We just spotted "Miami" John Cernuto in the Brasilia Room. With 3 bracelets to his name and one cash already in this series (Event #8 $2,500 Eight Game Mix), Cernuto has his eye on adding to his jewelry collection. He is considered "old school" in the poker world but he has no problem hanging with the best of the best. We will see if his best is good enough today,
We caught up with former November Niner Dennis Phillips, who finished second in this event last year, as he was still reeling from a bad cooler.
According to Phillips, he raised preflop, and Mitch Garshofsky called. The flop was . Phillips bet out 200, and Garshofsky raised to 500. Phillips called, and the turn brought another . The players ended up getting all their chips in the middle on the river. Phillips held for a flopped middle set which became a full house on the turn. Garshofsky, though, held for a flopped bottom set which grew into quads on the turn.
Fortunately for Phillips, he had Garshofsky outchipped at the beginning of the hand, and he still has 2,000. Garshofsky, after doubling up, sits with 7,000. Phillips, despite the raw deal, was still in good humor at the table and was looking to start building his stack again.
Mark "Pegasus" Smith, Winner of Five WSOP Circuit Rings, is Playing Today's Seniors Championship
The WSOP Circuit has become a proving ground for many of poker's most accomplished tournament players, providing a steady stream of low buy-in events for grinders to hone their skills, and Mark "Pegasus" Smith has earned his reputation as one of the Circuit's shining stars.
Earlier today we overheard someone saying that since the blinds go up so slowly, they could sit and play all day. Not everyone is taking that approach though, as Jim Blechan nearly tripled up when he and two others were all in on the . Blechan held for two pair against and . The did not help either of his opponents and one was eliminated and the other was left short stacked.
Every tournament offers an endless stream of memorable quotes, with players celebrating miraculous suckouts, bemoaning their bad fate, and conversing with people they would never encounter away from the table. Susie Isaacs, who won two WSOP gold bracelets in the Women's Seven Card-Stud event (1996 & 1997), recently overheard something you might only hear at the Seniors Championship.
Despite this humorous tweet, Isaacs doesn't seem to be in the mood for smiles at the moment, as her chip stack has been halved to just over 1,500 early on the first day of play.
The Pavilion Room is mostly used for cash games, satellites and Deep Stack Tournaments, today, however, there are only a handful of tables not used by The Senior's Championship as we have shattered last year's attendance record. There are currently 4,369 entrants and registration is open for another two hours. Here are some more players we found as we walked through the massive Pavilion Room.
With Doyle Brunson electing to forgo tournament play during the 2013 World Series of Poker, things here at the Rio just haven't felt the same, but the legend known as Texas Dolly recently made it clear that he wouldn't be playing in Seniors Championship even if he was in the building.
After making a preflop raise and receiving one caller, Robert Varkonyi checked in the dark, putting the action on his opponent before seeing the flop.
The dealer spread the across the felt, and Varkonyi's opponent happily checked back to take the free card. The and completed the board on the turn and river respectively, and when the hands were tabled Varkonyi's was second best to .
By checking dark, Varkonyi allowed his opponent to catch up on the turn, but the former Main Event champion did not appear to be fazed as he conversed with friends on the rail.
. Phillips bet out 200, and Garshofsky raised to 500. Phillips called, and the turn brought another 
. Blechan held 
for two pair against 
and 
. The
did not help either of his opponents and one was eliminated and the other was left short stacked.
across the felt, and Varkonyi's opponent happily checked back to take the free card. The 
and 
completed the board on the turn and river respectively, and when the hands were tabled Varkonyi's 
was second best to 
.
