We caught up with the action on a 
flop where Jeff ‘yellowsub’ Williams bet 325 in the cutoff and the button called. The action was the same on the 
turn for 625 while both players checked the 
on the river. Williams turned up 
for top pair which was good as his opponent mucked.
If the cameras weren't already all over purple 362, they will be now. Seinfeld funny man and poker enthusiast Jason Alexander has joined Barry Shulman, Vanessa Selbst and Matt Glantz, at what has to be the most stacked (or at least camera worthy) table of the day.
We'll be seeing this one on ESPN for sure.
John Cernuto raised it up to 300 under the gun, and Jeff Williams called next to act. The cutoff also called, and the three players saw a flop of 
. Cernuto led out for 350, and both players called. The turn came the 
, and both Cernuto and Williams checked. The cutoff bet 1,500, and Cernuto was the only caller. The river brought the 
, and both players checked. The cutoff showed 
, and Cernuto mucked his hand.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
||
|
|
30,000 | |
|
|
30,000 | |
With the Main Event being such a huge, ridiculous, spectacle of a field, it's very seldom that you see terrible/horrible table draws, but table 362 in Amazon Purple may be the worst we've seen yet.
In seat 1 we have recent $50,000 Poker Player's Championship Final Tablist Matt Glantz, in seat 4 we have Card Player Editor-In-Chief and WSOPE Main Event Champion Barry Shulman, and in seat 5 we have Team PokerStars Pro (USA) and bracelet winner Vanessa Selbst.
Glantz even tweeted his disappointment at his bad luck of the draw.
"Main Event Day 1A. I recognize every single player at my table. Is this even possible? @vanessaselbst , Barry Schulman & cardrunner pro"
The ESPN cameras have already been all over the table and we'll be there as well.
With the board already reading 
both Evelyn Ng in the small blind and the player on the button checked. The river brought the 
and when Ng checked again her opponent fired out a bet of 7,000. Ng called but then mucked when the other player showed his 
for fives full of sevens. Ng was left with 18,500 after the hand.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
18,500
-11,500
|
-11,500 |
We didn't get any of the betting action, all we saw was Raymond Rahme, 2007 WSOP Main Event 3rd place finisher, all in on a 
board. His opponent held 
for trips but Rahme had 
for a full house, aces full of queens, and the nuts to double up.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
51,000
21,000
|
21,000 |
You may have heard about the raffle conducted by Daniel "jungleman12" Cates recently to award an entry into the Main Event. After announcing the giveaway, Cates spent a couple of weeks sending out tweets to followers announcing locations where they could pick up tickets to enter. The only stipulation for entrants was that they had never played in the Main Event before.
After several such meetings, a final drawing was finally made and local player Bob "Poker Grump" Woolley was the lucky recipient of the Main Event entry. In addition to winning his seat, Woolley scored an instructional session with the internet phenom as well.
Woolley has chosen to play Day 1a, and finds himself seated at a table with at least a few opponents with a bit more WSOP experience than himself. Sitting across from him is 2004 WSOP Main Event winner Greg Raymer, while a couple of seats over is 2007 WSOP Player of the Year Tom Schneider, who also made a deep run in the WSOP ME in 2009, finishing 52nd. Oh, and as if that weren't bad enough, Olivier Busquet and David Chicotsky have taken seats there, too.
Winning the seat might have been easy for Woolley. Now the hard part begins.
Barry Shulman opened to 250 from early position and was called by Vanessa Selbst to his immediate left. Both blinds came along as well.
The flop came 
and the small blind led out for 625. Everyone folded around to Selbst, who called.
The turn brought the and the small blind player led out again for 1,500. Selbst tanked for a bit, but landed on a call.
A completed the board and, undeterred, Selbst's opponent fired one last barrel for 2,125. Selbst let out an, "Oh man...," under her breath and pushed in a call. Her opponent revealed the 
for a flopped two-pair and Selbst mucked - sending her down to 25,600.
2011 November Niner Filippo Candio is here today, hoping to improve on his fourth-place finish from a year ago.
Just now the Italian opened with a raise to 225 from the cutoff and got two callers from the button and big blind. The flop came 
. It checked to Candio who bet 300, then the player on the button raised to 1,800. The big blind folded, but Candio called.
The turn was the . Candio checked this time, and watched as his opponent pushed out a bet of 1,200. Candio called. The river then brought the and another check from Candio. The big blind carved out a bet of 3,000, and finally Candio let it go.
Candio had already picked up a few chips before that one, though, and now sits with 33,400.
