With a ton of chips already in the pot we caught some raising and betting between Steve Billirakis and Bertrand Grospellier while Brian Hastings was all in.
Hastings: / /
Grospellier: / /
Billirakis: / /
On seventh street Billirakis turned over for the nut flush, Hastings busted holding and Grospellier mucked his cards. The players at the table initially thought Grospellier had a smaller flush, bust the French pro admitted he had three of a kind kings at the end.
The action started with Phil Ivey who completed and Bill Chen raised. Shirley Rosario three-bet and the bring in, Ivey and Chen called.
On fourth street Chen checked to Rosario who bet, the bring in called, Ivey called and Chen called. On fifth street Chen checked again, Rosario bet, the bring in folded and both Ivey and Chen called.
Sixth street brought no difference to the betting action as Rosario kept firing after Chen had checked, but neither gentleman opted to fold. On seventh she got another bet in and Ivey folded.
Chen said, "I hope you're not rolled up," and tossed in the call.
After the first 10 levels of the $10,000 Seven-Card Stud Championship, just 56 players remain with Ben Yu on top. This tournament drew a crowd of 102 players and the eventual winner will walk away $268,473 richer.
Just 16 places will get paid in this tournament and tons of top pros are in the hunt for a deep run. Australian World Series of Poker debutant James Obst sits in second place while 2011 runner-up Steve Landfish, $50,000 Players' Championship runner-up Jesse Martin, and "Miami" John Cernuto all have big stacks, too.
Henry Orenstein, inventor of the hole-card camera, did the "shuffle up and deal" at the start of the day and the 90-year-old survived the day with a very nice stack of 82,300.
The eventual winner of this tournament will not only win a gold bracelet and a ton of money, but they also get to see their name among the following list of champions.. Orenstein won this tournament in 1996, while Freddie Ellis, the 2009 champion, also remains alive.
Year
Buy-in
Entrants
Winner
First Prize
Runner-Up
Second Prize
2013
$2,500
246
David Chiu
$145,520
Scott Seiver
$89,980
2012
$5,000
145
John Monnette
$190,826
Huu Vinh
$117,913
2011
$10,000
126
Betrand Grospellier
$331,639
Steve Landfish
$204,924
2010
$10,000
150
Men Nguyen
$394,807
Brandon Adams
$243,958
2009
$10,000
142
Freddie Ellis
$373,751
Eric Drache
$231,013
2008
$10,000
158
Eric Brooks
$415,856
Fu Wong
$259,910
2007
$5,000
180
Chris Reslock
$258,453
Phil Ivey
$143,820
2006
$5,000
183
Benjamin Lin
$256,620
Shawn Sheikhan
$171,080
2005
$5,000
192
Jan Sorensen
$293,275
Keith Sexton
$162,430
2004
$5,000
144
Joe Awada
$221,000
Marcel Luske
120,800
2003
$5,000
96
Men Nguyen
$178,560
Mel Judah
$102,680
2002
$5,000
92
Qushqar Morad
$172,960
Steven Banks
$99,460
2001
$5,000
104
Allen Cunningham
$201,760
Michael Danino
$100,880
2000
$5,000
101
David Chiu
$202,000
Ken Flaton
$101,000
1999
$2,500
199
David Grey
$199,000
Eli Balas
$99,500
1998
$5,000
104
Jan Chen
$208,000
Don Barton
$104,000
1997
$5,000
88
Mel Judah
$176,000
Vasilis Lazarou
$101,200
1996
$5,000
65
Henry Orenstein
$130,000
Humberto Brenes
$74,750
1995
$5,000
77
Anthony DeAngelo
$154,000
TJ Cloutier
$88,550
1994
$5,000
72
Roger Moore
$144,000
Adam Roberts
$82,800
Make sure to tune back in tomorrow at 2 p.m. local time for the continuation of this tournament. The goal is to play down to a final table of eight, but with this great structure anything can happen.