We mentioned earlier that 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion Jonathan Duhamel is seated in the Blue Section of the Amazon Room, but he's not alone. Playing at the two other "secondary feature" tables are 2009 Main Event Champion Joe Cada and 1987 and 1988 Main Event Champion Johnny Chan.
Cada is seated with Dan Kelly, and just moments ago, Nam Le joined the table as well.
In a recent hand, action folded to the player in the cutoff and he raised to 200. Kurt Jewell called from the button, the small blind came along for the ride, and it was three-way action to the flop.
After the small blind checked, the cutoff bet 200 and only Jewell called. The turn saw the cutoff bet a modest 300, which prompted Jewell to raise to 900. The cutoff quickly folded and Jewell collected the small pot.
It wasn't much of a hand, but it gave us a good excuse to let you know that Jewell, who is a star on the World Series of Poker Circuit with four gold rings, is already up to 45,000. Obviously those chips didn't come from the aforementioned hand, so we must surmise that he won a big pot early on.
TexDolly Doyle BrunsonI'm having second thoughts about playing the main event. I'm pretty tired after all this playing but it's such a great event! 3 hours left.July 09 2012
The flop read and Rupert Elder was first to act from the small blind, and he opted to bet out 600. The big blind made the call and Jimmy Fricke folded in late position released.
The on the turn saw another bet from Elder, this time for 1,350. The big blind again barely hesitated and made the call. The dealer then unleashed the on the river, prompting a bet of 3,600 from Elder this time. The big blind measured out the call and paused to ponder a bit, but eventually threw the chips in the middle.
Elder flipped over for the nut flush and the big blind mucked his cards.
Terrence Chan is coming into the World Series of Poker Main Event with nine cashes already on his resume this summer. He is also coming into the day recovering from a concussion cause by his exploits in the mixed martial arts world. This is what he tweeted last night.
tchanpoker Terrence Chanconcussion update: had a much better day, still trouble with focus, bright lights and noises, but good enough to register for 1C tomorrow.July 08 2012
Despite his sore head, Chan looks comfortable at the table as we just watched him rake in a small pot. The action started with the hijack player opening the pot up to 225. The player on the button made the call and so too did Chan in the big blind. On the flop, Chan checked and the hijack bet 375. Both the button and Chan made the call and it was on to the turn. Chan opted to lead here, flicking out a bet of 950. Both his opponents folded and Chan raked in the pot.
Despite managing to ship this small hand early, Chan will have his work cut out for himself today, sitting on the right of Joe Tehan and with Andy Frankenberger a couple of spots to his left.
Juan Manuel Pastor has more than $600,000 in tournament winnings on his resume, making him one of Spain's all-time money earners in poker. He has had a good start here on Day 1c of the World Series of Poker Main Event, managing to take down the following sizable pot.
We caught up with the action with a flop showing, with Pastor in the big blind position, going up against the player on his direct left and the player on the button. Pastor checked here, so too did the player on his left and the button bet 500. Pastor called, while the other player got out of the way.
On the turn, Pastor and his opponent both checked, ushering in the to complete the board on the river. This time Pastor would led for 1,050 and his opponent would quickly raise it up to 2,500. Pastor then re-raised to 6,025 just as quickly and his opponent made the call.
Pastor:
Opponent:
Pastor hit the straight on the river, while his opponent's turned set would go straight into the muck as Pastor scooped up the pot.
We had a short chat with Chan after the hand to see how he's doing. "I feel ok, but I'm having trouble focusing," Chan said.
"I'm really not following all the action too carefully on every hand," Chan continued. "I don't have any serious headaches. I think I'll be able to make it through the day alright."
Chan was a little hard to spot today, he's wearing a ball cap and headphones.