2014 World Series of Poker

Event #2: $25,000 Mixed-Max No-Limit Hold'em
Day: 1
Event Info

2014 World Series of Poker

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
kj
Prize
$871,148
Event Info
Buy-in
$25,000
Prize Pool
$3,111,250
Entries
131
Level Info
Level
29
Blinds
80,000 / 160,000
Ante
20,000

Selbst Flops Quads En Route to Bagging Chip Lead on Day 1

Level 10 : 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
Vanessa Selbst - Chip leader
Vanessa Selbst - Chip leader

The first open event of the 2014 World Series of Poker kicked off on Tuesday at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, and a total of 131 players ponied up $25,000 to take part in Event #2: Mixed Max No-Limit Hold’em. Leading the 60 survivors is two-time WSOP bracelet winner Vanessa Selbst.

Selbst, who won her most recent bracelet in the 10-game mix in 2012, won a massive pot off of Jake Schindler in the final level of Day 1, flopping quad jacks. The money went in the middle when Schindler turned a pair of tens to go with his open-ended straight draw, but Selbst held an unbeatable hand and raked in the 450,000-chip pot.

Right behind Selbst is 2012 $50,000 Poker Players’ Championship winner Brian Rast. Rast, who also reached the final table of the $1 Million BIG ONE for ONE DROP, jumped out to an early lead and eliminated a handful of players throughout the day, including 2012 WSOP Main Event champion Greg Merson and bracelet winner Phil Galfond. Rast is in search of his sixth cash at the WSOP, and possibly his third bracelet.

Joining Selbst and Rast atop the counts are Fabrice Touil, JC Tran, Al Decarolis, and Jason Mo. Like Rast, Decarolis quickly accumulated chips, but he started to fizzle as the day progressed, doubling up Mickey Petersen and Doug Polk.

Thirteen-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, nine-time bracelet winner Phil Ivey, and six-time bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu also survived the first day of Event 2. Hellmuth was the last player to register the event and received a big double up through John Juanda when he flopped a set of eights against Juanda’s flush and straight draws. The Indonesian failed to improve on the turn or the river, and Hellmuth raked in a massive pot.

Nearly half of the field exited during Day 1, and several notable players kicked off their 2014 WSOP with a $25,000 loss. Among the players to bust were Marvin Rettenmaier, Chino Rheem, Mohsin Charania, Ryan D’Angelo, Joe Cada, Jean-Robert Bellande, Dan Smith, Martin Jacobson, and Jason Koon.

D’Angelo ran kings into Jennifer Tilly’s aces – Tilly was later eliminated with unknown action – Jacobson had top pair cracked by Kevin Eyster’s naked flush draw with just one card to come, and Koon lost a race with {a-}{k-} against Tran’s {q-}{q-}.

The survivors will return on Wednesday at 2 p.m. PST where they will play six-handed poker. It is unknown whether or not the tournament staff will halt play once the field is reduced to a certain number. Be sure to check back to PokerNews for live coverage of this and every bracelet event at the 2014 World Series of Poker!

Tags: Brian RastVanessa Selbst

Bonomo Binks

Level 10 : 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
Justin Bonomo
Justin Bonomo

Al Decarolis raised to 7,500 from middle position, Justin Bonomo three-bet to 18,500, and the action folded back to Decarolis. He moved all in for effectively 99,500, and Bonomo made the call.

Decarolis: {a-Diamonds}{a-Spades}
Bonomo: {7-Spades}{7-Diamonds}

Bonomo's wired pair of sevens were crushed, but he ran out a straight as the board came {9-Hearts}{6-Spades}{q-Spades}{8-Clubs}{10-Hearts}, doubling to over 200,000 chips. Decarolis dropped to around 190,000.

Player Chips Progress
Justin Bonomo us
Justin Bonomo
WSOP 3X Winner
200,000 118,000
Al Decarolis us
Al Decarolis
190,000 -90,000

Tags: Al DecarolisJustin Bonomo

Jake Schindler Eliminated By New Chip Leader Vanessa Selbst

Level 10 : 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
Vanessa Selbst
Vanessa Selbst

Ravi Raghavan raised from the hijack, Jake Schindler three-bet to 14,000 in the cutoff, and Vanessa Selbst four-bet to 31,500 from the big blind. Raghavan folded, Schindler called, and the flop fell {J-Clubs}{J-Hearts}{8-Spades}.

Selbst bet 24,500, Schindler called and the {10-Clubs} turn followed.

Selbst took some time before she checked to Schindler who shoved for about 160,000. Selbst called immediately with {J-Diamonds}{J-Spades} for quad jacks, having the pot locked up against Schindler's {10-Hearts}{9-Spades}. The inconsequential river officially secured the pot for Selbst, giving her the chip lead with about 30 minutes left on the clock.

Player Chips Progress
Vanessa Selbst us
Vanessa Selbst
WSOP 3X Winner
520,000 230,000
Jake Schindler us
Jake Schindler
WSOP 1X Winner
Busted

Tags: Jake SchindlerVanessa Selbst

PokerNews Podcast Episode #217: Welcome to the 2014 WSOP!

Level 10 : 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
WSOP.com sign lights up the Pavilion Room stage
WSOP.com sign lights up the Pavilion Room stage

The 2014 World Series of Poker is officially underway and the crew brings you the first podcast of the summer. Rich, Donnie and Jason discuss the 25K Fantasy draft, David "ODB" Baker's fantasy league and the first open event of the summer, Event #2: $25,000 Mixed-Max No-Limit Hold'em.

You can subscribe to the entire iBus Media Network on iTunes here, or you can access the RSS feed here. The PokerNews family of podcasts is now available on Stitcher.

Tags: Jason SomervillePokerNews PodcastWSOP

Hellmuth Makes a Mess, Doubles

Level 9 : 800/1,600, 200 ante
Phil Hellmuth
Phil Hellmuth

John Juanda, Phil Hellmuth, and Christian Harder took a flop of {10-Diamonds}{8-Spades}{7-Diamonds}, and Juanda led out for 8,100. Hellmuth raised to 23,000, leaving 32,700 behind, and Harder folded.

Juanda tanked for a bit before committing a large stack of pink T5,000 chips, putting Hellmuth all in for 55,700, and Hellmuth grabbed all of his chips with both hands and thrusted them into the pot.

One of his yellow T1,000 chips went flying off the table, landing at Alec Torelli's feet, and his stack was dangerously close to the rest of the pot. Phil Ivey settled the dispute, getting out of his chair to separate Hellmuth's all-in bet from the main pot.

"I trust Phil Ivey," said Hellmuth.

Hellmuth announced that he flopped a set of eights before actually showing the {8-Diamonds}{8-Clubs}, and Juanda was drawing very live with {6-Diamonds}{5-Diamonds} for straight and flush draws.

Unfortunately for Juanda, the turn ({5-Hearts}) and the river ({k-Spades}) were both bricks, and the 13-time bracelet winner doubled to around 130,000 chips. Juanda fell back down to 170,000.

Player Chips Progress
John Juanda id
John Juanda
WSOP 5X Winner
Poker Hall of Famer
170,000 -60,000
Phil Hellmuth us
Phil Hellmuth
WSOP Main Event Champion
WSOP 17X Winner
Poker Hall of Famer
130,000 77,000

Tags: Alec TorelliChristian HarderJohn JuandaPhil HellmuthPhil Ivey

Action During the Break

Level 9 : 800/1,600, 200 ante
Josh Arieh - Eliminated
Josh Arieh - Eliminated

Right before the break, Jason Mercier opened to 2,800 from under the gun, and three players called including Barry Hutter. Mercier continued for 5,200 on a flop of {8-Hearts}{4-Hearts}{4-Diamonds}, Hutter called, and the turn was the {q-Diamonds}.

Mercier fired out another 5,200, Hutter once again called, and the {3-Diamonds} fell on the river. Mercier bet 22,600, Hutter moved all in for an additional 54,000, and Mercier folded.

While that hand was wrapping up, and players were starting to exit for the break, Josh Arieh was all in and at risk with {k-Clubs}{k-Spades}. Unfortunately for him, Alec Torelli tabled {a-Hearts}{a-Spades}, and the aces held up.

Player Chips Progress
Barry Hutter us
Barry Hutter
WSOP 1X Winner
155,000 69,000
Alec Torelli us
Alec Torelli
93,000 36,000
Jason Mercier us
Jason Mercier
WSOP 6X Winner
54,000 -26,000
Josh Arieh us
Josh Arieh
WSOP 6X Winner
Busted

Tags: Alec TorelliJason MercierJosh AriehBarry Hutter

OMGNostradamus

Level 8 : 600/1,200, 200 ante
Phil Galfond
Phil Galfond

According to the sage-like Phil Galfond, he is no longer in the tournament:

Phil GalfondPrediction came true: I didn't win the $25k #WSOP mixed max.

Tags: Phil Galfond

Cassavetes Blown Away

Level 7 : 500/1,000, 100 ante
Nick Cassavetes - Eliminated
Nick Cassavetes - Eliminated

A short-stacked Nick Cassavetes found himself all in and at risk with {a-Diamonds}{j-Clubs} on a flop of {3-Diamonds}{3-Clubs}{a-Spades}, and unfortunately for him he was dominated by Eli Berg's {5-Clubs}{3-Spades}.

"Nice hand," Cassavetes said.

The turn and river bricked off {q-Spades}, {4-Spades} respectively, and Cassavetes was eliminated.

"It was a pleasure playing with you guys," the star writer and director told the table before exiting.

Player Chips Progress
Eli Berg us
Eli Berg
98,000 28,000
Nick Cassavetes
Nick Cassavetes
Busted

Tags: Nick CassavetesEli Berg

Selbst Doubles Through Tilly

Level 7 : 500/1,000, 100 ante
Vanessa Selbst doubles
Vanessa Selbst doubles

Jennifer Tilly raised to 2,400, and three players called including Kevin Song on the button. Vanessa Selbst put in a re-raise from the big blind, making it 11,200 to go, and Tilly quickly four-bet to 35,000. The action folded back to Selbst, who smiled.

She said something that sounded like "I three-bet without a plan" as she cut out the remainder of her stack.

"All in," she announced, committing a total of 62,900. "That was the original plan."

Feeling priced in, Tilly called, saying she was "suited."

Tilly: {k-Spades}{j-Spades}
Selbst: {10-Hearts}{10-Spades}

"Oh," Selbst blurted, surprised to see two overs. "I thought you had like nine-seven."

The {8-Diamonds}{4-Clubs}{7-Diamonds} flop changed nothing, and the {q-Spades} on the turn was a brick as well. An inconsequential {a-Spades} completed the board, and Selbst doubled through.

The two-time WSOP bracelet winner is now up to 106,000 chips, while Tilly dropped down to 80,000.

Player Chips Progress
Vanessa Selbst us
Vanessa Selbst
WSOP 3X Winner
106,000 47,000
Jennifer Tilly us
Jennifer Tilly
WSOP 1X Winner
80,000 -105,000

Tags: Vanessa SelbstJennifer Tilly

Gross Doubles Through Volpe

Level 6 : 400/800, 100 ante
Paul Volpe
Paul Volpe

After a series of preflop raises, Jeff Gross was all in and at risk for 43,875 holding {a-Diamonds}{a-Spades}. Paul Volpe had him covered by 1,400, but was in very rough shape with {a-Clubs}{k-Clubs}.

The pocket rockets held up as the board rolled out {4-Clubs}{3-Hearts}{7-Hearts}{9-Spades}{6-Hearts}, and Gross doubled through. Volpe was eliminated shortly thereafter.

Player Chips Progress
Jeff Gross us
Jeff Gross
88,000 13,000
Paul Volpe us
Paul Volpe
WSOP 3X Winner
Busted

Tags: Jeff GrossPaul Volpe