Level 5
: 200/400, 50 ante
Sarah talks to Global Poker Index Player of the Year for 2016 about his amazing victory dance and outfit.
2017 PokerStars Championship Bahamas
$5,000 Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2017 PokerStars Championship Bahamas
Buy-in
$5,000
Prize Pool
$3,376,712
Entries
738
Level
31
Blinds
80,000 / 160,000
Ante
20,000
Level 5
: 200/400, 50 ante
Christophe Larquemin was first to act and raised to 1,000. His neighbor Jason Mercier three-bet to 3,700 and action folded back around to Larquemin who called rather quickly. Larquemin lead out 3,000 himself on the 
flop and Mercier called.
The 
hit the turn and Larquemin checked. Mercier bet 4,500 and Larquemin called.
With the 
pairing the board on the river, Larquemin checked for the second time in a row. Mercier asked to see how much his neighbor had behind and the Frenchman showed his stack of 7,700. Mercier then slid forward 30,000 to put the maximum amount of pressure on his opponent. Larquemin didn't need much time to call, but his 
hit the muck soon enough as Mercier tabled 
.
"Player out!" the dealer shouted as Christophe Larquemin got up and left.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
59,000
31,000
|
31,000 |
|
||
Level 5
: 200/400, 50 ante
Three players put in what looked like 3,500 preflop and saw a flop of 
. 2015 World Series of Poker Main Event champ Joe McKeehen led out for 4,000 from the small blind, Naji Harb called from middle position, and Ami Alibay, who had a nice stack of chips, opted to call from the cutoff.
After the dealer burned and turned the 
, McKeehen bet 9,200, Harb folded, and Alibay raised all in. McKeehen, who had 1,000 back, called off only to discover he was drawing dead.
McKeehen: 
Alibay: 
Alibay got lucky to turn a set, and he dispatched a tough opponent after the meaningless was run out on the river.
Meanwhile, both Sergio Garcia ad Rocco Palumbo have been eliminated from the tournament.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
100,000
57,500
|
57,500 |
|
Busted | |
|
||
|
Busted | |
|
||
|
Busted | |
|
|
||
By Neil Stoddart/PokerStars.
![[user323482]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
Level 5
: 200/400, 50 ante
Action has increased and so have quite a few stacks!
Morris Dadoun has been climbing the leaderboard and has added to his lead. He is now the first player over six figures in this tournament.
Dadoun is from Canada and won his package online. Stay locked in on PokerNews as we follow his story!
Sarah Herring caught up with Dadoun on break.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
108,000
28,000
|
28,000 |
Level 5
: 200/400, 50 ante
With so much happening on Day 1a of the PokerStars Championships Bahamas Main Event, we took a look at some of the biggest names in the field and how they're progressing.
Daniel Negreanu (pictured) has been building his stack steadily since sitting down amid Kevin Hart's hilarious bust-out hand. The Canadian poker legend, who is at the top of the All Time Money List for live tournament cashes, raised it up pre-flop then took down a hand with a c-bet of 1,500 into a pot of 4,000 on a flop of 
. Negreanu has around 37,000.
Ben Heath is down to 24,000 but is not concerned at all. He's online-railing his friend Charlie Carrel, who is heads-up for the $100,000 Super High Roller title against Jason Koon.
"I was following his progress, and it was going well. Then he busts out third and fourth place with 
against 
and kings in the next hand and he's heads-up."
While Heath has plenty of time to get back above average in the Main Event, French Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand 'Elky' Grospellier may not. He's down to just 5,500 chips at blinds of 200/400 and will need to 'Allez' very soon.
Mike 'Timex' McDonald is flying along, and that deserves a nod of appreciation given he's dominating a table stacked with ridiculous talent. McDonald just bet 1,000 in early position, garnering a call from two players, including Stephen Chidwick two seats to his left. The flop of 
saw Timex make it 1,500 and he took that pot down to build his stack to just over 70,000 chips.
Level 5
: 200/400, 50 ante
Action folded around to Natasha Mercier and she completed her small blind.
The player in the big blind did not want to check his option and raised to 1,200. Mercier called.
The flop came 
. Mercier checked, and the big blind thought about it for a while before checking back.
The turn is the 
. Mercier checked again, and her opponent bet 1,300. Mercier wasted no time and check-raised to 3,500. The big blind thought about it for a moment and sent his cards into the muck.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
32,000
2,000
|
2,000 |
Level 5
: 200/400, 50 ante
With a board reading 
, Gaelle Baumann checked from the cutoff and then snap-called off for roughly 18,000 when Ramin Hajiyev moved all in.
Baumann:
Hajiyev:
Baumann had the hand locked up with a full house, and she shipped the double after the was run out on the river.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
52,000
22,000
|
22,000 |
|
||
|
13,400 | |
Level 5
: 200/400, 50 ante
Action folded around to Patrick 'SuperSerda' Serda and he raised to 1,000 from the hijack.
The button called, as did the small blind. The flop came 
. The small blind checked, and Serda bet 2,200. Both the button and the small blind called.
The turn was the 
. The small blind checked again and Serda bet 6,800. The button called and the small blind moved all in for his remaining 30,000. Serda called for his last 15,000 and the button also called for his last 10,000.
Serda tabled for top set, while both of his opponents tabled queen-jack for Broadway.
Serda was at risk, but the 
on the river saved him. He eliminated the player on the button and doubled through the small blind.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
72,000
42,000
|
42,000 |
|
|
||
Level 5
: 200/400, 50 ante
We missed the elimination of Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, but Paul Newey was kind enough to fill us in on some details.
As he told it, the 2008 PCA champ shoved all in from the big blind for his last 4,500 after the under-the-gun player had raised. His opponent called and the hands were turned up.
Grospellier: 
Opponent:
It looked like it was going to be a chop, but the 
flop gave Grospellier's opponent a freeroll to running diamonds. Unfortunately for France's all-time money leader, that's exactly what happened when the turn and river came diamond-diamond.