On a board of , small blind Talal Shakerchi had set Daniel Strelitz, on the button, all in for about 50,000 with around 40,000 already in the pot. Strelitz called after thinking awhile but his was smashed by . The river was a and Strelitz headed for the doors.
With more than 300 qualifiers for the $25,000 PokerStars NL Hold'em Players Championship, PokerStars set the bar pretty high already and many poker players were betting on the over and under in terms of total numbers. One magical number often mentioned in said bets was likely the 1,000 and all those that put their faith in a four-digit field size have just been given the official confirmation by PokerStars' Toby Stone.
Midway through the sixth level, the screens show a total of 1,002 entries of which 880 remain and the registration remains open until the start of Day 2.
Dillon Ott raised to 1,300 from mid-position and Ari Engel three-bet to 4,800 in the small blind. The big blind folded for the action to be back on Ott. Ott considered his options and then four-bet to 11,100. Engel glanced at Ott and announced he was all-in, having Ott covered, Ott snap-called for the 29,300 he had behind.
Dillon Ott:
Ari Engel:
The board ran out for Ott's pocket aces to hold to double him up back to starting stack.
The cards were all but rushed away and Pierre Calamusa was spotted dragging in a big pot, having busted an opponent. Calamusa was king enough to provide the details and the Frenchman explained that he was on the better end of an aces versus kings setup.
Calamusa three-bet out of the small blind to 7,000 and fired three barrels on a board of with two diamonds. Upon all in and showdown on the river, the aces of Calamusa prevailed and he jumped up on the leaderboard.
Jean-Noel Thorel, Rainer Kempe and Erik Seidel, among others, have been eliminated in the meanwhile.
Dario Sammartino and Manuel Ruivo got in a raising war in the blinds, with Sammartino having 7,500 in front of him and facing 17,500 from big blind Ruivo. Sammartino came back with 30,000 and Ruivo called. The flop came and Sammartino bet 16,000. Ruivo called. The turn was an and Sammartino shoved all in.
Ruivo got the count, which was 43,800, and called fairly quickly.
Sammartino opened and Ruivo was dead with , hitting a worthless boat on the river.
There's no dinner break today; there are just these 20-minute breaks after every two levels. If you don't need to use the bathroom and already had something to eat, these breaks consist mainly of talking to your friends while waiting for play to resume. Maybe share a bad beat or two if you can find someone to hear you out.
We wandered around in the last break trying to get some quotes from players still in and offering a listening ear to those looking to share their misfortune.
Randy Lew
Lew won a lottery-style promotion this morning, essentially getting a freeroll in a tournament he was already planning on playing: "I feel pretty good about it! I was super excited! I was in the room, and someone said 'you won the pass!' That's such random news. I got the call that I won it, and I was super excited. Pretty sick!"
The reaction on Twitter was one that one might expect: some said it was rigged! "It's not rigged; they actually had a video of them doing it," Lew said with a big smile. "Someone has to win the lottery, right? It can be me! It's possible!"
Lew is excited about the tournament: "This is an amazing event. The number is already at 918. I didn't expect it to be so big. I thought maybe 650. That's an amazing number already. Whether I'm sponsored or not, I would still play this event. It's going to be the biggest event of the year. It's nice to start of the year that way. I'm excited to see all these new faces. It's very good for the game, and it's very exciting."
Asked about the field with as many amateurs as there are seasoned pros, Lew said he thought the field was pretty good. "Of course there are a lot of tables that are pretty tough too, but it's a $25,000. Even some of the regs that are playing don't normally play this high. So that might make them a bit more uncomfortable too. It's a good event for sure, and you just need to play your best and not worry about the stakes as much as you can."
Randy Lew
David Peters
David Peters was one of the first ones to win a Platinum Pass, right here at the PCA a year ago. Peters was all smiled when we stuck our dictaphone under his nose: "It's great! This tournament is amazing!"
Peters had a pass to get the buy-in for free, something he kind of had forgotten about: "I actually went to buy in for the tournament and almost paid forgetting I was registered. I was like 'Oh yeah!' It's pretty cool to have it paid for."
Peters praises the tournament, not holding back in his wording: "This is probably the best tournament of all time. There's a nice mix; a lot of amateurs a lot of pros. It's a very amazing tournament. So many different kind of players. It's gonna be a lot of fun!"
David Peters
Steffen Sontheimer
Another high roller regular, Steffen Sontheimer had just as big a smile on his face. But, it would turn out, that was more of a charade. When asked if things were going well because he had such a happy expression, he said "Really? No not at all. I just lost 2.5 hours every single hand. But I like it if you don't feel that."
Sontheimer had an interesting comparison for this event: "It's just like a Main Event; just a bit bigger buy-in but the field is the same. It will be interesting to see when the payouts are announced because then everyone feels like 'Oh, it's five times a main event!'
Steffen Sontheimer
Celina Lin
Before the event, it was clear this event was going to be big. But how big? Celina Lin was amazed the tournament clock indicated nearly a 1,000 people had registered by the time the second break came around: "Amazing! I think it's a crazy turnout. I heard some guys on the plane going 1,500. I know that's a long stretch but I actually think 1,000 is such an amazing number. There's so many players that came out. Even from Asia. At least 15 players came out for it; that's a long way to travel."
Every player is looking for less experienced players. In tournaments with a buy-in of $25,000, those are usually hard to come by. In the PSPC, they are not as rare a sight. "I think there's a nice mix of players out there. If you have 2 or 3 value players at the table, that's good. But for a $25k, that's amazing! Usually, when you play a $25k, you get zero."
Lin already had a tough spot early on, facing off against Katie Lindsay. "The one hand that gave me a lot of trouble was against another girl. I flopped a set, and all the cameras were on me. I actually folded the river! She check-raised me all-in."
In any other event, Lin might have been inclined to call, she said: "If this was a $1k event or $2k, I probably call. But this is a $25k! I spent some time breaking down the hand very thoroughly and I came to the conclusion that I was beat. Just let it go. I actually got redemption for it two hands later; I had aces versus her ace-king to double up. I'm back to starting stack so I'm very happy to be still in. The structure is really really good, there's so much play!"
On a completed board of , Lucas Denis made it 7,000 to go and Mikita Badziakouski raised to 19,000. Denis have it some consideration and tossed in calling chips, which prompted Badziakouski to ask if he could beat ace-queen.
Denis showed no reaction and mucked his cards as soon as Badziakouski tabled for aces and queens.
, small blind Talal Shakerchi had set Daniel Strelitz, on the button, all in for about 50,000 with around 40,000 already in the pot. Strelitz called after thinking awhile but his 
was smashed by 
. The river was a 
and Strelitz headed for the doors.
for Ott's pocket aces to hold to double him up back to starting stack.
and Sammartino shoved all in. 
and Ruivo was dead with 
, hitting a worthless boat on the 
