Thursday, July 2, 2015 2:35 AM Local Time
Another brand new event was introduced to the 2015 Wold Series of Poker schedule, the $1,500 Bounty event which got underway with quite some anticipation, as it would see each player receive $500 for eliminating a fellow player from the tournament. A total of 2,178 entrants turned out which generated a prize pool of $2,940,300 - with $1,089,000 of that being put aside to pay out all the bounties in play.
By the time play ended there were 281 remaining and it was Christopher Brammer (pictured above) who ended the day with the chip lead with 242,100 in chips. In a distant second was Liv Boeree who bagged 168,600 in chips. Rounding out the top three was William Foxen who will bring 163,900 in chips to Day 2.
Plenty of pros would make it through to Day 2 including Anton Smirnov (144,900), Zo Karim (129,100), Stephen Graner (106,400), Leif Force (92,600), Eric Baldwin (87,800), Celina Lin (73,000), Faraz Jaka (48,900), Steve Dannenmann (47,000), Gavin Smith (59,100), JC Tran (79,900) and Eddy Sabat (23,200).
Those that would come out to play but not see the end of the day included Garry Gates, Chad Holloway, Chino Rheem, Ben Yu, Mike Leah, Martin Finger, Sorel Mizzi, Joseph Cheong, Stephen Chidwick, Chris Moorman, Matt Waxman, PokerStars Team Pros Jake Cody and Randy Lew as well as three past WSOP Main Event champions - Chris Moneymaker, Joe Cada and Martin Jacobson.
Play will resume at 1 p.m local time later today. WSOP.com will be there as players battle it out with their primary focus to firstly make the cash before continuing their good form and making it to a final table.
Thursday, July 2, 2015 1:50 AM Local Time
Liv Boeree (pictured) calls us over to tell us how she went from 110,000 to 165,000 in chips.
Seat 5 raises from under the gun and Boeree makes it 6,500 to go. Seat 9 calls and Seat 5 folds. The flop comes . Boeree checks and her opponent bets 17,000. Boeree check-calls.
The turn is the and Boeree checks again. Her opponent shoves all-in for 38,000 and Boeree snap-calls with for top set of aces. Her opponent turns over for air, and a meaningless completes the board.
Boeree is among the chip leaders if not in the top spot. Several players are hovering around the 160,000 chip-mark, and only a few hands remain to be played today.
Liv Boeree - 165,000
Thursday, July 2, 2015 1:45 AM Local Time
The remaining 290 players will play three more hands before bagging up for the morning.
Thursday, July 2, 2015 1:35 AM Local Time
Shawn Spiegel raises to 2,000 from middle position before the player in the hijack moves all in for 10,000. The player in the small blind then moves all in for 19,300 before the decision falls back on Spiegel. He agonises over his decision for a minute before finally making the call.
Spiegel:
Small Blind:
Middle Pos:
The board runs out to see Spiegel come from last place pre flop to take down the pot after flopping a flush.
Shawn Spiegel - 110,000
Thursday, July 2, 2015 1:21 AM Local Time
"I told you not to f*ck with me, JC," Gavin Smith is saying. Smith is counting down his stack and has face up in front of him. 23,800 is the total and JC Tran starts paying it off. The board reads (x). "JC Tran dollars are the sweetest dollars of all," Smith continues.
When we ask Tran what happened, he answers, "Oh, I flopped top pair and he flopped two pair and we got it in. Man, I wanted that bounty, too. Man, that hurts."
Gavin Smith - 49,100
Thursday, July 2, 2015 1:20 AM Local Time
Jeff Maiden gets all the chips in preflop with after some thought. His opponent has .
As the board comes out, Maiden asks, "That should have been an automatic call, I shouldn't even have thought about it huh?"
The board reads and Maiden doubles up.
"You should have already been all in," says his opponent in well mannered way.
Jeff Maiden - 29,300
Thursday, July 2, 2015 1:16 AM Local Time
Gylbert Drolet has been nursing a short stack since the dinner break and could use a double-up sooner rather than later. Walking by his table, we watch as he raises to 2,100 from middle position and the action folds to the big blind. The player in the big blind thinks for a few seconds and then moves all in. Drolet holds his cards up where we can see them, he has , and throws them into the muck.
Gylbert Drolet - 13,000
Thursday, July 2, 2015 1:08 AM Local Time
"I'm plenty brave. I'm plenty smart. But when I play poker, I do it without a heart," Doug Holland recites a poem that describes his nickname, Tin Man. It might not take that much heart to call two all ins when you're holding , but that's the spot Tin Man is in.
His Opponents hold, and and Tin Man has them both covered. The board runs out and Tin Man makes a full boat, kings full of fours. He scoops the pot and the two bounty chips of his tablemates.
Thursday, July 2, 2015 1:01 AM Local Time
Dana Kellstrom is down to his last 2,400 in chips and commits with pocket jack. He runs into an opponent with aces but flops a jack to stay alive.
In the very next hand, Faraz Jaka opens to 2,000 and Kellstrom makes the call from the button.
The flop comes down and Jaka leads for 3,100. Kellstrom then moves all in for 9,200 total. Jaka makes the call and tables . Kellstrom is in trouble holding with his flush draw also being trumped.
The turn produces the to rocket Kellstrom to the lead with two pair, and he holds on, after the completes the board.
Kellstrom now has 22,000 in chips and will be hoping to survive till the end of play.
Thursday, July 2, 2015 12:55 AM Local Time
The action folds around to Seat 3 in the hijack and he raises to 2,400. The button and small blind fold and Eddy Sabat in the big blind calls. The dealer spreads a flop of . Sabat checks and his opponent bets 6,300. Sabat check-calls and the turn is the . Sabat checks again and his opponent checks behind. The river is the and both players check it down.
"You were going to call the river if the king doesn't come, weren't you," the player in the hijack says, turning over for a counterfeited two pair. Sabat turns over for the winner and drags the pot.
Eddy Sabat - 41,300
Thursday, July 2, 2015 12:53 AM Local Time
Level: 11
Blinds: 500/1,000
Ante: 100
Thursday, July 2, 2015 12:52 AM Local Time
Duane Knudsen is all in preflop against an opponent holding . Knudsen has .
The board runs out . Knudsen's queens hold up and he gets a bounty chip.
Good thing that an ace or a king didn't spike the river, because according to Knudsen, he can get a little ludicrous at the poker table.
"My kids call me Ludicrous D, they made me this hat," says Knudsen. He is wearing a light brown hat with 'Ludicrous D' etched in a navy blule thread. Something to keep an eye out for, should you come across Ludicrous D in any future tournaments.
Thursday, July 2, 2015 12:49 AM Local Time
Seat 5 predicted, aloud, that on the next hand Neil McFayden would move all in with his short stack of around 13,000. As predicted, when the action folds to McFayden, he moves all in. The action folds to the prognosticator in Seat 5 and he calls.
Neil McFayden -
Opponent -
The board runs out clean for McFayden, and he secures a much needed double-up-and-then-some.
Neil McFayden - 33,000
Thursday, July 2, 2015 12:48 AM Local Time
Joe Cada raises to 1,700 from the hijack and is called by the player on the button.
The flop comes down and both players opt to check.
After the drops on the turn, Cada bets 3,000, and is called.
The completes the board and Cada reaches for his chips and splashes out 5,000.His opponent looks at his remaining stack before electing just to make the call.
Cada then rolls over for a pair of jacks, but loses the hand, after his opponent tables for a pair of queens and the winning hand.
Joe Cada - 10,000
Thursday, July 2, 2015 12:41 AM Local Time
Dan Grolemund raises to 2,100 from under the gun plus one and is called by Stephen Graner in middle position. The action folds around to the player in the big blind, who pauses for a minute, before moving all in for around 30,000 in chips. Grolemund mucks his hand before Graner calls a moment later.
Graner:
Opponent:
The board runs out to see Graner hold with his over pair as he takes out another player from this tournament.
Stephen Graner - 139,000
Thursday, July 2, 2015 12:35 AM Local Time
With around 5,000 in the pot, four players see a flop of . The small and big blinds check. Simon Gmur in the cutoff checks and Steve Dannenmann checks on the button. The turn brings the . "That is a sick card," Dannenmann tells the dealer.
The small blind leads for 3,500 chips. The big blind folds and Gmur calls. Dannenmann throws his hand away. The river is the . The small blind checks and Gmur checks behind. "One pair," the small blind says, prompting Gmur to reveal .
As Gmur collects the pot, Dannenmann chides his neighbor. "Ace-three? Don't ever play ace-three. Ace-three cost me 3.25 million dollars." Gmur seems not to know he is sitting next to the second place finisher in the 2005 WSOP Main Event. Dannenmann presses on with his story, and recounts the last hand of the 2005 Main Event final table, and how he put all his chips in with against on the turn with the board reading . "A pair of aces and an open-ended straight draw," Dannenmann emphasizes, "Of course you're going to get it in, right?"
Gmur is taking it all in, and another player at the table points out that Gmur was probably twelve years old at the time the hand in question played out.
Simon Gmur - 37,100
Steve Dannenmann - -$3.25M
Thursday, July 2, 2015 12:27 AM Local Time
The action folds around to Tony Dunst on the button who raises to 1,700. Dan Grolemund is seated in the big blind and slides out a tower of 1,000-chips totaling 20,000. Dunst snap calls for less before both players table their cards.
Grolemund:
Dunst:
"Fours are hot at this table," says a player at the opposite side of the table, before the dealer produces the board
Just like that a four appears on the flop, and for added insult the river, to see Grolemund make quads sending Dunst to the rail.
Dan Grolemund - 97,000
Tony Dunst - Eliminated
Thursday, July 2, 2015 12:26 AM Local Time
Celina Lin leads out on a flop of for 700. Her opponent raises to 3,000 and Lin calls. The turn is the and both players check. The turn is the and Lin leads out again for 4,200. Her opponent calls and is disappointed to see as Lin turns over a spade flush.
Celina Lin - 41,500
Thursday, July 2, 2015 12:19 AM Local Time
Justin Smith raises from under the gun to 1,600 and one player calls before it folds around to Jeevan Nomula in the big blind. Nomula shoves all in for 11,400. Smith thinks it over for a bit and then folds. The middle position player calls.
Jeevan Nomula -
Opponent -
The flop comes a bit scary for nines, . Any ace, king, queen, or ten will take the lead from Nomula. The turn adds a flush draw to the mix. But the river is a safe card for Nomula and he survives his all in.
Jeevan Nomula - 26,400
Thursday, July 2, 2015 12:15 AM Local Time
Dylan Linde moves all in for his remaining 7,900 in chips and is called by the player in middle position. Diego Lomanto then moves all in for 30,000 from the small blind, which sees the big blind fold, as well as the player in middle position.
Linde:
Lomanto:
The board runs out to see Lomanto hold with his pair, sending Linde to the rail.
Diego Lomanto - 47,000
Dylan Linde - Eliminated