A player in middle position raised to 1,500 and Patrick Serda decided to defend his big blind.
The flop came and both players checked to the turn, which was the . Serda checked, and his opponent bet 2,500. Serda asked for a confirmation of the bet and quickly called. The river was the and Serda checked again. His opponent checked back and Serda tabled for ace-high, and his opponent mucked.
Serda has built his stack up to about 35,000 and is looking to lock up his first career bracelet. For those who have been following poker in the last year, Serda is most well known for his runner-up finish in the final EPT Prague High Roller event with William Kassouf at the end of last year. Serda took home slightly better than an ICM chop in exchange for Kassouf signing for first place and taking the trophy. This sparked a lot of controversy, but Serda was able to lock up more than a million dollars in Canadian funds for his deep run. He will be playing a full schedule this summer, and is most certainly one to watch.
The player under the gun raised to 1,525, and action folded around to Manig Loeser on the button. He looked down at his cards and carefully counted out his stack. He took one last look at his cards before piling his remaining 13,100 chips into the middle. His opponent asked for a count and eventually called.
Loeser was at risk with , up against his opponent's . He had to dodge an ace and managed to do so after the board ran out , locking up the double for the German pro.
Lots more players are trickling in now that the dinner break is over. Registration closes at the end of the break before the start of level 9, so expected more people to be hopping in this event!
Cary Katz, Kitty Kuo, and Griffin Benger are among those who have registered late today.