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Men "The Master" Nguyen opened with a raise to 300 from early position and found a call in the cutoff. They took a flop of 
and Nguyen led out for 400. His opponent called and the turn brought the 
.
Nguyen fired again for 600 and once again was called. The river landed the 
and Nguyen checked. His opponent bet 1,300 and Nguyen folded pocket queens face up. He's down to 17,000.
There was 2,850 in the pot and a board reading 
when Eli Elezra checked to his opponent in Seat 8. The man threw out a 2,000 bet and Elezra went into the tank.
After a minute or two, Elezra folded 
face-up and said, "I think you have it this time." Elezra was right as his opponent flipped over 
. Elezra is still sitting pretty with 43,000.
Ayaz Mahmood called a 250-chip preflop raise from the big blind to see a 
flop fall.
He checked the action over to his opponent who fired out 300, only to have Mahmood check-raise to 1,000.
Making the call, Mahmood's opponent was faced with bets of 2,000 and 4,400 when the 
and 
landed on the turn and river, respectively.
Mahmood's opponent called him down on each street, only to muck when Mahmood tabled his 
for flopped two-pair as he collected the pot to move to 44,000 in chips.
It's become an annual spectacle that only gets bigger each year. He's shown up dressed as a NASCAR driver, Caesar, and now Phil Hellmuth can add MMA fighter to that list. Let's just thank our higher power that he did not take the costuming literally, showing up shirtless, barefoot, and in short shorts.
About 200 or so poker fans and media braved the 108-degree heat and flanked the red carpet laid out for Hellmuth's arrival. Following a lengthy hip-hop dance performance by some scantily clad women, Hellmuth emerged, wearing a silk black-and-gold boxer's robe and was trailed into the Amazon Room by a group of models holding cardboard signs in the shape of WSOP bracelets (although Hellmuth has 11, we counted only 10 bracelet-bearers. Oops).
Hellmuth is now ensconced on the secondary featured table, taking a seat on Mike Beasley's left.
New Team PokerStars Pro David Williams is on fire today. He reports that he flopped a straight and made two full houses to chip up in the first hour. And minutes ago, he was on the right side of an aces-versus-kings battle that boosted him to 80,000. That makes Williams the chip leader at the moment. We'll keep watching to see if his run-good switch stays in the on position all day.
Five players committed 250 preflop to see a 
flop fall and Jack Powell fire out 700 from the button.
His opponent in the big blind check-raised to 1,775 and Powell made the call to see the 
land on the turn and both players check it through.
The river landed the 
and the big blind checked to Powell who opted to fire out 1,500. The big blind made the call and tabled his 
for a flopped flush as Powell flashed his 
for a flopped straight and mucked while slipping to below 27,000 in chips.
It hasn't been a great start to the day for Team PokerStars Pro Chad Brown. After check-calling for 275 on the flop of 
, Brown again checked the turn card. His opponent bet 600 and Brown called.
The river was the and Brown led out for 1,500 but his opponent responded with a raise to 4,000 which was enough to force a fold from Brown. He's down to 21,000.
Part of the run-good-aments needed in a massive tournament like this is avoiding running a strong hand into another, stronger hand. That's what happened to Isabelle Mercier, who was part of a three-way raised pot that checked around on a flop of 
. Mercier bet the 
turn and was called by only one of her two opponents. When the river paired the board , Mercier fired out another 1,100 chips. Her opponent then raised to 3,600 and showed the nut flush, 
. That was one pip better than Mercier's 
. As a result she's down to 22,000.
Tom Dwan raised to 250 under the gun, and another player called. Then a third opponent reraised to 1,250. Dwan and the middle guy both called to see the 
flop. It checked around to the 
on the turn. Dwan and the middle opponent both checked again, and Mr. Three-Bet fired 2,300. Only durrrr called. The river was the , and Dwan check-called another bet, 3,000 this time. His opponent tabled 
, and Dwan couldn't beat it. He's trying to set a record for highest percentage of pots played in Level 1 of the Main Event, but so far, the strategy isn't working so well. Dwan is down to 17,000.
On a board of 
, Faraz Jaka moved all in after his opponent in Seat 8 had reraised to 15,200. Seat 8 seemed frustrated and mucked. "Ace-high flush," Jaka announced and turned over just the , perhaps toying with his opponent and trying to engage in some friendly mind games.
Jaka is mixing it up in the first level, even admitting that he is playing pretty much every hand. It seems to be working as he is up to 45,000.
