It'd be easy to neglect the tables at the far end of the balcony. It's almost as if they're not part of the event, and they're quite tricky to navigate around.
Nevertheless, they boast a smattering of big names from across the Pond as well as more homegrown talent such as James Keys and Jason Gray, the former of whom final tabled this event on its inaugural outing.
Most players in this area seem to be hovering around their starting stack, but Dan Smith has maintained his fruitful start. He has just under the 50,000 mark and appears to be in confident mood.
Remy Biechel opened to 250 from the hijack seat, and he got plenty of action. Vanessa Selbst (cutoff), Marcello Marigliano (button), Anthony Ramsden (small blind), and Vitaly Lunkin (big blind) all came along to the flop.
It brought , and the action checked around to Selbst. She fired a small bet of 350, and Ramsden called out of turn as the action was still on Marigliano. The Italian gentleman made it 1,150 total, and Ramsden called that much as well. That folded Lunkin and Biechel out of the way, but Selbst called to go three-handed to the turn.
It was the , and they checked to the raiser. Marigliano quickly bet 4,200, and Ramsden quickly called. It came back to Selbst now, and she took her pause to think it over. The brow furrowed and the gaze narrowed, and she stared back and forth between her opponents and the board for about three or four long minutes. Finally, she announced an all in for just about 17,000 total (17,475 to our eyes, though it was never counted down), and her two opponents folded without too much of a fuss.
"You're so good at this," Marigliano said, hinting at their earlier exchange, "so what'd I have?"
"God only knows," came Selbst's reply as she stacked the pot. From 30,000 to 17,000 and back again in just a few minutes, and the 2008 bracelet winner is back to her starting stack with a shrug.
Dan Smith is enjoying a fine start to his day at that tough balcony table.
We pick up his action as he and two other players took a flop of . The first player to act bet 700, and Yasuhiro Waki raised to 2,650. Dan Smith called in position, the bettor folded, and it was heads up to the turn.
It was the , and Waki check-called a Smith bet of 5,250 this time. On the river, Waki took the betting lead again, firing out a value-ish looking 6,550. Smith paused for a moment to make sure (and exhale heavily), and he made the call.
Waki tabled , and Smith slammed his down on the felt with probably a bit more enthusiasm then he intended. His Broadway-turned-heart-flush is good enough to take down that nice pot, moving him up to a cozy 48,000.
There is a selection of top French players in the house today, from EPT sensation Arnaud Mattern to high-stakes tournament regulars Bruno Fitoussi and Michel Abecassis. Fitoussi might have strolled in nonchalantly slightly late, but now appears focused on his table which features Frederik Jensen, Darren Lyttle and Farzad Bonyadi among others. He's finished as runner-up in two previous WSOP events - the $1,500 Seven-Card Razz in 2005, and the $50,000 HORSE tournament in 2007, but has yet to get hold of a bracelet of his own.
Mattern is up 4k on his starting stack, while Abecassis is continuing his trend of building early on. He just won a few thousand early chips after cold calling a preflop threebet from Eugene Katchalov (Arkadi Kilman had started it all by making it 300). On the flop, Katchalov bet 1,600, called only by the in-position Abecassis. Both remaining players checked the turn, but Katchalov check-folded when Abecassis bet the river.
Aftab Ahmed was just eliminated and the first player to hit the rail here in the WSOP Europe Main Event. Ahmed was down to just 2,900 chips after losing kings to aces very early on to Pierre Canali.
It seems like Hellmuthitus is catching as, incredibly, one table upstairs is still five-handed! Joe Beevers is there with 28,000, as is James Dempsey on 27,000. Huck Seed, however, has excelled amid the deserted felt, his stack having jumped up to 40,000 since the starting whistle.
As expected, play has been rather snug during these early stages, but I did see Welshman Roberto Romanello take down a nice pot to propel his stack up to around the 45,000 mark.
I joined the action on the flop, Japanese tycoon Masaaki Kagawi leading out for 1,700 from middle position, only for another player to bump it up to 5,900 a couple of seats down.
Romanello - who I am assuming opened preflop from under-the-gun - just flat-called, which was enough to convince Kagawi to side-step out of the way.
The turn came an intriguing , and without too little hesitation, Romanello led for 7,300, around half the pot. His opponent had his suspicions, but ultimately opted for the fold allowing Romanello to pick up a substantial, early pot.
In a four-way flop of , Jonathan Aguiar checked and Barny Boatman fired out 725. Peter Gould made the call and another player folded behind, as did Aguiar.
The turn was the putting a second flush draw out there as well as the four-card straight and both players checked. The river was the and Boatman now fired out 2,000, Gould didn't seem to like it, but the made the call anyway. The Hendon Mobster flipped the for a full house with Gould flipping the for a slightly bigger house to much laughter.
It's hard to really hover near those two crow's nest tables, but we're trying to check in on them frequently. Our last check-in sees that one of the notable balconeers is down to about 17,000 here in the early going.
When we made it to Table 29, Vanessa Selbst was looking a bit peeved, and it is indeed her who's lost half her stack. Marcelo Marigliano, to her immediate left, was grinning like a school boy and chattering like one as well. It appears that she folded away a big chunk of her stack after a turn raise, and she was grumpily trying to pick at Marigliano for some information.
The two of them were still bluffing at each other as they each tried to figure out what the other one had. "If you just call on the turn, I put you in on the river."
"I know," Marigliano said, still smirking broadly.
"Oh, so you were bluffing then?" Selbst asked, not expecting an answer. She got a shrug from her opponent instead.
"I just arrived in London like two hours ago and I'm down to half my stack already."
![[user4144]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
, and the action checked around to Selbst. She fired a small bet of 350, and Ramsden called out of turn as the action was still on Marigliano. The Italian gentleman made it 1,150 total, and Ramsden called that much as well. That folded Lunkin and Biechel out of the way, but Selbst called to go three-handed to the turn.
, and they checked to the raiser. Marigliano quickly bet 4,200, and Ramsden quickly called. It came back to Selbst now, and she took her pause to think it over. The brow furrowed and the gaze narrowed, and she stared back and forth between her opponents and the board for about three or four long minutes. Finally, she announced an all in for just about 17,000 total (17,475 to our eyes, though it was never counted down), and her two opponents folded without too much of a fuss.
. The first player to act bet 700, and Yasuhiro Waki raised to 2,650. Dan Smith called in position, the bettor folded, and it was heads up to the turn.
, and Waki check-called a Smith bet of 5,250 this time. On the 
river, Waki took the betting lead again, firing out a value-ish looking 6,550. Smith paused for a moment to make sure (and exhale heavily), and he made the call.
down on the felt with probably a bit more enthusiasm then he intended. His Broadway-turned-heart-flush is good enough to take down that nice pot, moving him up to a cozy 48,000.
flop, Katchalov bet 1,600, called only by the in-position Abecassis. Both remaining players checked the 
turn, but Katchalov check-folded when Abecassis bet the river.
and the big blind lead out for 650 before UTG raised to 1,800. Candio flat-called, then Cates and the big blind folded.
turn went check-check before UTG then lead out for 2,125.
into the muck
flop, Japanese tycoon Masaaki Kagawi leading out for 1,700 from middle position, only for another player to bump it up to 5,900 a couple of seats down.
, and without too little hesitation, Romanello led for 7,300, around half the pot. His opponent had his suspicions, but ultimately opted for the fold allowing Romanello to pick up a substantial, early pot.
, Jonathan Aguiar checked and Barny Boatman fired out 725. Peter Gould made the call and another player folded behind, as did Aguiar.
putting a second flush draw out there as well as the four-card straight and both players checked. The river was the 
and Boatman now fired out 2,000, Gould didn't seem to like it, but the made the call anyway. The Hendon Mobster flipped the 
for a slightly bigger house to much laughter.