Ivan Luca was down to 2,000 but tripled before he eventually went down anyway. He got lucky hitting a full house with to get back some breathing room, but would fall the next hand.
Luca raised to 4,000 under the gun, leaving himself 2,200 behind. Daniel Colman three-bet to 7,200 from the cutoff and the button and both blinds quickly released. Luca commited his chips just as fast.
Ivan Luca:
Daniel Colman:
The flop already had one table mate say "Oh oh!", and the followed soon after to make things official for Luca. He was out, the on the river did nothing for him.
On a board reading , the big blind led out for 2,000 and Nick Petrangelo called from the cutoff.
The turn was the and the big blind led out for 7,000 this time. Petrangelo called again.
The river was the . The big blind led out for a third time and bet 10,000. Petrangelo raised enough to put his opponent to the test for his remaining 18,000 in chips. He called and Petrangelo tabled for the nuts and his opponent showed for two pair, sending his cards into the muck on his way out.
The pot had about 10,000 in it on a board reading . The player in the hijack led out for 3,400 and Mercier called.
The turn was the . The hijack led out again, this time for 5,200. Mercier thought about it for a moment and after taking a look at his opponent's stack decided to call again.
The river was the . The hijack immediately moved all in for 9,200 and Mercier snap-called, tabling for a full house, fours full of fives. His opponent flashed for two pair, queens and fives before sending them into the muck on his way to the rail.
Presuming that you haven't got family and friends in the rafters because it's Day 1a of a Main Event, who would you like to see pitch up and lend their moral support to you on the rail at a live poker tournament?
Top of many people's list might be the super-cool Aaron Paul. Legend of the screen as Jesse Pinkman in Breaking Bad, he'll already be known to many of you as a poker player for L.A. Sunset, after winning his GPI game in 'The Cube' against Fabrice Soulier. Well, Aaron Paul is back to take part in tomorrow's Day 1b of the PokerStars Championships Bahamas Main Event and took the time to come and see how friend and PokerStars buddy Daniel Negreanu (pictured left) was getting on.
Negreanu was involved in a big hand, up against Bradley Snider on a board showing and with 18,000 chips in the middle already, whoever won would be taking a great pot into the final stages.
All of a sudden, while Team PokerStars Pro Negreanu and Aaron Paul shot the breeze, Snider was all-in for around 80,000!
"Wow - OK, you can take it!" said Negreanu, folding quickly.
Negreanu has just 22,000 left, and while that's not a disaster, he's drifted from before well above starting stack earlier. By contrast, Snider is up to around 95,000 chips and that's sufficient for a top ten stack.
It was a complete and total domination for a late all-in and call with John Clausell all-in and at risk with and up against Predrag Bukovec's .
The flop brought a pair and Broadway draw for each man, as it came . The turn gave both men two pair, but it was Clausell who needed the help which never came in on the river.
The clock has been paused at the 15-minute mark in Level 8 and the tournament director has announced that the remaining players will play five more hands before the night is over.
Gaelle Baumann had a three-bet to 5,100 in front of her on the button, and Pouliot Serge in the big blind made it 15,300. Baumann called after the middle-position opener folded. The flop came and Serge checked. Baumann bet 10,000 and Serge called. On the turn, Serge checked again. Baumann moved all in, causing her opponent to sigh.
"I don't think I'm good," he said.
Nonetheless, he called for about 23,000.
Serge:
Baumann:
Serge's fears were warranted, and he needed an ace to chop or a heart to scoop on the river. The dealer brought forth the and Serge's tournament ended late on Day 1a.
With two of the final five hands to play, a table stacked with chips took its time to play down to the end in dramatic style.
The penultimate hand of Day 1a saw Jason Mercier (pictured) three-bet pre-flop and get one caller to a flop of . On that flop, the world-famous Floridian bet 5,700 and took the pot down. He took no part in the final hand, so stacked up a whopping 92,700 at the close of play.
In the final hand of the day, Adrian Mateos clashed with Aslan Tcechoev and the latter bet 2,000 preflop and got a call from Mateos and the big blind player. The flop of saw all three players check, but Tcechoev bet 3,500 on the and only Mateos called. The river saw Mateos checked to, and he bet 8,300. Tcechoev folded and Mateos bagged up an impressive stack of 120,900.
Both Mercier and Mateos did well in the final level of the day, but Brad Marsh from Canada sealed up 173,200 chips and that's one of the biggest stacks in the room on a day where 229 players pitched up to play the PokerStars Championship Main Event here in The Bahamas.
Big blind Rodrigo Cordoba bet about 3,000 on a board, and Jonathan Dimmig raised to approximately 18,000 in the cutoff. Cordoba called, and the river was a . Dimmig bet 22,000 when checked to, and Cordoba responded with an all-in shove. Dimmig folded after some thought, and Cordoba showed .