The Poker Thread

Greg Raymer Crippled

ESPN's cameras swarmed Greg Raymer's table, as he moved all-in for 23,225 on a flop. His opponent in the three seat made the call with for middle set, while Raymer tabled for top pair and a flush draw.

I liked my chances better before the turn," Raymer said as the fell.

The river was the and Raymer shipped all but 1,200 of his chips across the table. A disastrous start indeed for the 2004 Main Event Champion.

Raymer Fossilized

Facing an under-the-gun raise and a few callers, Greg Raymer moved all in from the big blind for 2,600 total. The player to his left then reshoved, successfully isolating Fossilman (though not before the other callers tried their best to earn a few seconds of tv time with their impressive tank-folding skills.) "I don't know why there was so much thinking," Raymer said, turning to his opponent. "You have to have aces." And he was correct.

Raymer:

Opponent:

"If that were the eight of spades, eight of diamonds, I'd be a lock to win," Raymer said. "But it's not, so I'm only 25 percent."

The board came , so unfortunately for Raymer, this was the other 75 percent. When he finished signed over his trademark fossil card cover,the ESPN cameras followed Raymer out, framing a shot with his Main Event champion banner hanging behind him. Now that Raymer is gone, the Red Section's featured table is devoid of recognizable players, and the rail has gone from three-deep to entirely empty in two minutes. We'll see who they bring to fill Raymer's spot.

Rheem Gone

On the flop of , Chino Rheem check-called a bet of 1,850 from his opponent. The turn brought the and Rheem check-called another bet this time for 4,125. The river completed the board with the and Rheem check-folded to a bet of 6,000 from his opponent, dropping him to 14,500.

Shortly thereafter, Rheem was eliminated by an opponent who held two pair on the turn when the money went in, but ended up making the nut flush on the river to send Rheem packing.

Bansi's Hero-Call Nets a Pot

We came to Praz Bansi's table just as the river card was coming down, . With 4,000 already in the pot, Bansi's sole opponent led out for 2,400. Bansi made the call with unimproved , and it was good. His opponent mucked, allowing Bansi to chip up to 38,000.

Was That a Level?

Chris Moneymaker was one of four players to see a flop of . Everyone checked to the turn, where Moneymaker was the only player to call a bet of 1,250. When the river fell , Moneymaker's opponent checked. Moneymaker put some chips into the pot. His opponent asked the dealer how much it was.

"6,075," said the dealer, without breaking down the stack.

"Wait, how much did you say?" Moneymaker asked. "There's no way it's that much." The dealer then broke down the stack and indeed the bet was 6,075.

"Wow," said Moneymaker. His opponent then called but couldn't beat Moneymaker's straight, . As Moneymaker collected the pot, he said, "I didn't mean to bet that much."

Moneymaker Living Large Again

There have been lots of peaks and valleys for Chris Moneymaker today. He's climbing high once again after eliminating an opponent. The hand was a heads-up raised flop of . Moneymaker's opponent took the lead with a bet of 1,800 that Moneymaker called. When the turn came , Moneymaker's opponent made another bet of 3,200. Moneymaker raised that bet to 8,200, then called after his opponent moved all in. That player's pocket kings were drawing dead against Moneymaker's made straight, . The river sealed the deal.

Nice Call Praz

Praz Bansi was faced with bets of 1,200 on the flop, 3,200 on the turn and 6,800 on the river on a board of . Bansi had to think about it on the river, but eventually tossed in calling chips.

"Nice call," said Bansi's opponent as he revealed for king-high. Bansi showed to take it down. He's up to 63,000.

Shulman Hits His Three-Outer Twice

Barry Shulman opened preflop for 1,200 and was called by one player in position behind him and one player in the blinds. Shulman continued for 3,000 on a flop of . the player in the blinds was the only one who called and went to the turn. That player checked again and then called another 7,000-chip bet from Shulman.

The river was the . Both players checked, with Shulman's , trip aces, having bad-beated his opponent's after the flop. That pot pushed Shulman up to 90,000.

T.J. Cloutier Eliminated

"I'm out, Joy," said T.J. Cloutier to his wife, who had been patiently waiting for him outside the Amazon Room, perched upon his motorized scooter. "Finally had a race but I didn't win."

See you next year, T.J.

Isaacs Can't Outrun Akenhead

Susie Isaacs and James Akenhead were both short when they got all of their chips in the middle to race. It was Isaac's against Akenhead's . The board fell , and Akenhead took the hand with nines and eights. When the stacks were counted down, Isaacs got a 2,500-chip refund, while Akenhead doubled to 16,000.

A Late Scalp for Shulman

Barry Shulman is looking to end the day with more than 100,000 in chips thanks to a late elimination. He opened a pot pre-flop for 1,200 and was called by the button player before the small blind three-bet to 4,600. All three players went to the flop, . The small blind checked, allowing Shulman to bet 10,000. That was enough to drive out the button, but the small blind went for a check-raise to a bit more than 20,000. Shulman called with , in great shape against the small blind's . Nothing changed on the turn or river. Shulman dragged the pot to increase his count to about 113,000.

Day 1a Is In The Books

After four and a half levels of play we've reached the end of the opening flight of the 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event. The players are bagging up their chips and exchanging bad beat stories as they drift out of the Amazon Room, content in the knowledge that they've safely survived day one of the Main Event. For many, a huge achievement in itself, and hopefully the first of many long days ahead on their road to the Holy Grail.

We started out with 1,125 entrants and approximately 800 have lived to fight another day. It wasn't a great day for 2004 World Champion Greg Raymer, who started off in high spirits with the "Shuffle Up and Deal" honors, but just a few minutes later was crippled and eliminated from the tournament. Such are the highs and lows of tournament poker. Others to join Raymer on the rail included Nick Schulman, Chino Rheem, Mike Caro, Victor Ramdin, Jimmy Fricke and Ray Romano.

At the other end of the spectrum 2003 World Champion Chris Moneymaker should feature in the ESPN highlights as he was prominent along with $50,000 Poker Player's Championship winner Michael Mizrachi. It will be some time before we have the official end-of-day counts, but as the players were bagging up we spotted Dwyen Ringbauer with 191,125 which should put him near the top of the leaderboard, but James Mitchell bested that by writing a whopping 241,075 on his bag. Corwin Cole capped out the day with 228,200. We'll have the official counts for the entire field for you shortly.

Join us again tomorrow as we do it all over again for Day 1b as the 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event continues from Las Vegas. The action kicks off at noon and we look forward to your company then! Until then, good night from the Rio!

Hey! I Know You!

Table 372 in the Red Section of the Amazon Room hosts some very familiar faces.

Sitting in Seat 7 is 2006 Main Event Champion Jamie Gold, in Seats 1 and 8 are 2007 Main Event final table members Phillip Hilm and John Kalmar respectively and just joining us in Seat 2 is Kevin "Bel0wAb0ve" Saul.

Definitely not the people you want to see on Day 1 of the Main Event.

Duthie Making Progress

We just caught the tail end of a pot as the river card came down onto a board of . There was about 5,000 in the pot, and John Duthie led out with 4,500 chips. His opponent had apparently been calling the whole way, and he called one more time to see Duthie's cards.

Mr. Duthie showed for two pair, and that was the best hand. He dragged the pot, moving to 46,300 in the process. Duthie's been all over the place between 30,000 and 55,000 thus far today.

ElkY Fills Up, Gets Paid

The board read an daunting when we caught up with the action on the turn. Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier bet around 2,000. His opponent, who had initially checked, called.

The river was the and again the other player checked again. This time ElkY bet 3,150 and his opponent called and then immediately mucked to ElkY's for a full house.

ElkY had taken a few hits before that, but is now back up to 27,000.

Phil Your Boots

We joined the action on the flop where Phil Galfond check-called a bet, before checking the turn.

His opponent fired again, this time to the tune of 3,000, leading to a raise from Galfond who put his opponent all in for his the remaining 9,000 he had behind.

A call later and the cards were on their backs, Galfond in piping hot water with versus .

Galfond, however, must be a Monopoly fan as he duly pulled out his "Get Out of Jail Free Card" to spike a on the river.

The scalp, and the pot, were both his, resulting in an increased count of 37,000.

Price of Gold Plummets

Jamie Gold was all in preflop for his last 2,950 chips and a gentleman by the name of Yan Hua had him at risk.

Gold:

Hua:

ESPN cameras swarmed the feature table here in the Red Section to capture the all in situation.

"I could get lucky," Gold said with that familiar, $12 million grin.

The flop was not so good for Gold however.

"Hearts are no good," he professed.

"How about the ace of hearts?" Kevin Saul chirped in. "That'd be a good sweat."

The on the turn was yet another brick, and only one card separated Gold from either a double up or elimination.

Once instructed by the ESPN production crew, the dealer burned one card and delivered yet another brick; the . Gold shook Hua's hand and headed towards the rail.

"It's ok," the 2006 champ told the camera. "My mom is going to take this down."

Jane Gold is indeed in the field today, sitting with 32,500 chips over in the Orange Section.

Phil 'er Up

A player in the cutoff had raised to 525 with Phil Galfond making the call as well as the player in the big blind. All three players checked the flop of as well as the on the turn.

Action was checked to Galfond after the came on the river. He bet 1,025 with only the player in the cutoff calling.

Galfond showed for the straight and his opponent mucked. Galfond is now up to 53,000.

Unibombed

Phil Laak had , and he got some action. After a little preflop raising war, Laak got Justin Morgenstern to commit his full stack with .

The board ran out , and that was safe and clean for the "Unibomber." He's eliminated Morgenstern from his table and climbed to 85,000 in the process. So far, so good.

ElkY Shot Down

We found the now rather short-stacked Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier betting out 1,575 on the turn of a board. One of his opponents raised to 4,000, the other one folded, the action was back on ElkY who went all in for around 6,500 total, and his opponent called.

ElkY: for trips

Caller: for a straight

River:

Everyone in the Amazon Room can take their sunglasses off now, as ElkY and his rhinestone-tastic outfit are gone.

Dan Harrington on Holding On

Dan Harrington raised to 600 from late position and was called by the player in the big blind. When the flop came the big blind checked and Harrington bet 1,050, getting the call.

The turn was the and Harrington was once more checked to before he bet 2,500, and once more got the call.

Things went the same way on the river with the big blind check-calling a bet of 2,500. Harrington showed and his opponent mucked.

After spending much of the day losing chips, Harrington is now up to 18,450.

Laak it Up

We walked up to a flop of , and a player in the two seat was betting 4,000 into a pot of about that much. Phil Laak check-called from the big blind, and the dropped on the turn. Laak checked again but then shoved when he faced a second bet of 5,000. His opponent called all in for the rest of his own chips, and the cards were on their backs:

Laak:

Opponent:

Laak had made his flush, and his opponent was going to need to fill up or better to stay alive. The river was safe, though, and Laak's vaulted up to 104,500 as he reduces the field size by one.

Straight Over Straight All Day

Dan Kelly raised to 800 UTG+1, and the player in seat one called from the small blind to go heads up to a flop.

It came , and Kelly fired 1,200. His opponent check-called there, and he check-called another 2,800 when the hit the turn. On the river, the drew a leading bet from the small blind, and this time it was Kelly calling the 3,000-chip wager.

The small blind showed for the straight, but it was second-best. Kelly turned up for the nut straight and the pot, moving his way to 72,000.

Mark a Zero Next to Obrestad

Just before the last break, Annette Obrestad got herself into a pot that would be the last of her night. Her opponent check raised her on a flop, and Obrestad three-bet all in. Or rather, all in minus the black T100 chip she had capping her cards. Her opponent flatted, and that last chip went in on the turn.

Obrestad showed up for turned top pair, but she was in need of some help and quick. Her opponent tabled to leave her dead to five outs. The river was a blank, and Obrestad has run out of chips, exiting the Main Event before she had a proper chance to get rolling.

Under the Radar

2003 was such a pinnacle year for televised poker that those who finalled in previous years are often met with unfamiliarity from the general poker audience. One of those is Julian Gardner, who finished second to Robert Varkonyi in 2002 for $1.1 million. I once heard a rumor that he accepted his prize money in cash, and on the flight home purchased an extra seat just for his bag of money to sit on. Pretty baller for 2002.

Despite boasting over $2.5 million in live tournament winnings (including a final this year), Gardner is rarely recognized in Rio quarters, and is usually left to fly under the radar unnoticed. My prying eyes, however, have spotted him, and this year he'll be hoping to go one place better than his previous best. At the moment, he has 40,500, so will be keen to increase that figure before the end of the day.

Harrington Over Schoenberg

Dan Harrington raised to 1,200 and was called by Erica Schoenberg out of the big blind. The two of them took a flop of and checked to see the fall on the turn.

Schoenberg fired 2,200 and Harrington made the call before the final community card was dealt out. The fell on the river and Schoenberg checked. Harrington bet 3,000 and his female counterpart mucked.

Harrington moved to 45,000 while Schoenberg decreased to 41,150.

Day 1b is Dead, Long Live Day 1b!

It was nearly twelve hours ago that players began to file into the Amazon Room and Pavilion to kick off the second Day 1 of the 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event. After four and a half levels of play, those lucky enough to still have chips in front of them are bagging them up and heading home for the night.

We started the day with 1,489 players. That's nearly 400 more than we had for yesterday's Day 1a. Not only was the entire Amazon room occupied by Main Event entrants, but there were another 450 players who started their day off in the Pavilion. Of those who started out today, it appears that just over 1,000 have been fortunate enough to make it through the day.

As was to be expected, it was another day full of appearances by high-profile players. Those who had their Main Event dreams cut short include Ivan Demidov, Joe Sebok, Erick Lindgren, Justin Bonomo, Bertrand Grospellier, Liv Boeree, Jamie Gold and Arnaud Mattern.

On a more positive note, we have plenty of players gearing up for Day 2. Our chip leader for the day appears to be James Danielson who will kick off his Day 2 with an impressive 201,050 chips. Trailing not far behind are Filippo Candio (167300), Robert Miller (155,225) and Jason DeWitt (149,850).

Some of the fortunate few to break the 100,000-chip mark include Alex Kostritsyn (106,000), Florian Langmann (100,000) and Kido Pham (114,000).

Other notables we can expect to see when they return on Day 2b include Gavin Griffin (97,200), Dan Kelly (74,000), Brandon Cantu (72,000), Johnny Lodden (62,500), Phil Laak (58,000), Jon Turner (63,825), Dan Harrington (45,000), George Lind (11,975), Gavin Smith (40,000) and on it goes...

Completing Day 1 is a goal for many in and of itself. It is, however, just the first necessary step on a long journey down the road to our final table in November. Join us tomorrow for our coverage of Day 1c and stick with us through to the conclusion of poker's grandest tournament!