We're set for the noon kickoff of another 2014 World Series of Poker bracelet event with today's Event #49: $5.000 No-Limit Hold'em.
Last year, 784 players entered the prestigious event, and Manchester's Matt Perrins topped them all to take home the first-place prize of $792,275. He defeated a tough final table that included Seth Berger (finished third), Antonio Buonanno (fourth), Matt Berkey (fifth), and Joe Serock (eighth).
The plan for today is to play 10 levels, each lasting one hour. The players will receive 20-minute breaks after every two levels, and a dinner break after Level 6. Everyone will start with a hefty stack of 15,000, so expect things to start off at a relatively tame pace and pick up as the day goes on. Stay tuned to PokerNews as we bring you all of the relevant live updates.
From the button, Dan Smith raised and then called a reraise of approximately 2,300 from the player in the small blind. Smith called another 1,800 on the flop, and the small blind bet 3,000 on the turn. Smith took his time, thinking for about 30 seconds before calling, and the arrived on the river. The small blind fired all in for 6,175, and Smith snap-called.
Smith showed for top set on the flop, and his opponent simply said "good game" before making sure he was covered. Smith pointed at the two cards his opponent had slid forward, as they had to be shown per World Series of Poker rules: .
We found Matt Salsberg all in from the big blind against the small blind on a board of . Salsberg's opponent had bet an unknown amount with a red T5,000 chip in front of him, and Salsberg was all in for 9,050. His opponent made the call, and Salsberg showed for trips that backdoored into a flush.
After a flop of , Zachary "HustlerGrune" Gruneberg bet 850 from early position and saw Josh Arieh raise to over 2,000 from the button. Gruneberg shoved all in, and Arieh snap-called.
"Good luck, Josh," Gruneberg said, but Arieh wouldn't need much luck, as he had flopped a straight with . Gruneberg turned over , meaning his best hope was for a nine to hit and chop the pot. The turn and river were blanks ( and ) and Arieh now has a massive early stack.
Team PokerStars Pro and Team BlueShark Optics member Humberto Brenes joins the podcast to talk about his eight cashes thus far in the 2014 WSOP, chasing records, and Costa Rica's success at the FIFA World Cup. Rich, Donnie, and Jason then break down all of the latest news at the Rio, including the $50,000 Poker Players' Championship, and play an impromptu game that Jason and Rich fail miserably at.
A player under-the-gun bet 8,000 on the turn with the board reading and was called by an opponent in middle position. In the big blind, Jeff Gross counted out his stack before moving all in for 21,400 total. The bettor folded, and the caller said he had a draw but felt priced in due to the pot being massive. He called with for a double gutshot, while Gross tabled for top-top.
Gross got on the side of the dealer where the card was going to emerge so he could sweat it out, as he likes to do. He said it was the biggest pot of the series for him equity-wise, and fortune smiled upon him as the dealer delivered the .
At nearby tables, Justin Bonomo and Phil Hellmuth have taken seats.
After an open to 800 from middle position, Dylan Linde three-bet from the next spot to 2,300. The big blind made it 5,425, and the original opener jammed for 22,200 total. Linde got a count and then moved all in as well, covering his last opponent, who folded.
Linde:
Opponent:
The board was clean for Linde, though the big blind said he folded nines. Linde's certainly among the leaders now.
Event #49: $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em got underway on Wednesday afternoon and as one would expect from a tournament with such a buy-in, it was attended by some of the best tournament poker players in the business.
By the time registration closed, the kind folks working at the registration desk had taken 696 buy-ins, meaning a prize pool of $3,271,200 was created, of which $719,707 is reserved for the eventual champion. Of those 696 starters, only 204 managed to navigate their way through the shark-infested waters of Day 1. Leading all of those 204 survivors was Ken Einiger, who turned his 15,000 starting stack into a tournament-leading 174,000 over the course of 10 hour-long levels.
Einiger has five cashes at the World Series of Poker, one of which came in the Millionaire Maker earlier in this series. Although there is a long way to go until the money — 72 places are paid — Einiger has given himself the best chance to add a sixth WSOP cash to his record.
While Einiger doesn't have any gold bracelets just yet, he has a different World Series title, coming in the World Series of Blackjack. Einiger won the Season 2 championship for an impressive $250,000 in 2005, and many consider him an expert in the game. Earning a WSOP gold bracelet would only add to big card-playing achievements and make him an expert poker player in many people's eyes.
Also progressing to Thursday’s Day 2 with plenty of chips was seasoned pro Josh Arieh. He will start with 173,400 chips, narrowly missing out on the title of overnight chip leader by 600 chips.
Other notables and big stacks to look out for when play resumes include Rob Prinz (149,400), Germany’s Martin Hanowski (142,900), online grinder Nick Petrangelo (120,000), Vanessa Selbst (117,300), Jason Koon (104,300), Matthew Jarvis (101,000), Lauren Kling (100,300), JC Tran (93,300), Andrew Lichtenberger (69,800), Dan O’Brien (68,900), Ole Schemion (57,000), Joe Cada (39,800), David Vamplew (30,100), and Keven Stammen (25,300).
Day 2 kicks off in the Amazon Room at 1 p.m. local time on Thursday and efforts will be made to whittle the field down towards the final table of nine. Join us here at PokerNews for updates of all of the action, as it happens, from this star-studded event.