2013 World Series of Poker

It was a wild ride here in Event #52: $25,000 No-Limit Hold'em (Six Handed) for one of the biggest buy-in events of the summer. At the end of the night it was Max Lehmanski who locked up the most chips (406,000). Action started slow and steady here with only a few players dropping off here and there, but ironically enough, one of the first bust outs of the day, possibly the first, was that of Greg Merson, the champion of this event last year. Merson tried to run a huge bluff on Don Nguyen, but Nguyen snapped him off with two pair and Merson was eliminated very early into Day 1.

There were 175 players who began the day, but at the end of it only 101 remained. Notables fell off the map one by one such as Daniel Negreanu, Matt Stout, Jennifer Tilly, Matt Marafioti, Isaac Haxton, Chris Moorman, Phil Ivey, and Jonathan Duhamel. But for every notable who fell there were plenty still left alive. One could be found at every table of the tournament. Some who will return tomorrow include Jason Mercier, Christian Harder, Max Steinberg, Yevgeniy Timoshenko, Dan Kelly, Matt Salsberg, and many more.

The man who locked up the chip lead tonight was Max Lehmanski. Lehmanski grabbed the lead when he won a huge three-way pot against Brandon Cantu and one other player. Cantu had flopped top two pair, another player flopped top and bottom pair, and Lehmanski held a flush draw that he binked to take all the money. Lehmanski never let go of his chip lead and he will ride his 406,000 chips into tomorrow.

Hot on Lehmanski's tail is Phil Galfond, who took down a huge pot at the end of the night courtesy of Masa Kagawa. Kagawa shoved all in on the river and after a long while in the tank, Galfond called. Kagawa had a pair of sevens the never improved on the flop, turn, or river, while Galfond had two pair. Kagawa's chips vaulted Galfond up to the top of the chip counts, but he still has a ways to go to catch Lehmanski.

The remaining 101 players will be back tomorrow at 2 p.m. local time and they will play 10 levels or down to a final table. PokerNews.com will be here with all the action so make sure to stay tuned as we follow the road to crown our next World Series of Poker Champion

The ladies bring you their favorite winning moments and best videos from the last week at the Rio.

On a board of Phil Galfond and Masa Kagawa were involved in a big pot. With roughly 50,000 already in the middle, Masa Kagawa open shoved all in for 81,600.

Galfond went into the tank for a long time, and thought about it for roughly 5 minutes. By the time Galfond made a decision, several tables had already started bagging their chips.

Eventually, Galfond pushed out the chips for a call, and it ended up being the right one.

Kagawa turned over which was fifth pair on the board. Galfond showed his and that was good enough to take down the pot and to lock up a top five stack here at the end of the night in Event #52.

The players remaining in today's field, will play four more hands, before the end of play.

Marvin Rettenmaier is the most recent player to move to over 300,000 in chips, after he and Mike Telker committed all their chips in pre-flop, after a betting war.

Rettenmaier tabled , much to the disappointment of Telker, who showed his , before stepping up from his chair, and leaving immediately, as the board ran out .

After a night of high tensions here in Event #52, Daniel Negreanu has busted. While we didn't see the hand, Negreanu was short stacked after several confrontations on the felt at his table. He stuck around for a few hands, but didn't last much longer than that with his short stack.

Here's what he tweeted about the tournament:

Daniel Negreanu @RealKidPoker

@dnchips ran bad the last hour and busted just before the end of the night. Best tourney of the year after a day off tomorrow. $50k 8gameJune 29 2013

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Brandon Cantu was recently eliminated from the tournament, after he committed all his chips, with Max Lehmanski and another player, on a flop.

Cantu:
Lehmanski:
Opponent:

Each player had a piece of the flop, with Cantu fairing the best, with his top two-pair. However, the fell on the turn, giving Lehmanski the flush, as the bricked on the river, to see Cantu and his opponent hit the rail, as Lehmanski rocketed up to the chip lead.

Brandon Cantu @brandoncantu

Busted 350k pot with top 2 vs a flush draw sickeningJune 29 2013

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Brandon Cantu @brandoncantu

I guess I know what if feels like now when people get busted by meJune 29 2013

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Action began with Talal Shakerchi who raised under the gun to 3,000. He was called by Andrew Lichtenberger in the small blind. Phil Laak thought about it for a bit in the big blind before releasing his hand.

The flop came down and Lichtenberger checked to Shakerchi who put out a bet of 4,000. Lichtenberger called.

Both players then checked the on the turn, as well as the on the river.

Lichtenberger turned up his and his full house was good enough to earn him the pot.