during the early levels, but quadrupled up in a crazy four-way all-in. Damadeo took full advantage of his new chips and ended with 117,500.

Joining Martirosyan and Damadeo on Day 2 are some of poker’s most talented players. Joseph Cheong (67,200), Jesse Yaginuma (52,500), Darryll Fish (49,500), Phil Collins (39,700), David Peters (31,400), Phil Ivey (31,300), reigning world champion Ryan Riess (27,700), Keven Stammen (20,000) and Marvin Rettenmaier are all still in the hunt for the $169,225 first place prize and the coveted gold bracelet.

Play resumes at 1p.m Las Vegas time and the money bubble should burst during the first level of play because only 69 players are returning and 63 of those get paid.

Lock your browsers to PokerNews.com and return to our Live Reporting pages on Wednesday at 1 p.m. as we continue our coverage of Event #12 of the 2014 World Series of Poker.

The dealers have been instructed to deal three more hands, once completed we will be bagging up for the night.

Barny Boatman informed us of a brutal hand that cost him a 60,000 pot.

"I got kings in versus ace-jack on a jack-high flop and he turned an ace."

Boatman has 13,800 chips.

In two incredible hands, David Martirosyan went from short stack to at or near the chip lead.

First, Martirosyan got involved with Jess Yaginuma when Yaginuma opened for 2,000 from early position and Martirosyan three-bet to 4,400 from middle position. Yaginuma made the call and, after a flop of they got it all in.

Martirosyan turned over and Yaginuma said "you're good," as he tabled . He was quickly not good however on the turn. The spiked on the river, though and Martirosyan doubled up with the straight.

A couple of hands later, Martirosyan tangled with another former chip leader in Shankar Pillai when they got it all in preflop.

Martirosyan:

Pillai:

The board ran out and again, Martirosyan makes a big hand after being behind to double up and race toward the chip lead.

As you can see, both Dylan Linde and David Peters are doing OK for themselves as Day 1's end approaches.

Other notables still in the hunt for the bracelet include Barny Boatman, Ryan Riess, Joseph Cheong and Phil Collins.

Phil Ivey raised to 2,000 from early position and the player in the big blind made the call. The flop was the and Ivey's opponent checked. Ivey bet 2,000 and was met with a raise to 4,500. Ivey made the call and the turn was the ; both players checked.

The river brought a fourth spade and Ivey's opponent again checked. Ivey fired 8,000 and his opponent folded.

Jesse Yaginuma opened to 2,000 from the cutoff and then called when David Martirosyan in the small blind three-bet to 6,000. The flop came down , the small blind bet and Yaginuma called.

The turn brought the into play and Martirosyan fired a second barrel, this one worth 11,500. Again, Yaginuma called. The river was the and now Martirosyan checked. Yaginuma, instead of checking behind, moved all-in, creating a massive pot!

Martirosyan went into the tank for several minutes before letting his hand go.

Yaginuma mucked his hand so we may never know what he actually held. One thing is for sure, he is our current chip leader with 40-minutes left of the final level.

We walked up to a board of and Greg Kolo had pushed his last 18,700 into a pot of about the same size.

His opponent thought for a moment before calling with for top pair. Kolo turned over , however for the set and the big pot.