Greg Merson is looking to extend his lead in the 2012 World Series of Poker Player of the Year race, but before he boarded his flight to Cannes, France, he appeared on this week's edition of the PokerNews Podcast.
Antonio Esfandiari was all in with 
against Marc-Andre Ladouceur's 
. Esfandiari failed to improve and was eliminated from Event #1.
Upon seeing Esfandiari exit and Ladouceur stacking up his chips, Greg Merson came over and thanked Ladouceur for busting Esfandiari. Ladouceur wondered why and Merson explained to him that he's also in the hunt with Merson for World Series of Poker Player of the Year. Esfandiari currently sites third with 513.10 points.
Clearly, Merson is in it to win it.
Level: 2
Blinds: 50/100
Ante: 0
Antonio Esfandiari claimed that he wanted to gamble and made the call of his opponent's all-in bet on the board of 
. Esfandiari might have been gambling a bit more than he'd have liked when his 
only had outs to an open-ended straight draw against his opponent's 
. The river completed the board with the 
and Esfandiari doubled up his opponent.
Phil Ivey just strolled into the tournament room here at the Majestic Barrière Hotel with a big smile on his face. He looks happy and ready to go. Right now, Ivey sits in second place on the World Series of Poker Player of the Year leader board. He has 568.70 points and trails only Greg Merson, who has 581.13.
Merson is also in the field today seated at a different table. If you look at the WSOP POY page, Merson still sits with 481.13 points, but he has already made the WSOP Octo-Nine and guaranteed himself at least another 100 points.
Dan O'Brien checked the 
flop and Oliver Spiedel bet 200. O'Brien check-raised to 500 and Spiedel called.
The turn was the 
and both players checked to see the 
land on the river. O'Brien checked and Spiedel, with only 1,300 behind, bet 800. O'Brien called, but couldn't beat Spiedel's 
and mucked his hand.
On the 
flop, Joe Kuether fired a bet of 475, but saw it raised to 1,250 from Erik Cajelais. After a minute, Kuether made the call to see the 
land on the turn. Here, Kuether check-called a bet of 2,000 from Cajelais.
The completed the board on the river and Kuether checked after a brief pause to think. Cajelais thought while staring at his opponent, then checked back.
Kuether rolled over the 
and Cajelais mucked his hand.
The cards are in the air for the first event of the 2012 World Series of Poker Europe.
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