115 players are shown as having chips as of the end of action on Day 1 of Event 44, $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em w/ Rebuys. The overnight chip leader is Jamel Maistriaux, who accumulated 169,300 in chips on the day.
Jamel Maistriaux 169,300
Curtis Kohlberg 158,700
Brent Hanks 154,300
Simon Ravnsbaek 153,000
Rene Mouritsen 135,400
Mark Seif 133,000
Dan Lu 132,700
John Hoang 125,300
Faraz Jaka 116,400
Albert Iverson 108,700
Play resumes in Event 43 at 2pm PDT, with the first order of business to break through the 81-player money bubble. From there it'll be a long day's work down to the nine who'll be seated at Friday's final. We'll have updates throughout the day right here at PokerNews.
We have reached the end of play here in Day 1 of Event #44. Today saw a field of 879 players buy in, and by the time the rebuy period ended, there were an additional 2,508 buy-ins added to the pool. This action generated a prize pool in excess of $3.2 millon, which means that the victor on Friday will walk away with just under $700,000.
The play was wide open during the rebuy period, with some players going to their wallets 10 or 15 times in the first two hours. After the break, some players couldn't quite switch out of rebuy mode, and there was still a plentiful supply of loose play. Things tightened down as the night wore on though, as the players battled to make it to the second round tomorrow.
Our presumed overnight chip leader is Curtis Kohlberg with 158,700 chips. There are a few players hot on his heels though, including Simon Ravnsbaek and Dan Lu.
When play concluded, there were just 116 of our original runners left. They will come back tomorrow at 2:00pm PDT to fight for a spot at the final table. We thank you for joining us today and hope you'll be back with us tomorrow!
I think we have figured out Men the Master's trick to keep his energy up all night. Booze!
He currently has three beers and a cup of red wine in front of him. The side effect of this energy plan is that in some cases you show nine high on a river showdown, as Men did in a recent hand with Mark Seif.
Roland de Wolfe pushed all in for his last 6,000 in chips preflop from early position and was called by Alec Torelli in the small blind. The hands were turned and de Wolfe showed against Torelli's .
The board blanked off and Torelli stacked the chips as de Wolfe left the tournament area.
Curtis Kohlberg has been our chip leader for an hour or so now. In his most recent action, he has just dragged down another large pot and increased his lead even further.
We pick up the action on the flop with about 10,000 in the pot already. The board reads . Kohlberg leads out with a bet of 7,000. His lone opponent, Matt Graham, makes the call.
The turn brings the , pairing the board. Kohlberg keeps the heat on, firing another 14,500 chips into the pot. Graham then moves all in for another 38,800 on top, putting himself at risk. Kohlberg goes deep into the tank. After what must have been five or six full minutes, he does indeed put in the call.
Kohlberg:
Graham:
Kohlberg sees the good news that his bold call was the correct one. He only has to fade one more card, and the on the river locks it up. Matt Graham is eliminated, shipping all his chips over to our big stack. Kohlberg is working on lapping the field, now sitting with 174,000.
Here are the specifics of the hand that eliminated Kenna James a few minutes ago.
Hanno Offen raised first in to 3,500. Kenna James was in the big blind, and he re-raised to 17,500. Offen moved in, having Kenna covered. The cowboy quickly called, showing down . He was ahead, but at risk against Offen's .
The flop frowned on the happy-go-lucky Kenna James though. The board came out . Offen comes from behind, catching his top pair to send the pro to the rail. As he made his exit, the dealer dismissed Kenna with a too-cheery, "Thanks for playing."