Picking up with the action on a board of , Ali Eslami led into the middle for 1,025 against two opponents. His first opponent called from the hijack while the third folded from his button.
The river brought a third club to the board - the . Eslami flung forward 1,800 and his opponent went deep into the tank. About 90 seconds passed before his opponent flicked forward a call. Eslami rolled over for an ace-high flush and his opponent threw his hand into the muck. Eslami was pushed the pot and now has about 15,000 in chips.
An early positioned player limped and it folded around to the small blind who completed his action. Dan Smith made it 250 from the big blind and found calls from both limpers. The flop came down and the small blind checked. Smith fired 500 and the next player to act folded. The small blind called and the two were off to fourth street.
The turn was the and action checked to Smith for a second time. He rapped the table back and the completed the board. Both players checked again, Smith's opponent rolled over , and Smith dropped his cards into the muck.
On a pass through the shootout field, we spotted 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event champion seated at the same table as 2012 Main Event champion Greg Merson. Sandwiched between the two champions is none other than three-time WSOP bracelet winner Barry Greenstein.
Both players have had great success on the felt since their respective wins and today they will compete against one another in an attempt to win their table and move on to the second round. Most notably, Cada has came close to clinching his second WSOP bracelet back in 2012 in Event #31: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em. Cada made it all of the way to heads up play but ultimately finished runner-up to Carter Phillips. Despite being close to victory, Cada still pocketed over $412,000 for his finish. Cada also had two WSOP final table appearances during the 2013 series.
Merson, on the other hand, clinched a big score this past January during the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. Merson made it to the final table of the $25,000 High Roller event where he ultimately finished runner-up to Jacob Schnidler. Merson pocketed $948,996 in prize money for his finish and added an incredible note to his poker resume. He'll be searching for his third WSOP bracelet today.
In between the two world champions sits Greenstein. A noted cash game and tournament player as well as poker author, Greenstein is on the hunt for his fourth WSOP bracelet today. Greenstein won his first bracelet back in 2004, rising to the top of the $5,000 No Limit 2-7 Draw event. He captured his second just one year later in a $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha event. Finally, his third piece of WSOP jewelry came in 2008 when he bested the field in a $1,500 Razz event.
The presence of these three makes this for a star-studded shootout table and we'll be sure to keep you up to date on the action as the day progresses.
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We recently saw Calvin Anderson making an exit from the tournament area. Early in the first level, we saw Anderson get it all in against Hal Lubarsky. Anderson held queens but was dominated by Lubarsky's .
The board fell down and Anderson was eliminated from play.
Welcome to our ongoing coverage of the 2014 World Series of Poker! Today will see the start of an interesting and prestigious event: Event #20: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout. The concept of a shootout is simple: defeat your table and advance to the next round where you'll have to do it all over again.
In past years, defeating your first table guarantees you a spot in the money. From there, if you can best your table on Day 2, you'll find yourself seated with the event's elite on Day 3 and in a good spot to take down the gold WSOP bracelet and first-place prize money.
Last year this event was won by Cliff Josephy, who claimed $299,486 in first-place prize money and his second WSOP bracelet. On his path to glory, Josephy bested a final table that included the likes of Steven Silverman, Tim West, David "Bakes" Baker, Max Steinberg, and Chris Klodnicki. The event saw a total of 477 entrants.
Players start with 9,000 in chips and blinds increase every 60 minutes. Day 1 will continue until a winner is crowned on every table. As always, PokerNews will be on hand to bring you the bust outs, bad beats, and big stories from the tournament felt!
, Ali Eslami led into the middle for 1,025 against two opponents. His first opponent called from the hijack while the third folded from his button.
. Eslami flung forward 1,800 and his opponent went deep into the tank. About 90 seconds passed before his opponent flicked forward a call. Eslami rolled over 
for an ace-high flush and his opponent threw his hand into the muck. Eslami was pushed the pot and now has about 15,000 in chips.
and the small blind checked. Smith fired 500 and the next player to act folded. The small blind called and the two were off to fourth street.
and action checked to Smith for a second time. He rapped the table back and the 
, and Smith dropped his cards into the muck.
and Anderson was eliminated from play.
