After his earlier skirmish with a rogue dealer, Bryan "Devo" Devonshire was hoping to direct his frustration productively in the pusuit of chips, but so far he has been unable to gain any traction.
In a recent hand, Devonshire fired two barrels on the flop and turn, but a reraise forced him to abort the mission.
With the flop showing , and Devo holding the button, the experienced pro responded to his opponent's check with a bet of 600, and the player called out of the small blind. When the hit the board, the player checked again, and Devo fired out again for 1,200. When his opponent tossed out a stack of yellow T1000 tournament chips, however, Devonshire quickly tossed his cards to the dealer.
With two levels at the lowest blinds now in the books, many of the game's stars are taking their seats for the first time, including a pair of former WSOP Main Event Champions.
Greg Raymer (2004) and Joe Hachem (2005), who shot to poker stardom by taking down the game's biggest prize, are both in the field as of a few minutes ago, and with 2009 champ Joe Cada sitting near the PokerNewsLive Reporting station as well, this $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em event promises to provide a high-level of play throughout.
Last year, Bulgaria's Nick Jivkov took down Event #5 $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em for $189,818 and his first bracelet. SInce then Jivkov has added three World Series of Poker Circuit rings to his résumé, and if all goes according to plan, he'll make a run at his second pot-limit title here today, though this one would obviously be in Omaha.
We caught up with Jivkov in a recent hand when an early-position player opened for 125 and Jivkov called from the small blind. The big came along too and it was three-way action to the flop. Two checks saw the early-position player continue for 300, only Jivkov called and the turned. Both players ended up checking and the completed the board on the river. Jivkov took the opportunity to lead out for 800 and the early-position player snap-call. Jivkov tabled the for trips and it was good as the early-position player sent his hand to the muck.
Even though he won that hand, Jivkov is down below the starting stack with 3,300.
We passed by Matt Affleck's table recently, and the young poker pro was clad in a Seattle Seahawks jersey and a Mariners baseball cap, his typical attire for WSOP events.
Best known for his impressive accomplishment of making extremely deep runs in consecutive WSOP Main Events, (2009 & 2010), Affleck is looking to secure his second cash of the summer, after placing 66th in Event #18 ($1,000 No-Limit Hold'em).
When we last saw Affleck, he appeared to be in good spirits, grooving to the mellow tunes of Michael Jackson's classic Man in the Mirror. Affleck displayed a surprising level of natural rhythm while vibing out, and he will need to stay in rhythm here today if he hopes to dodge the drawouts so common in Pot-Limit Omaha.
We discovered some familiar faces on our latest pass through the tournament area. Here are some players that escape our attention the first time round.
, and Devo holding the button, the experienced pro responded to his opponent's check with a bet of 600, and the player called out of the small blind. When the 
hit the board, the player checked again, and Devo fired out again for 1,200. When his opponent tossed out a stack of yellow T1000 tournament chips, however, Devonshire quickly tossed his cards to the dealer.
flop. Two checks saw the early-position player continue for 300, only Jivkov called and the 
turned. Both players ended up checking and the 
completed the board on the river. Jivkov took the opportunity to lead out for 800 and the early-position player snap-call. Jivkov tabled the 
for trips and it was good as the early-position player sent his hand to the muck.
