Day 1 of the first-ever World Series of Poker $10,000 Tag Team Championship is in the books, and it was Team Polk who ended the day with the chip lead. Team Polk is comprised of Doug Polk, Ryan Fee, Jason Mo and Michael Finstein.
Team Polk entered the event just before late registration ended but still managed to finish the day with the biggest stack at 240,600. Finstein was playing for the team during the last hour and went on a run to give his team the chip lead. On one of the bigger hands he won toward the end of the night he turned a straight against Samantha Abernathy to double up.
Polk and Fee won the $1,000 Tag Team Event as a duo last year, so they're looking for Tag Team titles in back-to-back years.
A total of 102 teams joined Wednesday's event and exactly half bagged chips at the end of play. Several high profile players and teams were in the field and some of them were unable to find a bag. Team Deeb (Shaun Deeb, Scott Seiver, Daniel Weinman, and Mike Gorodinsky) was one of the stacked teams that didn't make it through. Another stacked team, Team Rast, also busted. Brian Rast joined Jeff Gross, Antonio Esfandiari and Michael Phelps in an effort to win Gross and Phelps their first WSOP gold bracelets.
Team Staats (Christopher Staats, Orlando Romero, and Roland Israelashvili) bagged the second-biggest stack at 216,400. They were followed by Team Tran (J.C. Tran, Nam Le, and Antonio Gutierrez) with 207,000. The only other team over 200,000 is Team Chidwick (Stephen Chidwick and Dan Smith). They also registered late and were able to build up a big stack quickly.
Play resumes at 2 p.m. on Thursday and the final 51 teams will try and move one step closer to being the first-ever World Series of Poker $10,000 Tag Team Champions.
Carlos Mortensen got into a pre-flop race versus another player that he had covered.
Mortensen tabled and his opponent showed .
The board ran out and Mortensen got the elimination.
Mortensen is number one on Spain's all-time money list with over 12 million in live recorded tournament earnings and is a former WSOP Champion. Everyone in the poker world knows this seasoned pro and he is a fierce competitor and a force to be reckoned with.
Team Roberts - Haixia Zhang (left), Lisa Hamilton (middle), Lauren Roberts (right)
Haixia Zhang sat down for Team Roberts with 15 big blinds. After folding a few hands, and a raise-fold, she doubled through Maurice Hawkins with pocket aces.
On the next hand, Hawkins went all in for 12,500 and Zhang shoved over the top for 35,000. Zhang had the best of it, holding to the of Hawkins. An ace came on the flop, but Zhang's jack kicker played to send Hawkins to the rail and bring Zhang and Team Roberts back to starting stack.
Team Roberts is Lauren Roberts, Lisa Hamilton, and Haixia Zhang. The team is pretty excited to be the only all-female team in the field. Zhang and Hamilton have both won the WSOP Ladies Event in previous years (Zhang 2014 and Hamilton 2009). Roberts has played several high roller events and has three WSOP cashes to her name.
Samantha Abernathy was in late position and moved all in for 21,900. Kenny Hallaert was on the button and after getting a count announced all in, for 42,400, covering Abernathy. The blinds both folded and Hallaert tabled . Abernathy showed and needed to win the race to keep her team alive.
The board ran out and Abernathy held, breathing new life into her team's stack.
Late registration is now over and the total number of entries has reached 102 for this Inaugural Tag Team Championship Event. Prize pool information will be posted as soon as it's available. Sixty-nine teams remain and the action is certainly picking up.
Chris Ferguson and Andy Bloch have combined to make up one of our last team entrants. They both have exceptional live poker resumes and round out a talented and tough field.
The champions from last years Event #61: $1,000 Tag Team No-Limit Hold'em tournament have arrived on the scene here in the Amazon Ballroom. Doug Polk headlines the team with his returning partner Ryan Fee. Last year they scooped up $76,679 for their victory in the tag team event and they look to make some noise in this years inaugural $10,000 team event.
They have two additions to their team from last year in the form of Jason Mo, who has over a million dollars in WSOP event cashes. Mo is in search of his first bracelet and has picked a good team to try and get it with. The fourth player rounding out the group is Michael Finstein. Finstein has over a quarter million in various WSOP event cashes and is also in search of his first bracelet.
Doug Polk has two bracelets, eleven cashes and over $850,000 in WSOP earnings. He is most well known for all of his work with his coaching site, Upswing Poker and has over $5,000,000 in total live recorded tournament earnings. His biggest live cash was for $1,648,350 when he took down the $100,000 No Limit Hold'em Super High Roller ii at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.
Keep an eye out for this team throughout the remainder of the night.
"Remember that," Maurice Hawkins said after saying he plans on making $7 million this summer.
Hawkins, who is leading a team that includes Charles "Woody" Moore and Brandon Fish, is already the all-time WSOP Circuit ring leader with 10. In 2016, Hawkins won three WSOP Circuit Main Events, including back-to-back wins at the Council Bluffs and Cherokee stops.
His goal for the WSOP this year is to take home $7 million in tournament earnings. He could start that off easily enough with a win in the $10,000 Tag Team Event, which would also give him and his teammates their first WSOP gold bracelets.
He could also just wait until the end of the series and take down the Main Event, which would easily put him over his goal for the summer. However he plans on doing it, Hawkins has a tough road in front of him. He has already rebounded today after being down to less than 7,000 early in play today.
His teammate Charles "Woody" Moore got all in against Sergio Aido with jacks versus the pocket queens of Aido. Hawkins then tagged in, expecting nothing less than to rebuild. He did rebuild and is now sitting with 45,000 and seems to be enjoying himself.
"I'm feeling pretty good," he said, "I want to win seven million this summer."
14-time WSOP Champion Phil Hellmuth headlines a team full of talent. With over $13,000,000 in WSOP earnings, everyone knows Hellmuth and what he is capable of. Surrounding Hellmuth is Andy Frankenberger with two WSOP bracelets and Brandon Cantu who holds two bracelets and one WSOP circuit ring. Based on these great results, look for this team to make a run as the day progresses.
With about 900 in the pot the action was on Dietrich Fast on the button. He three-bet to 1,550, and Jonathan Jaffe four-bet to 5,000 from the small blind. Action folded back to Fast and he five-bet to 13,200. Jaffe went into the tank for several minutes before electing to fold and Fast raked in another pot.
Jeff Gross, Michael Phelps, Antonio Esfandiari, Brian Rast
Brian Rast, Antonio Esfandiari, Jeff Gross and Michael Phelps make up Team Rast.
The team is stacked with talent and hardware. Rast has three WSOP gold bracelets and over $20 million in tournament winnings. Esfandiari also has three bracelets, a WPT title, and over $27 million in tournament earnings. Jeff Gross has racked up over $2 million in tournament winnings and is gaining popularity as a poker streamer. He has a second-place finish in a $5,000 Shootout at the 2011 WSOP and is looking for his first bracelet.
The fourth member of the team has just over $7,000 in tournament winnings, but what he lacks in WSOP bracelets and tournament earnings he makes up for with gold medals. Michael Phelps is still relatively new to tournament poker and is looking for his first WSOP cash as part of Team Rast.
Phelps is the most decorated Olympian of all time with 23 gold medals and 28 total medals.
There are no breaks in this event, so each player will have to contribute if Phelps and Gross are going to win their first WSOP gold bracelets in this event.
![[user340040]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
and his opponent showed 
.
and Mortensen got the elimination. 
to the 
of Hawkins. An ace came on the flop, but Zhang's jack kicker played to send Hawkins to the rail and bring Zhang and Team Roberts back to starting stack.
and needed to win the race to keep her team alive.
and Abernathy held, breathing new life into her team's stack.
