With 4,000 in the middle on a flop of A♥J♥7♥, the button bet 2,000. Cassandra Kamerki in middle position, played with their chips and eventually moved all in for 17,800.
The button counted out a call and had a pained expression on their face. They decided not to make the call and Kamerki received a chip injection.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
23,800
23,800
|
23,800 |
Ben Valder was heads-up on a completed board of Q♥10♣10♥8♦6♦ when his opponent checked to him.
"I gotta show off for PokerNews!" he joked as he slid out a bet of 4,000 into the pot of 9,000, sending his opponent into the tank.
"Ughh ok one second, I am probably calling, my friend," his opponent replied in thick Italian accent.
"Hey, no worries, take your time, we've got hour levels, baby!" Valder reassured him.
"Ok, I changed my mind, you win!" his opponent said as he folded his cards to award Valder the pot.
"Ahh, come on! How am I supposed to provide for my family now?" Valder laughed as he raked in the pot.
Poker can produce light-hearted moments among players at a table. One such occasion occurred at Table 226, where a player in late position was all in.
The board showed 9♣9♠K♣ on the flop, and Linda Lyons inadvertently tabled her hand believing she was heads-up. But the big blind was still in the hand and Lyons, who had K♥9♥, didn’t see his cards when she tabled.
The all-in player took one look at Lyons’ flopped full house and chuckled.
“I fold!” the player in the big blind exclaimed with a laugh after seeing her cards.
Lyons’ remaining opponent tabled A♣6♥ and stood up as the dealer placed J♣ on the turn. He congratulated Lyons on the hand after 6♦ landed on the river before heading to the rail.
Despite Lyons’ misstep of inadvertently tabling her hand, the moment brought smiles around the table.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
23,000
23,000
|
23,000 |
Level: 4
Blinds: 300/500
Ante: 500
Even though Jason Koon bagged Day 1 of Event #40: $250,000 Super High Roller at the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP), he will not be joining the other High Rollers for Day 2. The high-stakes star had his stack pulled from the largest buy-in event of the summer after he received word that his wife was in labor with their second child just in time for Father's Day.
Koon, who bagged a stack of 1,740,000 — a little more than the starting stack of 1,500,000 — will be fully refunded for his $250,000 entry, according to WSOP officials.
"Prior to the end of registration in event 40 with more than a starting stack, entrant Jason Koon requested a void and refund so as to accompany his wife to the hospital who had gone into labor," WSOP told PokerNews. "Request was granted. Issuing a refund before the end of registration is clearly within the discretion of tournament officials and common practice at WSOP. We wish Jason Koon and all our WSOP dads a happy Father's Day."
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
105,500
47,000
|
47,000 |
|
|
85,600
85,600
|
85,600 |
|
|
81,400
81,400
|
81,400 |
|
|
80,000
80,000
|
80,000 |
|
55,100
55,100
|
55,100 |
|
40,500
40,500
|
40,500 |
|
36,600
14,600
|
14,600 |
|
||
|
25,400
14,100
|
14,100 |
Justin Kusumowidagdo opened to 1,100 from the cutoff and was called only by the button and the two went heads-up to a flop of Q♦5♠7♥.
Kusumowidagdo continued for 1,100 and the button called to see the 8♣ turn, where Kusumowidagdo barreled again for 2,500.
The button then decided that wasn't quite enough and clicked it back for 5,000, to which Justin Kusumowidagdo responded with a three-bet to 13,500 and the button just flatted.
The river came the J♦ and Kusumowidagdo fired again for 25,000 on the river and sent his opponent into the tank.
"Six-nine or nine-ten?" The button asked him, to which Kusumowidagdo replied with a hearty chug from his Red Bull.
The button eventually flicked in the call and tabled 7♦7♣ for a flopped set but Kusumowidagdo then rolled over 6♥9♦ for a turned straight to win the substantial pot and rocket him up to 104,000.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
104,000
58,000
|
58,000 |
Michael Kurth, who was in the blinds, was short stacked and got involved in a three-way preflop pot with approximately 30,000 in the middle.
The pot grew after the dealer fanned 4♦3♦3♠ on the board. Kurth and the player to his right, who had Kurth covered, were all in, and their actions forced out a player in early position. The cards were then tabled.
Michael Kurth: 9♦8♦
Opponent: Q♠3♥
Kurth was behind on the flop against trip threes, but the J♦ appeared on the turn to give him a flush. He had to dodge a queen and the board pairing, but was safe when 7♠ hit the river.
While he remains short stacked, he scored a much-needed double up to keep hope alive.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
17,600
17,600
|
17,600 |
Poker Hall of Famer Jennifer Harman has seen the World Series of Poker (WSOP) in all of its iterations. Harman won two bracelets when the World Series played at Binion's Horseshoe in downtown Las Vegas and made several final tables after the transition to Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in the mid-2000s.
Now, 27 years after her first WSOP final table in 1996, Harman finds herself at yet another World Series rendition at the rebranded Horseshoe Casino on the Strip. And while the golden U-shaped emblem outside the hotel is by and large the same, Harman said the modern venue doesn't compare to the WSOP's original home.
"It was such a cool atmosphere playing at Binion's; it's just nothing like that," Harman told PokerNews. "Now it's just like, you know, poker blew up and it's more ... it's still a really cool atmosphere, but it's just different. It's not a small room, musty, that kind of stuff. But it's still really cool. Poker's still really popular, so that's a pretty awesome thing."
PokerNews caught up with Harman last week as she played Day 1 of Event #25: $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship at the 2023 WSOP to ask about her summer schedule, pick for the Poker Hall of Fame and her memories with the late Doyle Brunson.
