Roland Israelashvici won the first big pot at the TV table. He raised 2,000 preflop and WSOPE PLO bracelet winner Dario Alioto called from the button. The flop was . Israelashvici fired out 5,000 and Alioto quickly raised to 13,000. After a few minutes of deliberation, Israelashvici called. The turn was the and both players checked. The river was the and both players checked. Israelashvici showed for two pair. Alioto mucked and Israelashvici took down the pot worth over 30,000.
Thomas Uhlin's fell to Allen Cunningham's when the hit the turn, and Michael Abecassis left us on the very first hand, his unable to improve vs. Mats Gavatin's . Also no longer with us are Robert Cooper and current youngest WSOP bracelet winner record-holder Steve "MrSmokey1" Billirakis.
Currently sharing a table are two of Britian's top players, former WPT finalist Harry 'The Owl' Demetriou and 2006 WSOP bracelet winner Willie 'The Dice' Tann.
Incredibly, even without being present, Phil Hellmuth remains the topic of discussion, Harry retelling the set over set hand that forced the Poker Brat down to the felt.
"It's okay if it happens to everyone else, but not if it happens to him," jokes Harry. "He swore at the dealer too and didn't even receive a penalty."
Harry, who lost a bet in which he was forced to wear Martins Poker gear until he next wins a comp, is currently on just over 30,000 in chips.
Over at the featured TV table, there's an interesting discussion involving playing more than one table at once online. They mentioned RainKhan's massive feat of 27 simultaneous tables.
Daniel Negreanu: "I'm comfortable with three. I can play four at once, but I lose when I play that many. I just can't do it."
Howard Lederer: "I can multi table, but the hardest thing I ever did was playing two tables of Triple Draw at the same time. It was impossible.
Negreanu (point to Adam Junglen): "These kids today, they can play twenty at a time. When I was your age, I could only play one at a time."
Robert Cooper's exit occurred after running a short-stacked into the of Per Hildebrand. Similarly making the decision to push with was David Wells, who ran smack into Aces in the hand of Andreas Pournaras.
Elsewhere some dramatic double-ups are causing sighs of relief, or, in the case of uncharacteristically chatty Andreas Hagen, amusement. He got his last few chips in with against and gave a running commentary about how this was going to be "an exciting pot." The flop brought and it looked like he might be right.
"Jack on the turn, Five on the river," he predicted, receiving the as the turn card instead. "I'll take a Five for a chop..." he bargained with fate, and instead got a . Laughing he sat back down saying, "I told you this one would get on TV."
In stark contrast to yesterday's start of play, today sees a distinct lack of onlookers here on the top floor, perhaps due to the lack of star power making up the four tables. Whilst this admittedly subdues the atmosphere a little, it does make riving my way through tables and spotting hands a whole lot easier, especially with yesterday's bruises yet to heal. Also, it's a relief not to worry about my laptop, not just with regards to potential theft, but also in terms of arriving back to find someone checking their ruddy email, or, more worryingly, unearthing any adult entertainment that might have accidentally found its way to my hard drive.
With the addition of 19-year old Adam Junglen to the featured table, the veteran pros are feeling very nostalgic.
Daniel Negreanu: "Do you know how Ted Forrest used to live? True story. When he was grinding out 1-5 Stud in Las Vegas, he was so poor that he'd steal ketchup packets from McDonald's and eat it on white bread. You kids have it easy! Staying in nice hotels, being able to play poker online at any time. You kids have the good life."
Howard Lederer: "In my thirties, the biggest game in Las Vegas was 400/800 Limit Hold'em. It would run about three times a week."
Negreanu: "These days, there are 16-year olds playing three 400/800 tables at once! As Doyle said, back when he played in Texas, you were worried about getting cheated. Or getting robbed. Or getting shot. Or arrested by the police. Now you don't have to leave your house to play poker."
. Israelashvici fired out 5,000 and Alioto quickly raised to 13,000. After a few minutes of deliberation, Israelashvici called. The turn was the 
and both players checked. The river was the 
and both players checked. Israelashvici showed 
for two pair. Alioto mucked and Israelashvici took down the pot worth over 30,000.
fell to Allen Cunningham's 
hit the turn, and Michael Abecassis left us on the very first hand, his 
ran smack into Tim Flanders' 
. The board ran out 
, and Goodwin hit the rail.
was David Wells, who ran smack into Aces in the hand of Andreas Pournaras.
and gave a running commentary about how this was going to be "an exciting pot." The flop brought 
and it looked like he might be right.
. Laughing he sat back down saying, "I told you this one would get on TV."
