Cary Katz struck up a conversation with last year's runner-up Sam Trickett asking why he had missed the $100,000 buy-in tournament at the Bellagio yesterday. Trickett explained that he was gutted to have missed it, but was sidelined after splitting his foot open.
He then pointed to his left foot, which was inside a thong sandal. Atop his foot were a series of stitches holding together what appeared to be a pretty nasty cut. "Ranch dip caused this," Trickett has said via Twitter, which he accompanied with a graphic photo. (Warning: His Twitter page is not for the faint of heart). He went on to add: "The adrenaline and the pain killers worn off. Jeez, I'm in absolute agony."
Katz informed him that all hope was not lost as he and some other players were thinking about throwing another tournament sometime in July.
We arrived at the table in time to find Erick Lindgren and Phil Ivey looking down at a completed board of . Lindgren checked over to Ivey who fired out a bet of 90,000. Lindgren came over the top with a check-raise to 315,000, sending Ivey deep into the tank. Over a minute passed before Ivey spoke up.
"He's got a new face," said Ivey about Lindgren. "This new face. It's throwing me off."
This elicited a chuckle from Daniel Negreanu across the table. Despite the surrounding laughter, Lindgren remained motionless. Another minute passed while Ivey played with enough chips to call. He let out a sigh and flung them forward. Lindgren shook his head and threw onto the felt. Ivey rolled over for trip aces and the win.
"Wow!" piped Negreanu. "I thought he had better than that!"
"I thought he had exactly that," replied Lindgren as he continued to shake his head.
"It's just that new face," said Ivey. "It's throwing me off. That new face almost got me to fold."
Ivey's call allowed him to spring into an early chip lead with about 3.45 million while Lindgren's stack has dropped to around 2.6 million.
From the hijack Bill Klein raised and Igor Kurganov called from the cutoff. Both blinds, Noah Schwartz and Isaac Haxton called as well, and the flop came down .
Both blinds checked to Klein who bet 33,000 and Kurganov quickly let go of his hand. Both Schwartz and Haxton called after which the turn brought out the .
Schwartz and Haxton checked again and immediately Klein put together another bet. Klein threw out 107,000, Schwartz tanked for a bit and folded and Haxton did the same giving up the pot to Klein.
With around 120,000 in the pot and a flop of , Noah Schwartz checked from the cutoff and Isaac Haxton bet 60,000 from the button. Schwartz made the call and then checked for a second time on the turn. Haxton did the same, and both players repeated their action on the river. Schwartz tabled the for pocket jacks, and it was good as Haxton sent his cards to the muck.
Dan Smith, Brandon Steven, Antonio Esfandiari, and Connor Drinan took a flop of . The action checked to Esfandiari, who tossed out 23,000, and Drinan called. Smith folded, Steven check-raised to 77,000, and only Drinan called.
The two players knuckled on the turn (), and the completed the board. Steven led out for 127,000 chips, and Drinan folded.
Seth Palansky just walked by our live reporting desk and was kind enough to give us the details on the schedule today. The plan is to play nine one-hour levels with a 90-minute dinner break at 8:42 p.m. Registration is open until the end of dinner break, which means at 10:13 no more players will be allowed to enter.
Play will conclude at roughly 1:33 a.m. local time.
Scott Seiver opened to 18,000 from the hijack and Connor Drinan folded the cutoff. Dan Smith was on the button and peeked down at his cards. He sat for a moment before cutting out a three-bet to 54,000. The blinds released their hands and action came back to Seiver who tossed out a call.
The two were heads up to the flop. Seiver checked to the raiser and Smith continued for 50,000. Seiver called.
Fourth street was the and Seiver checked for a second time. Smith tapped the table back, allowing the to complete the board. Seiver checked for a third time and Smith tapped the table back. Seiver rolled over , prompting a muck from Smith.
Seiver took down the pot and increased his stack to about 3.104 million.
The board read when we picked up the action as Tom Hall bet 125,000 from the cutoff. Brian Rast, seated on the button, tanked for quite a bit before he decided to make the call.
The river was the and Hall bet 250,000, which sent Rast deep into the tank. About two minutes went by, enough for Jean-Robert Bellande to get a picture taken for his Instagram account.
Eventually Rast let go of his hand and Hall raked in this pot.
![[user196676]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
. Lindgren checked over to Ivey who fired out a bet of 90,000. Lindgren came over the top with a check-raise to 315,000, sending Ivey deep into the tank. Over a minute passed before Ivey spoke up.
onto the felt. Ivey rolled over 
for trip aces and the win.
.
.
, Noah Schwartz checked from the cutoff and Isaac Haxton bet 60,000 from the button. Schwartz made the call and then checked for a second time on the 
turn. Haxton did the same, and both players repeated their action on the 
river. Schwartz tabled the 
for pocket jacks, and it was good as Haxton sent his cards to the muck.
. The action checked to Esfandiari, who tossed out 23,000, and Drinan called. Smith folded, Steven check-raised to 77,000, and only Drinan called.
), and the 
flop. Seiver checked to the raiser and Smith continued for 50,000. Seiver called.
and Seiver checked for a second time. Smith tapped the table back, allowing the 
to complete the board. Seiver checked for a third time and Smith tapped the table back. Seiver rolled over 
, prompting a muck from Smith.
when we picked up the action as Tom Hall bet 125,000 from the cutoff. Brian Rast, seated on the button, tanked for quite a bit before he decided to make the call.
and Hall bet 250,000, which sent Rast deep into the tank. About two minutes went by, enough for Jean-Robert Bellande to get a picture taken for his 
