2012 World Series of Poker

Event 55: $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop
Day: 1
Event Info

2012 World Series of Poker

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
75
Prize
$18,346,673
Event Info
Buy-in
$1,000,000
Prize Pool
$42,666,672
Entries
48
Level Info
Level
22
Blinds
400,000 / 800,000
Ante
100,000

Banjout Doubles; Boosted J Left with Just 30,000

Justin Smith
Justin Smith

As the rest of the players we going on break, we happened upon a huge pot between Justin "Boosted J" Smith and Frederic Banjout. There was a little over a million in the pot with a board reading {2-Clubs}{6-Spades}{8-Hearts}{A-Spades}{4-Spades} and Banjout had moved all in for 2.163 million.

From what Jonathan Duhamel told us, prior action saw Banjout check-raise the flop and then fire out big on the turn. Unfortunately that was all we were able to get amid all the excitement.

As it were, Smith was sitting in contemplation and waited for the dealer to get an exact count. A few of the other players found their way back to watch the hand, and out of nowhere Smith said, "I call."

Banjout then stood from his chair and slapped down {K-Spades}{Q-Spades} for the nuts. Smith was devastated and tossed his cards to the muck, though tournament rules state the hand must be shown. Per the floor's instruction, the dealer turned over Smith's hand . . . {7-Hearts}{5-Hearts}.

Smith thought he had been eliminated, but after the stacks were counted down, he was left with just 30,000.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Frederic Banjout
Frederic Banjout
5,200,000
2,390,000
2,390,000
Profile photo of Justin Smith us
Justin Smith
30,000
-2,370,000
-2,370,000

Tags: Frederic BanjoutJustin Smith

Seven-Bet Shove from Rajkumar Against Seidel

This hand ran several minutes into the break...

Brandon Steven raised to 22,000 from middle position and Erik Seidel flat-called in the cutoff seat. Vivek Rajkumar three-bet on the button to 82,000 and the blinds folded back to Steven. He gave it up and then Seidel gave back with a back-raise to 250,000. After some tanking, Rajkumar slid in more chips for a reraise to 550,000.

It was now Seidel's turn to tank and he thought for a bit. After a minute or two, Seidel made it 900,000 to go with a six-bet. Rajkumar wasn;t about to be frazzled and studied intently on the hand. Another two or three minutes passed before Rajkumar moved all in. With a tad over 1.8 million behind, Seidel gave it up and Rajkumar scooped the pot.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Vivek Rajkumar in
Vivek Rajkumar
3,150,000
1,000,000
1,000,000
Profile photo of Erik Seidel us
Erik Seidel
1,850,000
-865,000
-865,000
WSOP 10X Winner
Poker Hall of Famer

Tags: Vivek RajkumarBrandon StevenErik Seidel

Break

Level 2 : 4,000/8,000, 1,000 ante

The players are now on their first 20-minute break of the day. We'll have full counts for you shortly.

Trickett Wins With Big River Bet

Justin Smith, Brian Rast, and Sam Trickett - who have a combined $11 million in career tournament earnings - saw a flop of {3-Clubs}{6-Spades}{6-Hearts}. Smith led out for 40,000, and both Rast and Trickett called.

The turn was the {3-Diamonds}, and the action checked to Trickett, who tossed out 92,000. Smith called, and so did Rast.

The {5-Hearts} completed the board, and the action checked to Trickett again. He tanked, then fired 430,000. Smith quickly folded, and Rast went into the tank. He cut out four lavender T100,000 chips, one green T25,000 chip, and one orange T5,000 chip, and placed the six chips on his stack. After another minute or so, he folded however, and Trickett pulled in the pot.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Sam Trickett gb
Sam Trickett
3,700,000
400,000
400,000
Profile photo of Brian Rast us
Brian Rast
2,600,000
250,000
250,000
WSOP 6X Winner
Poker Hall of Famer
Profile photo of Justin Smith us
Justin Smith
2,400,000
-500,000
-500,000

Tags: Brian RastJustin SmithSam Trickett

Phua Fires a Million Into Hellmuth

On a flop of {6-Hearts}{K-Spades}{2-Spades}, Paul Phua checked from the small blind and Bob Bright did the same from the big. Phil Hellmuth took the opportunity to bet 120,000, but Paul Phua decided to keep the pressure on with a check-raise to 420,000.

Bright got out of the way, Hellmuth called, and the dealer burned and turned the {A-Diamonds}. Phua wasted little time in firing out 1 million, which caused Hellmuth to shoot back in his chair and throw his arms up in the air. "Wow," Hellmuth said before folding. "You win buddy. Round 1."

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Paul Phua my
Paul Phua
4,700,000
300,000
300,000
WSOP 1X Winner
Profile photo of Phil Hellmuth us
Phil Hellmuth
2,500,000
-500,000
-500,000
WSOP Main Event Champion
WSOP 17X Winner
Poker Hall of Famer
StakeKings

Tags: Phil HellmuthPaul PhuaBob Bright

"You Bet 666 Into 666"

With about 120,000 in the pot and a flop of {6-Clubs}{2-Hearts}{4-Hearts}, Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier bet 66,000 from the big blind, Talal Shakerchi called from middle position, Noah Schwartz came along from the hijack, and Gus Hansen raised to 333,000 from the cutoff.

From there, Paul Newey folded the button, Grospellier and Shakerchi called, and Schwartz got out of the way, bringing about the {9-Clubs} turn. Both Grospellier and Shakerchi checked to Hansen, who thought for about a minute before doing the same.

When the {A-Diamonds} peeled off on the river, Grospellier led out for 666,000, Shakerchi called, and Hansen got out of the way. Grospellier proudly rolled over {4-Diamonds}{4-Spades} for a set, but it was no good against Shakerchi's {6-Spades}{6-Diamonds} set.

As Shakerchi was stacking the pot, Jason Mercier told Grospellier, "You bet 666 into 666."

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Talal Shakerchi gb
Talal Shakerchi
3,400,000
1,290,000
1,290,000
Profile photo of Bertrand Grospellier fr
Bertrand Grospellier
2,800,000
-920,000
-920,000

Tags: Talal ShakerchiBertrand GrospellierNoah SchwartzPaul NeweyGus Hansen