Event #78: $1,500 Bounty Pot-Limit Omaha Day 1 | 2023 World Series of Poker

07-08-2023 02:19 UTC-8

Day 1 of Event #78: $1,500 Bounty Pot-Limit Omaha Wrap Up; Satar Al-Sadoun Among Leaders

Claudio Elizalde

Level 14 : Blinds 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante

Day 1 of Event #78: $1,500 Bounty Pot-Limit Omaha concluded at the 2023 World Series of Poker at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas with only 14 levels of play completed instead of the 15 levels that were scheduled. The start time was pushed back by two hours to accommodate the record-setting field in the 2023 WSOP Main Event.

The 1,214 entrants generated a prize pool of $1,620,690 with a first-place prize of $171,742 not including any won bounties. Each player entered the fray with a $500 Bounty on their head and the action was plentiful as a result. When the day was done there were just 140 remaining after a full evening of battle.

Top Ten Chip Counts

Rank	Player	Country	Chip Count	Big Blinds
1	Casey Wassell	United States	694,000	139
2	Satar Al-Sadoun	United States	671,000	134
3	Jon Rodack	United States	621,000	124
4	David Hu	Netherlands	556,000	111
5	Jonathan Borenstein	United States	510,000	102
6	James Palmer	United States	501,000	100
7	Dylan Smith	United States	489,000	98
8	Thomas Skaggs	United States	481,000	96
9	Robert Mason	United States	459,000	92
10	Antonio Gonzalez	United States	437,000	87

Casey Wassel (694,000), Satar Al-Sadoun (671,000), Jon Rodack (621,000) were around the top of the leaderboard when Day 1 ended but plenty of notables found a bag at the end of the day. Daniel Negreanu (271,000) was among the survivors after he was eliminated from the WSOP Main Event earlier in the day. Plenty of other professionals including Nacho Barbero (240,000) and Jeff Madsen (252,000) also found bags returning to Day 2.

Other notables who bagged for Day 2 include David "ODB" Baker (361,000), Noah Schwartz (265,000), Kevin MacPhee (220,000), and Dash Dudley (122,000).

Shaun Deeb made a quick cameo in the field, as he still had a seat in the Main Event seat and was just making a quick attempt at running up a stack.

As the bubble approached, eyes were more on the $171,742 grand prize than the value of the bounties, causing the pace of play to slow. Players to fall before the money included controversial player Martin Kabrhel who was an early chip leader but fell shortly after exchanging some words with Negreanu.

Ultimately the bubble burst in the final level of the day and the 183 players remaining were guaranteed to take home $1,501.

Those still in contention will be back in action for Day 2 at 2:00 p.m. local time in the purple section of the Paris ballroom; levels will be 60-minutes from there on out. There will be a 15-minute break every two levels and the dinner is scheduled at the end of level 20, per the late start of Day 1.

The PokerNews live reporting team will be here to grab all of the updates and any exciting highlights throughout the day.

07-07-2023 22:59 UTC-8

Bhimjiyani Send Yu Home With A Royal Flush Over Quads

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Chris Land

Level 11 : Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

Action from a sick hand was relayed to PokerNews by players at the table who had witnessed it all go down.

Action folded to Ben Yu who raised only to see Hitesh Bhimjiyani pot it behind him, putting himself all in.

Yu called off for slightly less to put himself all in and send both players to a runout.

Ben Yu: KxKx9x8x
Hitesh Bhimjiyani: AxQ♦J♦10x

The K♦10♦8x flop kept Yu in the lead with the best hand, but Bhimjiyani had flopped an open-ended straight flush draw with the top end of that draw being the royal flush.

Yu, needing to dodge a lot of outs headed to the turn and river, watched as the A♦ turn completed Bhimjiyani's royal flush and left Yu drawing stone dead.

The river was a twist of the blade when it came the last king in the desk to give Yu an absolutely useless quads as he stood to exit the tournament area.

Player	Chips	Progress
Hitesh Bhimjiyani	62,500 62,500	62,500
Ben Yu	Busted

Tags: Ben Yu Hitesh Bhimjiyani

07-07-2023 22:09 UTC-8

Khair Triples Up

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Dominic Clementson

Level 10 : Blinds 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante

A three-way all in preflop, saw Sultan Khair at risk against a middle position player and David Hu, who covered both opponents.

Sultan Khair: A♦Q♠J♥3♦
Middle Position: Q♦J♦10♦8♥
David Hu: K♦Q♥J♠7♦

The board ran out 4♣3♥6♠4♦9♦. Khair's two pair took the main pot, while Hu's unpaired King was good enough to claim the side pot and the middle position's bounty.

Player	Chips	Progress
David Hu	200,000 200,000	200,000
Sultan Khair	52,000 27,000	27,000

Tags: David Hu Sultan Khair

07-07-2023 22:01 UTC-8

A Kabrhel of a Time; Negreanu Annoyed by His Antics

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Claudio Elizalde

Level 10 : Blinds 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante

Martin Kabrhel was facing a bet for a bit less than the rest of his chips on a board reading, A♦J♦7♣9♣, after making comment that his opponent's sizing was too small, Kabrhel raised for his remaining chips.

HIs opponent quickly tabled: A♣Q♦5♦2♥ and when instructed to show his hand, Kabrhel paced his cards one by one, revealing the A♠, then the K♥, followed by the 10♠, and the 8♦, for an effective slow roll as he had the nut straight and only had to miss diamonds.

The river fell the 6♥ and Kabrhel went on to say, "Everybody happy, nobody busted!".

"Tough table, tough table", he continued, leaning back in his chair to get Daniel Negreanu's attention, who was at the table behind him saying, "Daniel! Please, can we switch sweats?!"

Negreanu came with a quick response of, "What we need to do is get duct tape and wrap it around your entire mouth so you can only breathe through your nose."

Still fueled by confidence, Kabrhel shrugged it off and said, "Okay, we will do that next, you just need to bring the tape..."

Player	Chips	Progress
Martin Kabrhel	50,000 -56,000	-56,000

Tags: Daniel Negreanu Martin Kabrhel

07-07-2023 20:08 UTC-8

Kasputis Takes From Aldridge

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Dominic Clementson

Level 7 : Blinds 400/800, 800 ante

There were four limps in front of Jim Kasputis on the button — and he raised the pot to 5,200. He was called in the hijack, and by Ken Aldridge in the cutoff.

The flop came 8♦3♣10♠. Action was checked to Kasputis, who went all in for 11,200. Aldridge called, and covered.

Jim Kasputis: A♠A♦5♣2♠
Ken Aldridge: A♣Q♦10♥4♦

The rest of the board ran out 2♣ 3♥ and Kasputis doubled up.

Player	Chips	Progress
Jim Kasputis	40,000
Ken Aldridge	15,000 -35,000	-35,000

Tags: Jim Kasputis Ken Aldridge

07-07-2023 17:39 UTC-8

Negreanu Gets a Discount, Makes the Winner

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Chris Land

Level 4 : Blinds 200/400, 400 ante

The player under the gun tossed out a single 1,000 chip and was slow to say "raise." Action folded to Daniel Negreanu in the big blind as the table discussed whether or not the player had said raise before or after the chip hit the felt.

Negreanu said it was fine and called the 1,000, but before the flop, the table seemed to reach a consensus that the raise should be a call because he was a bit late actually announcing it as a raise.

Negreanu got a 600-chip rebate and both players saw the flop come Q♠K♠10♦.

Negreanu checked and his under-the-gun opponent tossed out a bet of 400. Negreanu put in a call to see the turn come the J♠.

Both players checked through to the A♠ river and once more, both players checked through to get to a showdown.

Negreanu said, "Flush" as he turned up the 7♠5♦4♥2♠, causing his opponent to toss his cards in the muck as the dealer sent the pot Negreanu's way.

Player	Chips	Progress
Daniel Negreanu	104,600 104,600	104,600

Tags: Daniel Negreanu

07-07-2023 16:59 UTC-8

Henson Gets Full Double-Up with Nut Straight

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Chris Land

Level 3 : Blinds 200/300, 300 ante

Ray Henson limped from under the gun only to hear the player to his direct left announce "pot" for 1,400. The button called as did Henson to bring out the 3♣4♦A♠ flop.

Henson checked and the early position player potted again for 6,400. The button got out of the way, and Henson put in a call to see the K♣ on the turn.

Action checked through and both players watched the 6♣ fall on the river.

Henson went all in for his remaining chips and his opponent wasted very little time in making the call to show the A♦Q♦Q♠J♠. But his exuberance didn't last long upon discovering that his hand was way behind Henson's 10♥7♦6♠5♠, giving him the nut straight for a double-up.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ray Henson	37,400 37,400	37,400

Tags: Ray Henson

07-07-2023 16:03 UTC-8

More Notables; Seidel and Negreanu Join the Field

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Claudio Elizalde

Level 2 : Blinds 100/200, 200 ante

Perhaps our two Hall of Famers in the field were disappointed that they're no longer playing the Main Event but the series isn't over until it's over and these veterans came to play.

Player	Chips	Progress
Erik Seidel	25,000 25,000	25,000

Jordan Spurlin	25,000 25,000	25,000
Everett Carlton	25,000 25,000	25,000
Shirin Oskooi	25,000 25,000	25,000

07-07-2023 15:58 UTC-8

Kabrhel: "Crazy gambler, yes?"

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Chris Land

Level 2 : Blinds 100/200, 200 ante

Under the gun raised to 400 and the early position player to his left called, as did a player in middle position player and the button, putting action on Martin Kabrhel in the big blind.

Kabrhel asked the dealer, "What can I raise for pot?"

The dealer counted it up, told Kabrhel 2500, which is what he then bet.

Under the gun quickly responded by re-potting for 8,800 which prompted the next player to act to go all in for 14,500 total.

Action folded to Kabrhel who made the call as did the player under the gun. The flop came 9♠6♣2♠.

Kabrhel checked and under the gun went all in for his remaining chips, which Kabrhel called, putting himself at risk of elimination.

Early Position: A♦K♥5♥3♦
Martin Kabrhel: 10♣9♦8♣7♥
Under The Gun: A♥Q♥Q♣J♠

The turn and river ran out 8♠ and J♣ to give Kabrhel the winning straight and his first bounty of the day while leaving the Mr. Under the Gun still alive but with almost no chips early in the day.

As he stacked the ousted player's chips, he looked at his other opponent and asked, "What did he have again?"

After getting the answer, Kabrhel responded with a somewhat sarcastic, "Ah. Crazy gambler, yes?"

Player	Chips	Progress
Martin Kabrhel	64,700 64,700	64,700

Tags: Martin Kabrhel

07-07-2023 15:40 UTC-8

Taylor Controlling Her Table

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Claudio Elizalde

Level 1 : Blinds 100/100, 100 ante

Esther "ETAY" Taylor was seen dragging a massive pot against a player she declared was a "jabroni."

According to Taylor, she had top set and a wrap against his overcards with a nut flush draw. Her set of tens held to secure her a big double.

Shortly after, a player took his seat on Taylor's right when she joked, "We're straddling and double straddling, so if you're not down to do that I suggest you ask the floor for a table change." He was not dissuaded.

Player	Chips	Progress
Esther Taylor	56,000 31,000	31,000

Tags: Esther Taylor