Jennifer Tilly arrived here at the Brasilia Room in high spirits, hoping to capitalize on the momentum generated from her deep run at Event #34 ($1,000 No-Limit Hold'em Turbo).
Unfortunately for the star of stage and screen, her stay was a short one, and Tilly was eliminated during the first level of the play.
| Jogador | Fichas | Oscilação |
|---|---|---|
|
Eliminado | |
|
||
With thousands of unfamiliar faces marking the beginning of every low buy-in WSOP event, a glimmer of recognition can occur in the most unlikely ways.
When a seemingly anonymous player asked us to update his chip count, the scene was unremarkable initially, until it became apparent that this was not your typical amateur.
In 2011, Ken Griffin won a gold bracelet, and $455,356 in first place money, by emerging from a massive field of 2,890 runners to capture every chip in play. With a similarly large field expected here today, spotting Griffin among the masses was a bit of a random occurrence, but we were glad to seem him back at the WSOP pursuing his second piece of poker hardware.
As a ten-year veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, who served tours of duty in both Iraq and Afghanistan, Griffin is not defined by his poker accomplishments, and instead has dedicated his life heroically to the defense of our nation's freedom. Although adding a second bracelet to his trophy case would certainly be quite the feat, Griffin knows better than most that there is more to life than a card game, and that sense of perspective undoubtedly aids his game on the felt.
| Jogador | Fichas | Oscilação |
|---|---|---|
|
6,000
800
|
800 |
Circuit grinder Dwyte Pilgrim is known for his willingness to dive into any poker tournament, from the Rio's Daily Deepstack series to WPT Championships, and everything in between. While other players choose their tourney schedules based on the potential for television appearances, the chance to compete against upper echelon players, and other esoteric factors, Pilgrim just plays the game, all day, everyday.
Pilgrim is in the house here this afternoon, trying to add a gold WSOP bracelet to his impressive list of poker accomplishments, and after a recent hand, he is off to a great start.
According to the easygoing Pilgrim, who is always ready with a little dap for fans, fellow players, and even the occasional nosy reporter, he spiked a set with 
on the 
flop.
Pilgrim bet 250 on the flop, and his opponent made the minimum raise. After calling in the only way he knows how, smoothly, Pilgrim bet 750 on the 
turn. His opponent flatted, and the river gave Pilgrim a boat. An all in and a call later, Pilgrim had claimed his first stack of the day, and we will be sure to track this dangerous pro's progress as the day continues.
| Jogador | Fichas | Oscilação |
|---|---|---|
|
7,700
4,700
|
4,700 |
After a quick start here in Event #54, former Player of the Year Frank Kassela is busto. We didn't catch the action but another player at his table was kind enough to inform us that Kassela flopped the butt end of a straight with on a 
flop and he got all his chips in against a player with .
The turn was a blank for Kassela and it kept him in the lead, but the river was a 
giving his opponent a better broadway straight to eliminate Kassela from the tournament. A rather unfortunate end for Kassela especially after he had doubled up just a few hands earlier here on Day 1.
| Jogador | Fichas | Oscilação |
|---|---|---|
|
Eliminado | |
|
||
Niall Farrell is in the field today after a deep run in Event #44: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em where he finished second for $366,815, but he's not off to as good a start as he was in that tournament. After just one level he's down to less than a third of his original stack.
We watch Farrell play one hand while we were stalking around his table. In the hand Farrell opened to 75 from under the gun. He was called by a player in middle position and the player in the big blind as well. The flop came down 
and the big blind player checked to Farrell who fired out 150. The middle position player folded to the big blind who called.
The turn was the 
and both players checked, and they both checked again on the 
river. The player in the big blind showed 
and that was good enough to take down the pot as Farrell mucked.
Farrell still has chips left to play with so anything could happen, but he's already short here on Day 1 of Event #54.
| Jogador | Fichas | Oscilação |
|---|---|---|
|
875
-2,125
|
-2,125 |
|
|
||
We're just minutes away from the start of Event #54: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em, which represents the last $1,000 no-limit event from the summer, not including Event #58: $1,111 Little One for One Drop No-Limit Hold'em.
We're also just hours away from Event #55: The $50,000 Poker Players' Championship so many players may be using this event as a warm up, or may not play at all. Either way, we're sure to see plenty of lower stakes players taking their shot here today in Event #54.
The last $1,000 no-limit hold'em event was won by Norbert Szecsi and he took home $345,037 for his victory. We may see Szecsi here today attempting to take a second shot at another title here today in Event #54. That event, like all other $1,000 no-limit hold'em events here at the World Series of Poker, lasted for three days and saw more than 2,000 entrants. Today we can expect to see similar numbers.
We're just minutes away from the "Shuffle up and deal," here in the Brasilia room. Just like the other $1,000 no-limit hold'em events, the players will begin with 3,000 in tournament chips and the blinds at 25/25. The players will play out 10 levels today and we may even see them make the money here on Day 1, but only time will tell. Make sure you stay here with us at PokerNews.com as we begin our journey to crowning a new World Series of Poker champion.
