Players pack the Amazon Room for Day 1b of the Main Event
We've reached the second break of the day on Day 1b of the Main Event, and among our leaders is Dutchman Jorn Walthaus.
Walthaus, who opted not to play on Day 1a as did many of his countrymen because they were too busy watching their country's football team escape a nail bitter against Costa Rica in the 2014 FIFA World Cup is sitting on 71,400 chips and eyeing yet another deep run in the Main Event. Last year, he finished 26th for $285,408, while fellow Dutchman Michiel Brummelhuis became the first player from Holland to reach the Main Event final table, ultimately finishing seventh for $1,225,356.
Also among the chip leaders is Slovenia's own Dejan Pustoslemšek, who currently has around 70,000.
During Level 2 we spotted NASCAR driver Jason White in the field. White, driver of the No. 24 Toyota car in the Nationwide Series, is evidently friends with 2013 runner-up Jay Farber, who tweeted that he is constantly texting White for updates.
Among the players to bust in Level 2 were Vladimir Geshkenbein, Kevn Saul, and David "Doc" Sands. Geshkenbein ran into the of an opponent, and the Russian hit the rail.
The players are now on a 20-minute break. Until then, enjoy this video with Sarah Grant and Triana Iglesias:
A late position player opened with a raise to 700 and Chino Rheem three-bet the action to 1,800 from the cutoff. Action came back around to the original opener and he called.
The two took a flop of and action checked to Rheem. He continued for 2,300 and his opponent called to see the board pair with the on the turn. He checked once more and Rheem kept firing, this time for 4,800 total. He found a call and the finished off the community cards. Rheem's opponent checked and Rheem knocked the table back.
Rheem's opponent showed for fives full of queens, prompting Rheem to fling his cards into the muck. With this hit, he's down to about 52,000.
You might remember Dan Harrington from his back-to-back Main Event final tables in 2003 and 2004 and his iconic green Boston Celtics hat. “Action” Dan hasn't seen too much action inside the Rio as of late and admits to not playing much poker at all.
We caught up with the 1995 Main Event Champion for a quick chat as players from Day 1b went to break.
PokerNews: We haven’t seen you much around the halls of the Rio, what have you been up to?
Dan Harrington: Well, I’m retired. And I'm a partner in a business Anchor Loans, a retired partner there too but I occasionally go into a board of director’s meeting.
Have you been playing much poker?
No. This is only my second tournament of the year.
You aren’t wearing your Boston Celtics cap — where is it?
I just forgot to bring it. That’s how much attention I am paying to this whole thing.
How’s your day been going so far?
So far, so good. It’s like the guy that fell off a 10-story building and at the eighth floor says “so far, so good.”
As the table was leaving for break, Huck Seed asked you why you always have good hands. Is that part of your strategy?
You better show these guys good hands otherwise they're going to kill you.
into the 
and action checked to Rheem. He continued for 2,300 and his opponent called to see the board pair with the 
on the turn. He checked once more and Rheem kept firing, this time for 4,800 total. He found a call and the 
finished off the community cards. Rheem's opponent checked and Rheem knocked the table back.
