The money went all in preflop, a short-stacked, early-position player pushing in with and Burt Boutin making the call from middle position with . Boutin flopped a five and turned a seven for two pair to eliminate the shortie and increase his stack to 25,000.
Seriously, Matt Larsh and PokerNews Tournament Director Garry Gates didn't get together and say, "Hey, let's both wear togas today!" Garry lost a bet with Evelyn Ng, and Matt lost a bet with his buddy Matt McCullough. The two had a deal where if one of them finished in the top three of the World Series of Poker-Europe Main Event the winner would buy the loser into this tournament. Incredibly, McCullough finished third to Annette Obrestad and John Tatatabai in London and ponied up the dough for Larsh to play. Of course, Larsh had to drape himself in Roman costume to play, but that seems a small price to pay for a seat in the Main Event.
Or is it? Because in a bizarre coincidence Larsh and McCullough are both sitting at Table #61 in the Brasilia Room, directly across from each other. So McCullough gets to look at Larch in his get-up all day. Well, or until their table breaks. Or either of them busts out.
We reported earlier today that the silence in the Amazon room is just plain eerie, and it continues even into the start of level 2. Players are being very, very silent and the only real sound heard is the shuffle of chips in between fingers.
Proof of silence? In a field where most players sport hats and sunglasses and over-sized headphones, looking out into the crowd only a small handful of headphones can be seen. They're simply not as needed today.
Minh Ly was all in for his last 2,150 on a flop showing . He held and was ahead, but at risk of elimination against the of his opponent. The turn and river came down friendly for Ly; the and did nothing to improve the other player's hand and doubled him back up to 8,000.
On the first hand back from break, Juan Maceiras turned a nine-high straight to take a nice-sized pot and eliminate an opponent. He's jumped up to 51,000.