Patrick Serda, who last month finished runner-up in the EPT Prague €10,000 High Roller, raised to 1,200 under the gun only to have Georgios Vrakas three-bet to 3,100 from the button. The blinds both folded, Serda called, and the flop came out .
Serda check-called a bet of 3,500 and then check-called one of 6,700 on the turn. When the completed the board on the river, Serda opted to lead out with a hefty bet of 24,500. That sent Vrakas into the tank for a couple of minutes, and he ultimately conceded the hand.
Damian Salas opened to 1,300 from mid position preflop, only to be raised to 5,000 by Spanish pro Adrian Mateos. Salas alone made the call and the pair saw a flop of . Mateos continued for 5,000 and Salas called to a turn of , whereupon both men checked.
On the river of , however, Adrian Mateos made it 15,000 and Salas went into the tank. The bet would const him roughly half of his chips to call, but eventually he did so and was shown Mateos's hand of . That was good enough to see Mateos stack up an above-average pile of chips, but Salas has seen his hopes severely dented.
Ben Heath got the better of Daniel Negreanu early on, but the PokerStars Team Pro won the latest battle between the pair.
What had been a small ball pot suddenly began snowballing at the table where Ben Heath and Daniel Negreanu sit next to each other, and it was between the popular pair that the action took place.
We joined the action with just 1,900 in the pot and a flop of on display. Heath bet 750, and was raised to 1,500 by the PokerStars Team Pro. Heath re-raised to 4,400, and Negreanu called.
The turn card was the , which both men checked, but on the river of , Heath fired out a bet of 3,800. Negreanu called it, and Heath showed . That bottom pair wasn't good enough, however, as Negreanu had flopped trips with . They swap positions in the chip counts.
Mike Watson, who last year won the PCA Main Event, raised to 1,500 from middle position and was met by an al-in three-bet to 15,325 from Andrew Chen in the hijack. Action folded back to Watson and he put in more than half his stack to call.
Watson:
Chen:
It was a flip, but Chen took a hammerlock on the hand when the flop delivered him a set. The turn left Watson drawing dead, and just to rub salt in the wound the dealer put out the on the river to give Chen quads.
Tom Lutz raised to 1,500 from the hijack and Chance Kornuth three-bet to 4,100 from the cutoff. Action folded back to Lutz, and he called to see the flop, which came down .
Lutz checked, Kornuth bet what looked to be 5,000, and Lutz check-raised to 10,000. Kornuth called, the turn peeled off the , and Lutz checked. Kornuth moved all in for 22,625 and Lutz snap-called.
Lutz:
Kornuth:
Kornuth opted to go with his open-ended straight draw, and he needed to hit it on the river without a club appearing to stay alive. That didn't happen though as the improved Lutz to a flush.
Here are the top ten chipcounts at the break, with Bryn Kenney going for a third High Roller title here at the PokerStars Championship Bahamas. He's well placed in the top ten, but it is Timothy Adams (pictured) who leads the field going into the third break.
Players have sent on another 20-minute break. When they return, they will play two more levels then take an 80-minute dinner break. After they return from that, they'll play out the two final levels of Day 1.
Just before the break, Jonathan Jaffe raised to 1,500 under the gun and Kevin Eyster called from the hijack. Connor Drinan then three-bet to 5,600 from the cutoff, and right behind him Isaac Haxton four-bet to 13,600 from the button.
Both blinds folded, and Jaffe thought for a bit before announcing himself all in for 40,000 even. Both Eyster and Drinan folded, and Haxton snap-called.
Haxton:
Jaffe:
Jaffe was in trouble, though he did manage to pick up a gutshot on the flop. The turn meant a nine would also win it for him, but it was the on the river that would save him. Haxton was left with less than 5,000 after the hand.
.
turn. When the 
completed the board on the river, Serda opted to lead out with a hefty bet of 24,500. That sent Vrakas into the tank for a couple of minutes, and he ultimately conceded the hand.
. Mateos continued for 5,000 and Salas called to a turn of 
, whereupon both men checked. 
, however, Adrian Mateos made it 15,000 and Salas went into the tank. The bet would const him roughly half of his chips to call, but eventually he did so and was shown Mateos's hand of 
. That was good enough to see Mateos stack up an above-average pile of chips, but Salas has seen his hopes severely dented.
on display. Heath bet 750, and was raised to 1,500 by the PokerStars Team Pro. Heath re-raised to 4,400, and Negreanu called. 
, which both men checked, but on the river of 
, Heath fired out a bet of 3,800. Negreanu called it, and Heath showed 
. They swap positions in the chip counts.
flop delivered him a set. The 
turn left Watson drawing dead, and just to rub salt in the wound the dealer put out the 
on the river to give Chen quads.
improved Lutz to a flush.
flop. The 
