After his near bracelet miss in the opening event, Andrew Pantling has exploded out of the blocks like Carl Lewis with a stick of dynamite up his rear here in the Main Event, his stack increasing almost two-fold to around the 55,000 mark just half way through level one.
The board read , and after Philipp Gruissem had led for 4,500, and Terje Augdal flat-called, Pantling check-raised to 16,000. The initial aggressor matched the raise, but Augdal chucked away his hand.
Pantling tabled to take the pot, and the chip lead.
Two-time bracelet winner Frank Kassela reached a three-way flop of , but quickly side-stepped out of the way as his check was pursued by a bet of 750 from Felipe Ramos, and a raise to 1,625 from the button. Ramos made the call.
The turn and river killed any action, Ramos taking the pot with to the button's , much to the latter's annoyance.
Defending WSOP Europe Main Event champion Barry Shulman is here today and he gave the official "Shuffle up and deal!" introduction to kick things off. Seated on Shulman's immediate left is Wesley Pantling followed by Rudy Blondeau. A couple seats over from that, Brandon Adams is seated. These players should make Shulman's title defense a little bit harder and we'll see how he does throughout the day.
David Levi has his work cut out for him today as he's facing off against a bunch of young up-and-coming superstars. Martins Adeniya, Jason DeWitt, David Peters (who already final tabled an event here), John Tabatabai (runner-up in 2007) and then Tom Marchese are all seated at his table. This could certainly mean for some fireworks.
On the board of , November Niner John Dolan fired out 1,625 and his opponent made the call. The river completed the board with the and paired it with fours. Dolan fired 3,500 and his opponent tank-called. Dolan tabled the and won the hand to get a nice, early boost to his stack.
There aren't exactly any easy tables in the room today, but there are a couple particularly tough places to be sitting today. The table in the far corner of the room is loaded with dangerous latecomers. Eric Baldwin was one of just three players at his table at the start of play, and he was playing short-handed with Brian Powell and a gentlemen we don't recognize. A few minutes late, however, the bus arrrived.
David Steicke took his seat in the two hole, to Baldwin's immediate right and Powell's left. Tommy Vedes and Liv Boeree soon turned up as well, and they're in the five and six seats respectively. That still leaves a couple empty seats, and a look at the registration list tells us that Sandra Naujoks, Toni Petterson, and £10,000 Heads-Up semifinalist Andrew Feldman will soon be joining that table as well.
You get a lot of passing interest in this tournament from people in the heart of London visiting the Empire Casino. It takes up about half of the place, with tables spread in various areas, up and down stairs, nestled behind the bar etc. and you can't fail to notice a crowd of press and fans around certain more famous players' tables. So there is a conversation which occurs frequently:
"What are they playing?"
"Poker - tournament - World Series of Poker Europe."
"How much are they playing for?"
"Well, the buy-in is £10,000, so the top finishers will win a proportion of the prizepool made up of everyone's entry."
"What? £10,000 to play!"
"Yep, these are some of the most successsful, richest, or generously sponsored players on the planet. It's a good tournament to watch."
"Wow. I don't know anything about poker, but that guy in the hat sure is getting celebrity treatment."
Then there's another sort, very rare but eye-opening every time:
"What is the game?"
"Hold'em tournament."
"Can anyone play?"
"Sure, if you have £10,000."
"What date does it run until?"
"28th."
"When can you buy in?"
"Until two levels in to today."
"Can I buy in over there?" (Points to registration desk)
"Sure."
"OK."
"Good luck."
I felt obliged to check the date to see if it was bonfire night, as right off the bat we witnessed fireworks on the aforementioned "tough table".
I joined the action on a flop, Eli Elezra facing a raise from the small blind. A quick scour of the felt revealed that Elezra had led for 1,000, Juha Helppi called from under the gun, and Robert Cooper two-bet the button to 3,000.
After a brief pause, Elezra made the call and returned to munching on his breakfast. Not one for such nonchalance, Helppi, as stoic as ever, reached for his glasses and rested his hands on his chin.
"Uh-oh, the glasses are going on," commented Mike Matusow as he fiddled with his phone.
Eventually, Helppi made the call.
"We've got a pot, Mikey," observed Jeff Madsen astutely.
"A big pot," responded Matusow.
Despite the action on the flop, the turn was checked around, bringing us to a river: . Without hesitation, Elezra fired 7,000 into the pot. Helppi called, and Cooper folded face-up.
Helppi showed the , but it wasn't enough as Elezra had turned two pair with . As a result, the Israeli pro and former bracelet winner is up to 41,000 before most players have even taken their seat.
![[user4144]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
, and after Philipp Gruissem had led for 4,500, and Terje Augdal flat-called, Pantling check-raised to 16,000. The initial aggressor matched the raise, but Augdal chucked away his hand.
to take the pot, and the chip lead.
, but quickly side-stepped out of the way as his check was pursued by a bet of 750 from Felipe Ramos, and a raise to 1,625 from the button. Ramos made the call.
river killed any action, Ramos taking the pot with 
to the button's 
, much to the latter's annoyance.
and paired it with fours. Dolan fired 3,500 and his opponent tank-called. Dolan tabled the 
and won the hand to get a nice, early boost to his stack.
flop, Eli Elezra facing a raise from the small blind. A quick scour of the felt revealed that Elezra had led for 1,000, Juha Helppi called from under the gun, and Robert Cooper two-bet the button to 3,000.
. Without hesitation, Elezra fired 7,000 into the pot. Helppi called, and Cooper folded 
face-up.
, but it wasn't enough as Elezra had turned two pair with 
. As a result, the Israeli pro and former bracelet winner is up to 41,000 before most players have even taken their seat.
