The WSOP floor staff on duty have been a big talking point throughout the Rio poker room during this evening’s session of play, but the topic is not about the rules, it’s all about the white threads they’re rocking in a new tradition they’ve dubbed, “White Suit Sunday”.
Lead Tournament Supervisor Steve Frezer, who’s been working here at the WSOP for six years, was happy to share with us the story of how the idea came about.
“Actually, it started last week,” Frezer said. “We did it just for kicks. One of our other guys came in wearing one and we thought that was cool, so we all went out to the outlet stores and bought one each. From now on, in every Day 1d of the Main Event, we’re gonna be wearing white suits.”
Not all the supervisors were convinced to begin with: “We had one guy (Troy Stomer) thinking he was going to be the only one that’d turn up in a white suit, but as you can see, we’re all running around here in the same outfit – except for Robbie Thompson, he chickened out!”
Even 2005 WSOP Main Event champion Joe Hachem was so impressed that he told Frezer that he was going to wear a white suit in the Main Event next year. We reckon that players like Tony ‘bond18’ Dunst would be a lock for White Suit Sunday (as his penchant for suits is well-known), but Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier has already gotten into the spirit of the occasion tonight with his get-up whilst playing in the Mothership.
By our judgement, we reckon that white’s all right! Looking sharp, lads!
Following a flop, a player in middle position bet 2,600, and Vanessa Rousso called from the button. The turn was the , and this time Rousso's opponent checked. Rousso took the invitation to bet 4,800, and her opponent called.
The river brought the . Rousso's opponent checked, and after pausing a good while Rousso checked as well.
"Ace is good," said Rousso before seeing her opponent's for kings. Those were good, too, as she explained she had had a straight flush draw.
Rousso was up over 50,000 earlier, but has slipped to about 35,000 now.
Amit Makhija opened from under the gun to 1,000 and a late position player raised it up to 2,350. Action folded around back to Makhija and he called. The flop came and Makhija check-called 2,600. The turn came , Makhija checked and his opponent bet out 5,400.
Makhija put out his stack of 5,000 chips putting his opponent all in. The player called and tabled for a flush. Makhija held for a flopped set and needed the board to pair to take back the lead. He binked when it came and Makhija sent 23,700 across the table, leaving him with 26,700.
From under the gun, Bryan Pimlott raised it up to 1,025 and Matt Savage called from middle position.
The flop came down , Pimlott checked, Savage bet 1,600 and Pimlott called. The turn came down , Pimlott checked again, Savage bet 2,600 and Pimlott again called. The river came and Pimlott bet out this time for 5,000. Savage folded and fell to 43,000. Pimlott has gotten himself over double starting stack and is sitting with right around 72,000.
Julian Thew raised to 1,000 from the button before the big blind made it 3,000 with just 9,050 behind. Thew moved all and was quickly called by his opponent.
Thew:
Big Blind:
The board came out as Thew dropped to just 6,000 while his opponent moved up to 25,000.
Action was raised to 1,025 by a player in middle position and the hijack seat called before it folded to Lars Bonding in the small blind. Bonding also called and action was three-ways to the flop. The flop came down and action checked to the preflop raiser. He bet 1,625 and the hijack seat folded. Bonding came along with a call.
The turn brought the and both players checked to see the complete the board on the river. Bonding led for 2,575 and his opponent raised to 6,775. "Really, pocket tens?" questioned Bonding. He then folded his hand and said, "Nice river."
There was about 4,000 in the middle and the board read . David "Doc" Sands, acting with characteristic deliberation, his movements seemingly choreographed in super slo-mo, tapped the felt to check, and his opponent checked behind. The turn was the . Again acting slowly, Sands collected chips for a bet of 1,450, and his opponent called.
The river brought the . Sands again sat motionless for 20 seconds or more, then carefully set out a bet of 5,050. His opponent held his head in his hands, rechecked his cards, then tapped the felt as he mucked.
In startling contrast, Sands stacked up his newly-won chips with quickness, neatly assembling them into color-coordinated columns before the next hand was dealt. Sands' day has been one of virtual stasis, though, as he presently sits with just about 30,000, the same amount he had when the day began.
With a few thousand chips in the middle, Mike Sexton checked the final board of to his lone opponent. The player fired 2,800 and Sexton gave it a moment of thought. He then folded his hand and gave up the pot, slipping back a tiny bit, but still sitting on a decent stack of over 50,000.
We've mentioned it before, but we thought it couldn't hurt to remind you all of what today's 2,802 players are competing for. All told, the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event drew 6,865 runners and created a prize pool worth $64,531,000 that will be distributed among the top 693 players as follows:
![[user135779]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
flop, a player in middle position bet 2,600, and Vanessa Rousso called from the button. The turn was the 
, and this time Rousso's opponent checked. Rousso took the invitation to bet 4,800, and her opponent called.
. Rousso's opponent checked, and after pausing a good while Rousso checked as well.
for kings. Those were good, too, as she explained she had had a straight flush draw.
and Makhija check-called 2,600. The turn came 
, Makhija checked and his opponent bet out 5,400.
for a flush. Makhija held 
and Makhija sent 23,700 across the table, leaving him with 26,700.
, Pimlott checked again, Savage bet 2,600 and Pimlott again called. The river came 
and Pimlott bet out this time for 5,000. Savage folded and fell to 43,000. Pimlott has gotten himself over double starting stack and is sitting with right around 72,000.
as Thew dropped to just 6,000 while his opponent moved up to 25,000.
and both players checked to see the 
. David "Doc" Sands, acting with characteristic deliberation, his movements seemingly choreographed in super slo-mo, tapped the felt to check, and his opponent checked behind. The turn was the 
. Again acting slowly, Sands collected chips for a bet of 1,450, and his opponent called.
. Sands again sat motionless for 20 seconds or more, then carefully set out a bet of 5,050. His opponent held his head in his hands, rechecked his cards, then tapped the felt as he mucked.
to his lone opponent. The player fired 2,800 and Sexton gave it a moment of thought. He then folded his hand and gave up the pot, slipping back a tiny bit, but still sitting on a decent stack of over 50,000.