In less than an hour, one of the most exciting and action-packed tournaments of the 2013 World Series of Poker will begin—Event #22 $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha. Players will begin with a 1,500 stack with two rebuy lammers worth 1,500 each. Players can cash them in at any time between hands up through the fourth level. At that point, the lammers will be automatically cashed. Who will cash theirs in straight away and who will use them strategically? Only time will tell.
Last year this very event attracted 970 runners that created a prize pool of $1,309,500. After three long days of play, it was the Dutchman Vincent Van Der Fluit that walked away with the gold bracelet (his first) and the $265,211 first-place prize. It was an impressive victory, especially when you consider the players he had to overcome at the final table like Calvin Anderson (8th - $24,186), Alex Dovzhenko (5th - $55,025), Tristan Wade (3rd - $102,690) and Charles Tonne (2nd - $164,132).
Likewise, other past winners of this event include Elie Payan, who won $292,825 by topping a field of 1,071 in 2011; former Main Event finalist Tex Barch, who took down the title and $256,919 top prize by winning 2010’s 885-player strong field; and of course Jason Mercier, who won the first of his two bracelets in this very event back in 2009 when he topped 809 players to win $237,462.
Pot-limit Omaha, otherwise known as PLO, is certainly a game of high variance, but as evidenced by the list of past winners, it’s also one where skill can help propel you to the top. Cards will be in the air at 12:00 PST, so stay tuned from all the PLO action and eliminations from the floor of the Pavilion here at the Rio All-Suite Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada!
We saw longtime pro Huck Seed call a bet of 500 with the flop reading , perhaps floating the draw heavy board in hopes of taking the pot down if the board bricked out.
When the came on the turn, both players tapped the table, and the fell on the river.
Sure enough, with no fifth diamond arrving on board, and his hesitant opponent checking once again, Seed fired out a bet of 500 and took the pot down with ease.
For those new to the game of Omaha, or those who might need a refresher, here's a tutorial of the game courtesy of PokerNews' Rules Section.
The one glaring difference between Omaha poker and Texas hold'em is that players receive four hole cards in Omaha rather than two. In order to produce a winning hand, a player must you use two cards from his hand, but can only use two cards. Like Texas hold'em, Omaha is a game of community cards with a flop, turn and river, and the betting rounds play the same.
Omaha high is a fast-action poker variation and is one of the favorite poker variations for high-stakes players. Due to the wider range of hands that can be made in Omaha as opposed to Texas hold'em, players of Omaha tend to look to make the nuts much more often than not. Other hands are much more susceptible to losing.
In Texas hold'em, a hand that has made the second, third or fourth nuts is often a very powerful holding, nut in Omaha there is a greater chance your hand is no good and you must proceed with extended caution. Let's take a look of an example of this.
The hero has on a board of . Although this is the second best hand with a jack-high straight, any combination of in your opponent's hand would complete a higher, king-high straight and defeat you. Given that a single opponent holds four cards in Omaha as opposed to two in Texas hold'em, the probability is higher than the villain has the nut straight.
Another example would be holding the on a board of . Yes, you have a set of nines, which would be a pretty holding in Texas hold'em, but there are several hands that could defeat you here and in Omaha, it's much more likely one of your opponents is holding such a hand. First of all, there are two sets higher than yours with a set of kings or a set of queens available. Then, there is a straight possible if a player holds . Furthermore, any two diamonds in an opponent's hand would make a flush.
Due to the nature of so many better hands, an opponent may just be calling your bets with a set of kings or queens as they may fear a straight or flush, so even if you are not facing any immediate aggression, you could still be beat so proceed with caution.
Daniel Negreanu Warily Eyeing Carlos Mortensen Across the Table
Every WSOP tournament with hundreds of tables in play invariably produces a pairing of poker pros who are extremely familiar with one another's game, and today at Table #81 Red, Daniel Negreanu and Carlos Mortensen are competing to become the table captain.
The man known as the Matador took the early lead in that regard, winning a decent pot and absorbing some of Negreanu's stack in the process.
After Negreanu opened for 100 from under the gun, Mortensen three-bet to 450, getting two callers in addition to Kid Poker.
On the flop of , Negreanu checked to the raiser, and Mortensen obliged with a c-bet for 850. This was good enough to force folds from his three opponents, and minutes after taking his seat the 2001 WSOP Main Event Champion has started to build his stack.
Jonathan Duhamel is Down to a Single Bullet Here on Day 1
We saw 2010 WSOP Main Event Champion Jonathan Duhamel lose an all-in confrontation holding , showing that aces in Omaha are not the powerhouse they are in Hold'em.
With a flop of spread neatly across the felt, Duhamel led out for 1,000, and his opponent quickly dumped a big stack of chips into the pot, setting Duhamel all-in if he wished to call.
Call he did, and facing the of his opponent, Duhamel was fading diamonds and fours.
Turn:
This card gave Duhamel's opponent a slew of additional outs with an open-ended straight draw, and the arrived on the river to complete his flush.
Duhamel's second starting stack was shipped across the table, and he now sits with his last 1,500 chip bullet.
David "Bakes" Baker (Seen Here at the Final Table of Event #17) Has His Eyes Set on Yet Another Trip to the Mothership
Fresh off of his latest WSOP final table appearance in Event #17 ($1,500 No-Limit Hold'em), which made three final tables in as many tournaments, online legend David "Bakes" Baker is running good once again.
Shortly after taking his seat here in the Brasilia Room, the man they call Bakes has quickly built his chip stack in what has become a familiar pattern here at the 2013 WSOP.
Baker is currently sitting with more than double the starting stack, and if his past two weeks are any indication, his name is sure to be listed among our chip leaders as this Day 1 progresses.
Jonathan Duhamel Just Dusted Fellow Main Event Champion Greg Raymer
In a momentous confrontation between two former WSOP Main Event Champions, it was Jonathan Duhamel (2010) who prevailed over Greg Raymer (2004).
We saw Raymer with a bet of 350 in front of him, another caller in between, and Duhamel having raised the pot. Fossilman asked for a count of the Canadian pro's chips, and after assessing the situation he elected to make the call.
"If you have aces you're good sir," Raymer told Duhamel, while exposing his .
Duhamel said nothing in reply, revealing his in stoic silence.
Raymer confirmed that the kings were in the lead, saying "those will work too I suppose," before watching the flop fall .
"Deuce!" was Raymer's refrain, as he hoped to spike another to make trips and catch up, but the turn and river came and respectively, leaving Raymer with little more than a big blind to work with.
Raymer would bust out just a few hands later, and as he departed the tournament floor, we noticed that 2009 Main Event winner Joe Cada had also been eliminated, leaving our field with two less stars.
Phil Hellmuth (Seen Here in Earlier WSOP Play) Has Finally Arrived
Upholding his tradition of arriving to WSOP events at the last possible moment, Phil Hellmuth has just taken his seat to begin Day 1 with four levels of play already in the books.
While other players have already moved their stacks into the five-figure realm, Hellmuth has the original 4,500 starting stack to work with, which is good for 22.5 big blinds at the moment.
Although this strategy of forgoing a tournament's early stages is debatable, what is beyond dispute is Hellmuth's dominance over WSOP competition, and with a record-setting 13 gold bracelets to his credit already, nobody can question the "Poker Brat" and his remarkable ability to run a stack up in a hurry.
Joe Hachem (Seen Here in Earlier WSOP Play) is Still Here As Day 1 Rolls On
With his back to the Brasilia Room's Bronze section, which is currently being broken down as players are eliminated from the field, 2005 WSOP Main Event Champion Joe Hachem was unable to see the Pot-Limit Omaha carnage unfolding behind him.
When Hachem finally noticed that all of the tables behind him were empty, he expressed disbelief that ten tables, and a hundred players, could have been broken in just four levels.
"There's no way we're going that fast, is there?" he asked his tablemates, still shocked that the field of nearly 1,000 runners had already been halved halfway through the first day of play.
For a player like Hachem, who is so accustomed to holding stacks of chips throughout most tournaments he enters, perhaps the thought of being felted so fast is foreign to him. With a healthy stack of 12,500 at the moment, Hachem does not appear to be in any danger of an early exit, although he may want to check with his brother Anthony Hachem, who was among the waves of players to be eliminated during the first level of play.
Eric Froehlich (Seen Here in Earlier WSOP Competition) Has Been Eliminated Midway Through Day 1 Play
We caught up with Eric "E-Fro" Froehlich, a two-time WSOP bracelet winner who made his bones playing the fantasy card game Magic the Gathering, and despite surviving his all-in encounter, Froehlich was frowning throughout the hand.
With the flop reading , Froehlich's last chips were already in the pot, but both his opponent and the dealer seemed to have trouble calculating the amount of a bet designed to isolate the all-in player.
"It's 4,850," Froehlich said flatly, over the protestations of the dealer who believed the amount was less. "Forty-eight fifty."
"I have no pair," his opponent announced excitedly during the subsequent showdown, apparently relishing this moment of pure gamble as he revealed the for a gutshot straight draw.
"I do," was Froehlich's response as he rolled over the for middle pair and the same gutterball draw.
With his king and queen outs voided by Froehlich's hand, the opponent was left to hope for a hit, and he anxiously called out "Jack!" while dealer burned and turned.
Turn:
With that, both players made identical Broadway straights, and the on the river didn't change a thing.
With his face now a perma-frown, Froehlich watched as the dealer almost shipped the pot to his opponent, perhaps convinced by his successful call for a jack that the chips were his to take. Another player spotted the error, however, and after all of the theatrics, both players returned to the same stacks they started the hand with.
Unfortunately for E-Fro, the lack of a double in this key spot likely doomed his chances, and he was eliminated from contention shortly thereafter.
, perhaps floating the draw heavy board in hopes of taking the pot down if the board bricked out.
came on the turn, both players tapped the table, and the 
fell on the river.
on a board of 
in your opponent's hand would complete a higher, king-high straight and defeat you. Given that a single opponent holds four cards in Omaha as opposed to two in Texas hold'em, the probability is higher than the villain has the nut straight.
. Yes, you have a set of nines, which would be a pretty holding in Texas hold'em, but there are several hands that could defeat you here and in Omaha, it's much more likely one of your opponents is holding such a hand. First of all, there are two sets higher than yours with a set of kings or a set of queens available. Then, there is a straight possible if a player holds . Furthermore, any two diamonds in an opponent's hand would make a flush.
spread neatly across the felt, Duhamel led out for 1,000, and his opponent quickly dumped a big stack of chips into the pot, setting Duhamel all-in if he wished to call.
arrived on the river to complete his flush.
.
.
respectively, leaving Raymer with little more than a big blind to work with.
on the river didn't change a thing.
