Day 1 of the 2014 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $100,000 Super High Roller has come to a close. After eight one-hour levels of play, the field has been cut down to 37 with European Poker Tour London £50,000 Super High Roller champion Martin Finger leading the way. He bagged up an impressive 829,000 in chips, but there's still a long way to go before this one is all said and done.
On Day 1, there were 52 total entries generated from 45 unique players, but that number could see an increase as registration and reentry are both open until the start of play tomorrow. That is also when the prize pool and payout information will become available.
Only a couple names busted on Day 1 that opted not to reenter, but still have the option to do so. Those were reigning World Series of Poker Main Event champion Ryan Riess, Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, John Juanda, Steven Silverman, and Mike Watson.
Daniel Negreanu busted, reentered, and then busted again, but he did mention that he would likely return for a third try on Day 2. Guy Laliberté also busted twice during Day 1, but reentered for the second time right at the end of Day 1 to continue his quest towards the finish line.
Some of the notables surviving Day 1 were Jason Mercier, Vanessa Selbst, Joseph Cheong, Matt Glantz, Philipp Gruissem, Isaac Haxton, Jason Koon, Max Altergott, and Ole Schemion. Defending champion Scott Seiver also remains, and he'll be aiming the achieve the outstanding back-to-back feat.
Day 2 will have the cards in the air at 12 p.m. local time tomorrow at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas. You can be sure to catch all of the live updates right here on PokerNews, so stay tuned!
Steve O'Dwyer raised to 13,500 from middle position, then Guy Laliberté reraised all in for about 95,000 from the hijack seat. Timothy Adams called all in for 85,000 out of the big blind, and O'Dwyer folded.
Laliberté tabled the , but was behind the that Adams held.
The board ran out in favor of Adams when it came , and he earned the double up.
Laliberté was left with 9,000, and then had 8,500 after posting his ante for the next hand. He moved all in from middle position without looking, then Noah Schwartz raised behind him to 20,000 to isolate. Everyone folded, leaving Laliberté at risk with the against Schwartz's .
The board came , and Laliberté was eliminated.
Análise de Mãos
This hand provides an occasion to review a concept first introduced by David Sklansky to talk about the difference in strength between hands one raises with and hands one calls a raise with, namely, the "gap concept." Read more about how the hand reminds us of this idea at Learn.PokerNews in "Lessons from the 2014 PCA: Mind the Gap."
On the final board of , Daniel Colman moved all in against Negreanu. After tanking for a bit of time, Negreanu looked to the tournament clock, saw that there was about 40 minutes left in the day, and said, "This might be one of those special rebuy moments."
After another minute or two, Negreanu stuck his chips in to make the call. Colman tabled the , and Negreanu couldn't beat it. Colman was all in for 121,500, and Negreanu had exactly 121,500 left in his stack. Negreanu mucked his hand and was off to the ail, although he did say he would likely be back for tomorrow's Day 2.
Over 250,000 was already in the middle by the time Jason Koon and Scott Seiver reached the turn. Seiver checked with the board reading , and Koon tossed forward five green T25,000 chips, betting 125,000.
Seiver considered the bet for a few minutes, then tossed in a handful of his own green chips.
The completed the board, Seiver checked once again, and Koon reached for a tower of blue T5,000 chips. He added a single green chip on top, and slid forward 125,000.
This time, Seiver tanked for ages. Well over 10 minutes. The American shifted in his chair over a dozen times, talking to himself and his neighbor, Koon. He eventually apologized, and then a few minutes later he tossed his cards into the muck.
We're not sure if the money went in preflop or on the flop, but when we arrived at the table, Antonio Esfandiari was all in and at risk for around 120,000 with . Dan Shak had him at risk with , and Esfandiari was in great shape to double on a board of .
The spiked on the river, however, and Shak recorded the KO with a set of queens.
Antonio Esfandiari popped it to 5,300 from under the gun, Jason Koon three-bet to 18,600 out of the small blind, and the Magician four-bet to 42,100. Koon called.
The dealer spread , Koon check-called a bet of 33,300, and the turn brought a third heart - the . Koon checked, Esfandiari announced all in, and Koon snapped off the 116,800-chip wager.
Esfandiari:
Koon:
Esfandiari was drawing to the case ace or one of the two remaining eights in the deck, but neither came as the completed the board. Koon doubled to 390,000 chips, while Esfandiari fell to 115,000.
Find out what a hungry Daniel Negreanu’s got planned for 2014, and his thoughts on becoming poker’s best player of the decade in his latest chat with the PokerStars Blog.
With around 200,000 in the middle, and the board completed , Guy Laliberté fired out 95,000.
Philipp Gruissem, his opponent, let out a very long sigh. The German eventually called, and the French Canadian turned over for a pair of aces with a ten kicker. Gruissem tabled for two pair, aces and jacks, and was shipped the pot.
Mike Watson checked to reigning Global Poker Index Player of the Year Ole Schemion on the flop. Schemion fired a bet of 12,000, and Watson made the call.
The turn paired the board with the , and both players checked to see the put a fourth club on the board on the river. Watson checked, and Schemion fired a bet of 31,000 with approximately 275,000 in chips behind. Watson took a few moments, then check-raised to 111,000. This sent Schemion into the tank, and tank he did for several long minutes.
"I should've went to the bathroom when he raised," whispered Fabian Quoss to our reporter from the table.
Another minute or two passed after Quoss' comment, then Schemion made the call. Watson tabled two red kings — the — for a full house, and Schemion mucked his hand.