Vanessa Rousso opened with a raise to 500 from middle position and it folded back around to the player in the big blind who called. The flop came and both checked. The turn was the . Rousso's opponent fired 1,200, and Rousso called.
The river brought the and another bet from Rousso's opponent, this time for 1,500. Rousso called the bet, tabling for kings, good enough to beat her opponent's .
Rousso is off to a good start today, having chipped up to 42,000 during the first two hours-plus.
This is a doozy of a chart, but it contains some fun facts we thought you might interest you. While we're a long way from the final hand of the 2011 Main Event, it is never too early to reflect on the hands that helped shape poker history:
As Level 2 began, 2010 World Series of Poker Player of the Year Frank Kassela took his seat over in the Black section. Of the hundreds of tables at which he might've been seated, Kassela finds himself at one that includes not one but two WSOP bracelet holders -- Barry Greenstein (with three) and David Daneshgar (with one).
In fact, Kassela, who won two bracelets last summer, is sitting right in between them!
Kassela had a memorable Main Event last year, barely making the cash and thus ensuring himself a tie for the WSOP POY with Michael "the Grinder" Mizrachi. Mizrachi was actually at Kassela's table when the latter busted last year, sitting on a very short stack himself. Of course, the Grinder would go on to make the final table and nearly catch Kassela for the POY before falling in fifth.
Jack Effel has just finished the day's bracelet ceremonies, which included presenting the $50,000 Poker Players Championship bracelet to Brian Rast, who is the only person to have won two bracelets at the 2011 WSOP.
With the formalities complete, the cards are back in the air!
Day 1d was expected to be the biggest of all four starting days, and that certainly seems to be the case. Both the Amazon and Pavilion Rooms are jammed pack, and the field appears to have surpassed expectations. While we won’t know the official numbers and prize pool information until later tonight, it appears all the worries that this year’s Main Event would draw subpar numbers was nothing more than hysterics.
With all that said, we’ve reached the end of Level 1 which means players are now on their first 20-minute break of the day. While the blinds (50/100) are quite small compared to the starting stack of 30,000, that didn’t mean the action was any less fierce, as Prahlad Friedman found out just minutes into Day 1d when he lost all but 3,150 of his stack when he turned a set of sixes against the straight of Frank Jordan. The river blanked and Friedman was crippled; however, he has managed to survive the first level.
Day 1d has also brought out some of the best in the game. John Juanda, Phil Laak, Daniel Alaei, Darvin Moon, Tom Marchese, Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond, Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Dwyte Pilgrim, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Barry Greenstein, Antonio Esfandiari, Vanessa Rousso, and even rap superstar Nelly.
In addition, former WSOP Main Event Champs Huck Seed (1996), Robert Varkonyi (2002), and Jamie Gold (2006) have all entered the field in the hopes of capturing their second world championship title.
The players will be back in 20 minutes as they are slated to play another four levels here on Day 1d.
We reported earlier that Tommy Vedes was sitting in a nice leather desk chair instead of the standard rigid, uncomfortable Rio chair. According to one of our reporters who talked to Vedes, he said he bought the chair at Office Max for $200 and it's "totally worth it." After five weeks of sitting in these same old chairs, it's starting to look like a brilliant idea to this reporter. I might have to steal it during the break....
We caught this hand on the flop between Steve Zolotow and another opponent. The flop came and Zolotow bet 450 and got a call. The turn came and both players checked. The river came and both players checked again.
"I'm not good enough to value bet this," his opponent said. Zolotow tabled .
"I heard there were a lot of eights in this deck," Zolotow said.
Two players limped from middle position, and Alex Wice raised to 900 from the button. The blinds got out, and both of the limpers called.
The flop came and all three checked. The turn was the . It checked to Wice who bet 1,300, and only the initial limper called.
The river brought a fifth face card to the board -- . Wice's opponent paused a beat, then fired a single orange chip into the middle, declaring a bet of 2,500. Wise immediately mucked with a somewhat disgusted look on his face.
That hand culminates what has been a somewhat difficult first level for Wice. With about five minutes to go in Level 1, he's down to about 18,500.
Under the gun, Danny Suied opened with a raise, Constant Rijkenberg flatted in the middle, and a hatted lady squeezed in a reraise to 900. Both opponents called, and off they went.
The flop came out , and the table checked to the raiser. She continued out with 2,000, Suied check-raised to 5,100, and Rijkenberg made the cold-call. Undeterred, our female hero shoved all in for about 28,500, and Suied re-shoved for 29,000 flat. That finally squeezed Rijkenberg out of the way, and the cards were on their backs.
Showdown
Suied:
Opponent:
Suied had out-flopped the lady in a big way, and the turn and river did nothing to improve her plight. She looked a bit shocked and grumpy, but she didn't say a word as she slowly stood from the table, stared down as her chips taken away, and headed out the doors. That's another Main Event dream crushed, but Suied's is just getting started. He's up over 60,000 after dragging that double.
and both checked. The turn was the 
. Rousso's opponent fired 1,200, and Rousso called.
and another bet from Rousso's opponent, this time for 1,500. Rousso called the bet, tabling 
for kings, good enough to beat her opponent's 
.
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