2016 Seniors Event winner Johnnie Craig raised from the hijack to 350 and the big blind called. The pair checked the flop and the came on the turn. The big blind checked and Craig bet 500.
"I guess my sevens are no good," said the big blind showing .
"They're not," replied Craig showing for a turned set and he took down the pot.
Craig has a little friend with him today at his Day 1 table — the WSOP gold bracelet he received for winning this tournament last year. When we got to his table his neighbor was taking a picture of it before handing it back to the defending champion.
"It's a lot more relaxing this year than it was last year," said defending champion Craig. "The pressure is off!"
"It's been getting me a little bit of respect," he said. "I haven't really pushed the envelope much just yet. I'm just playing really nice right now."
extra hot start #wsop31 #seniors, felted 3 players in 45 minutes w/ top set, quads, nut str8. then lost 10K pot 2 pair < set. 5K to 14K
— Greg Raymer (@FossilMan)
With so many players in the field today, play is not contained purely to the traditional areas of the Rio. In fact there are some outer tables near the casino, with Greg Raymer seated at one of them. According to twitter he's had a lively start and is already up well over the starting stack!
With such a huge field expected today, there's no surprise that there are players across nearly all available rooms here at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino including in the Pavilion where four-time bracelet winner Tom Schneider sits along with 2014 Seniors Event winner Dan Heimiller.
Joe Jozwick limped from the cutoff and action folded to the big bind who checked.
The flop came . The player in the big blind bet 125 and Jozwick called. The turn was the . The big blind bet 200 this time and Jozwick just called again. The river completed the board and the big blind checked. Jozwick checked back.
Jozwick tabled for a set and his opponent threw his hand in the muck.
2015 WSOP Main Event third-place finisher Neil Blumenfield is in the field today. He took home over $3 million for his finish back then, and already has one cash this summer in the Millionaire Maker where he finished 981st.
Blumenfield already has two cashes in this event on his poker résumé. He finished 268th in 2015 and followed that up with a 310th last year. He will be looking for a third consecutive cash when this event reaches the money.
Event #31: $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold'em Championship begins today, starting at the early hour of 10 a.m. This is a three-day event with one re-entry available per player. Players must be at least 50 years of age to enter this tournament. The schedule calls for 10 one-hour levels today, with a 20-minute break every two levels and a 90-minute break after Level 6, around 4:40 p.m.
Last year in this event, Johnnie Craig from the United States topped the the largest field in the history for this tournament for a first-place prize of $541,708. He won his first WSOP gold bracelet in only his second time to cash at the World Series of Poker.
The $1,000 buy-in gets players 5,000 chips to try to run up. Registration is opened through the first six levels and will close around 6:10 p.m.
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flop and the 
came on the turn. The big blind checked and Craig bet 500.
. The player in the big blind bet 125 and Jozwick called. The turn was the 
. The big blind bet 200 this time and Jozwick just called again. The 
river completed the board and the big blind checked. Jozwick checked back.
for a set and his opponent threw his hand in the muck.
