Allen Kessler came running over to our media desk to let us know of a big hand developing on his table with 2008 WSOP Europe Main Event champion John Juanda. When we arrived at the table following Kessler's alert, there was a pot of over 10,000 in the middle on the board of .
Juanda checked to Toby Lewis and he checked behind. The river completed the board with the and Juanda checked again. Lewis fired 7,250 and Juanda folded, making Kessler's alert seem to have far bigger bark than bite.
At any rate, Juanda dropped to 14,500 and Lewis increased to 37,000.
From middle position, Teddy Sheringham raised to 525 before Jason Mercier reraised to 1,500 from the next seat. Sheringham made the call after everyone folded back to him and the flop came down . Sheringham checked and Mercier checked behind.
The turn brought the and play checked to Mercier again. He opted to fire a bet this time and made it 2,450 to go. Sheringham called.
The river completed the board with the and Sheringham fired 6,000. Mercier made the call and Sheringham said, "Nice hand." Mercier then tabled the and scooped the pot to push his stack to about 43,000 in chips.
The first-level jitters are a thing of the past as we have ninety minutes of poker behind us. We're minus one player, and his knocker-out Pierre Canali is the chip daddy here at the first break. He's close to double his starting stack, and Dan "KingDan" Smith is nipping at his heels.
It's time for a twenty-minute break to walk around Leicester Square in the rain. We'll be back after these short messages.
Joining the action, it looked as though the hijack had opened and Rémy Biechel had flat-called on the button. Vanessa Selbst then raised to 1,000 from the small blind and the original raiser had made the call but Biechel had now 4-bet to 3,750.
Selbst looked concerned, "I hate getting myself into these spots this early."
Despite this, after a minute or so she made it 8,750 to go and Biechel set her all-in after a little dwell. Selbst shrugged and made the call with but saw here opponent's which stayed good on the board.
"It's like literally the only way I can broke there," she said disappointedly as Biechel scooped a 60,000 chip pot, leaving herself with just 500 chips. "Are there any side events going on today?"
Despite his November Nine status, Italian Filippo Candio has seen his stack dissected in half within today's opening level. It was a culmination of hands, but his last encounter helped him enter the break with just 14,000.
With the flop reading , Candio called a bet of 850 only for another player to make it 1,850 from the button. The initial aggressor ducked out of the way, but Candio made the call.
On the turn, Candio threw a 5,000 chip into the middle, announcing 3,000 beforehand. After requesting a count, his opponent made the call.
The river went check check, Candio only able to muster , which was unable to better his foe's .
A juicy pot of 18,650 was cooked up between November Niner Joseph Cheong and Ted Lawson on the final board of . Cheong shoved the river for 18,800 and Lawson went into the tank. We actually arrived to the table with all of this action already complete. Jason Mercier was standing behind his chair and wrote on a notepad, "Tanking for 10 minutes!" Lawson was in the tank when we got there and sat there for a couple more minutes before finally tossing his cards into the muck. Cheong scooped the pot and moved to 37,450 while Lawson decreased to 23,500.
With 1,650 in the middle, Farzad Bonyadi and Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi saw the flop of . Bonyadi checked to Mizrachi and he fired 500. Bonyadi made the call.
The turn card added the to the board and Bonyadi checked again to the November Niner. Mizrachi fired 2,500 and Bonyadi folded.
Mizrachi has been his normal self since arriving today, playing plenty of pots and seeing many, many flops. He's up to about 35,000 right now.
.
and Juanda checked again. Lewis fired 7,250 and Juanda folded, making Kessler's alert seem to have far bigger bark than bite.
and play checked to Mercier again. He opted to fire a bet this time and made it 2,450 to go. Sheringham called.
and Sheringham fired 6,000. Mercier made the call and Sheringham said, "Nice hand." Mercier then tabled the 
and scooped the pot to push his stack to about 43,000 in chips.![[user4144]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
which stayed good on the 
board.
, Candio called a bet of 850 only for another player to make it 1,850 from the button. The initial aggressor ducked out of the way, but Candio made the call.
turn, Candio threw a 5,000 chip into the middle, announcing 3,000 beforehand. After requesting a count, his opponent made the call.
river went check check, Candio only able to muster 
.
to the board and Bonyadi checked again to the November Niner. Mizrachi fired 2,500 and Bonyadi folded.