Allen Kessler, Abe Mosseri, and another player were involved in a pot after the second draw. Mosseri stood pat, the player under the gun drew one, and Kessler did the same. Mosseri bet, the player under the gun called, and Kessler, on the button, raised. Mosseri called. The other player asked if it was bad if all his cards were the same suit.
"Flushes are bad," Kessler confirmed. The player called anyway.
Mosseri broke his hand, the under-the-gun player drew one again, and Kessler stood pat. Everyone checked the river, and Kessler rolled over his hand.
Kessler:
Mosseri:
The man known as "Chainsaw" dragged a sizable pot with his eight-six low.
In the last hand before the level change, we found Jason Mercier in a heads-up pot. He had three babies and a king showing against his opponent's three babies and a nine. Mercier fired bets on sixth and seventh streets, and his opponent called.
Mercier: /
Opponent: /
Mercier had the low, and his pair of threes were good for the scoop.
The tournament clock currently says 306 players are registered for this event, but that number should increase significantly over the next couple of hours. The tournament staff has more than a dozen tables set up for late registrants, and we're guessing the total will be around last year's 477.
We did another pass through the far side of the Pavilion Room White Section and here are some of the players we spotted. Needless to say, this is a stacked field.