Phil Ivey's table got a lot more interesting as Eli Elezra also sat down. We just saw the nine time World Series of Poker bracelet winner play a little pot against John Monnette.
On fourth street Ivey threw out a bet and Monnette smiled and said, "I check."
Ivey laughed and said, "I'm sorry," as Monnette threw in the call while he was actually first to act.
On fifth street Monnette check-called and on sixth the tables turned and Ivey bet out. Monnette folded and Ivey raked in this pot.
One table just got a whole lot tougher as we saw two legendary online players, who have successfully transitioned to live poker, sit down.
Erik Lindgren and Tom Schneider had been playing at the same time for a few minutes when James 'AndyMcLeod' Obst and Stephen 'Stevie444' Chidwick showed up. These four highly accomplished players were then joined by Russian mixed game player Andrey Zaichenko who finished third in the 2011 $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship.
In a tournament this size, with this buy in and with this variation of games it's hard to find any soft tables. A first look around the room, with many open seats still left to be filled at every table, we already spotted some very interesting matchups.
The 2011 $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. champion Fabrice Soulier came to play today and he's facing some tough competition as David 'Bakes' Baker and Barry Greenstein are sitting on his immediate left. Also on this table we spotted Scott Abrams, Frankie O'Dell and Don Nguyen. The latter finished second in last year's $50,000 Players Championship.
Mister Phil Ivey came to play bright and early and he's facing Melissa Burr on his immediate left and John Monnette.
Rob Mizrachi took his seat right at the start and he's facing Miami John Cernuto, Jeremy Ausmus and Jared Jaffe.
Many players are still strolling into the tournament room and in a few hours we're sure to see some more very tough matchups develop.
We're starting with Limit Hold'em in the 2014 $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. championship and the cards are now officially in the air. Late registration for this event is open until the start of Level 7.
Hello and welcome back to the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino for the 45th-annual World Series of Poker!
The $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship - the fifth championship - is set to kick off in 20 minutes or so, and we are anticipating another star-studded field. There was no $10,000 variant in 2013, the largest buy-in H.O.R.S.E. event was of the $5,000 variety, and Tom Schneider bested a 261-player field to earn $318,955.
Prior to that, David "Bakes" Baker (2012), Fabrice Soulier (2011), and Ian Gordon (2010) won this event. Before the WSOP changed the $50,000 Poker Players' Championship to eight-game, H.O.R.S.E. was the game of choice.
For those new to mixed games, H.O.R.S.E. is made up of the following:
Limit hold'em
Limit omaha hi-low eight-or-better
Razz
Stud hi
Stud hi-low eight-or-better
The cards will be in the air shortly. Be sure to check back for updates straight from the tournament room right here on PokerNews!
— fold
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