A lot of people work here at the WSOP - hundreds of dealers, floor staff and cocktail waiters and waitresses do the rounds here every day in an effort to keep the action going and make sure no-one ever needs to miss what could be an all-important hand for something as trivial as running to get a drink of water.
One waiter, in our opinion, stands out from the others.
His name is Pat. You can hear his gravelly bellow of, "Wadder red buuull, wadder red buuuuuull," from all the way across the Amazon Room. It's so deep and so redolent of a life lived hard that you just can't miss him. If you want water or Red Bull, he's your man. If you close your eyes, you can almost imagine he's Tom Waits. Actually when you open your eyes again, he's not that far off looks-wise either.
Either way, Tom-Waits-a-like cocktail waiter - we at PokerNews salute you.
The button and Justin Smith, who was in the small blind, created a pot of 1,100 preflop and saw a flop of . Smith checked and the button followed suit. The turn was the and both players checked yet again.
When the came on the river, Smith bet out 600 and the button insta-folded. Smith showed and took down the small pot. He is up to 34,500.
One player over here in the orange section who has enjoyed a good start is the ever-dangerous Vannessa Rousso. She might not have quite the biggest score with 45,000, but as my former girlfriends told me with a smirk, "It's quantity, not quality," and Rousso certainly boasts most of those green 25 chips. An indicator that she has perhaps been stealing plenty of blinds, perhaps?
Following a flop, Joe Serock checked from middle position, and Shannon Elizabeth bet 600 from late position. Serock made the call.
The turn brought the and a bet of 1,800 from Serock. Elizabeth called. The river was the , putting a second pair on the board. This time Serock checked, and Elizabeth checked as well.
Serock showed and Elizabeth mucked. Serock has chipped up to 39,000, while Elizabeth is now sitting with 21,200.
We caught up with the action on the flop with the gent in the big blind betting 1,000 into a 650 pot. Hank Azaria, famous for his voicing of various characters on The Simpsons including Moe Szyslak, called from a couple seats down.
The turn was the and both players checked; the river was the and both players checked again. Azaria flipped and, once his opponent had mucked, bumped his stack up to 38,500.
Much like the London Marathon, the World Series of Poker is renowned for its costumes as runners look to reach the finishing tape of their own marathon. On the first day there was a guy dressed as a hippo, then Batman flew in on Day 1B, before even the Devil visited the City of Sin for the penultimate starting day.
Today, however, I've been disappointed with the efforts of our participants, as most have arrived in standard garb. There is one chap, however, who has come straight from the eighties with a Jon Bon Jovi wig on his bonce. Or is it Tina Turner? Hold on, it's Rod Stewart? Wait, maybe Madonna. Gosh, the eighties was a strange period.
Joe Cassidy opened from middle position and got one caller in the small blind. The flop came . Cassidy's opponent led for 2,100, and Cassidy called. The turn brought the . The small blind fired 5,000 this time, sending Cassidy into the tank. After two full minutes, he made the call.
The river was the . That slowed down Cassidy's opponent, who checked, and Cassidy checked behind. His opponent tabled for two pair, and Cassidy mucked. He's slipped to 22,500 here during the second hour of Level 1.
![[user46392]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
. Smith checked and the button followed suit. The turn was the 
and both players checked yet again.
came on the river, Smith bet out 600 and the button insta-folded. Smith showed 
and took down the small pot. He is up to 34,500.
flop, Joe Serock checked from middle position, and Shannon Elizabeth bet 600 from late position. Serock made the call.
and a bet of 1,800 from Serock. Elizabeth called. The river was the 
, putting a second pair on the board. This time Serock checked, and Elizabeth checked as well.
and Elizabeth mucked. Serock has chipped up to 39,000, while Elizabeth is now sitting with 21,200.
flop with the gent in the big blind betting 1,000 into a 650 pot. Hank Azaria, famous for his voicing of various characters on The Simpsons including Moe Szyslak, called from a couple seats down.
and both players checked; the river was the 
and both players checked again. Azaria flipped 
. The small blind fired 5,000 this time, sending Cassidy into the tank. After two full minutes, he made the call.
. That slowed down Cassidy's opponent, who checked, and Cassidy checked behind. His opponent tabled 
for two pair, and Cassidy mucked. He's slipped to 22,500 here during the second hour of Level 1.