Tony Ruberto was the lone player to top the 200,000 mark, as he bagged 203,300 to end Day 1 of Event #28: $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em Championship. The Massachusetts native was followed in the top five by well-known pro John Juanda (171,200), Frenchmen Michel Abecassis (165,100) and Benjamin Pollak (156,800), and Russian Alex Bilokur (156,500).
The return of the $10,000 PLHE event after a year off seemed to be well-received, as the 160 total entrants wasn't far off the 195 who played for $5,000 last year. The field was chock-full of notable names, and Antonio Esfandiari (144,300), Chino Rheem (122,700), Mike Matusow (94,000), and the legendary Phil Ivey (24,500) were among those bagging stacks at the end of the night.
Greg Merson, Matt Marafioti, Faraz Jaka, Bertrand Grospellier, David Paredes, and Jason Somerville were among the fallen here on Day 1, as 66 players made the cut for tomorrow's Day 2.
The survivors will return at 2 p.m. tomorrow to get back to battle, and we at PokerNews will be on hand to bring you all of the relevant live updates, so be sure to come back then.
Erik Seidel has a bit of momentum going into Day 2.
As the players at Table 368 bagged up, JC Tran, Mike Matusow, Erik Seidel, and Isaac Baron each threw down $100 on the high card draw, with Seidel collecting the pot with the .
JC Tran put an opponent all in on the turn after the player bet 8,000 with the board reading . The player called off his last 20,000 or so, and Tran showed for a set, and he was up against the . Tran faded the aces and the spades on the river, and he's now at about triple the starting stack.
Table 370, already housing JC Tran, Chino Rheem, Hoyt Corkins, and Chris Moorman, just added Phil Ivey to the intimidating lineup. Ivey's stack has been blinded off as he competed in the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E., but he's getting settled in here now.
Jennifer Tilly started fast but has taken a huge nosedive here of late.
We caught her betting 4,000 into a 5,800-chip pot on a flop only to have her opponent raise it up to 10,200. She potted it for all her oppenents chips, 27,200 effective and he made the call, turning over .
Tilly was in tough with and failed to improve on the turn and river.
As expected, six-time WSOP bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu has hopped in the field here just minutes after busting out of the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. across the hall.
Already this year, Negreanu has posted three deep runs in three $10,000 Championship level events, including finishing 18th in the $10,000 H.O.R.S.E., 10th in the $10,000 Seven Card Razz and second in the $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball.
Expect the voice of "Kid Poker" to be heard as things continue here.
Out of the big blind, Mike Matusow bet 7,500 on a board of after significant money went in on the turn. His opponent on the button stacked all of his chips and pushed them into the middle.
"That's so sick," Matusow said before calling.
He needn't have worried, as his was miles ahead of the held by the player on the button.
The dealer burned and turned a , and Matusow had his opponent covered.
Antonio Esfandiari just got all of Ted Lawson's chips on a board of . Esfandiari had showed down for the nut straight, while Lawson's was good for only a lower straight.
Antonio Esfandiari just took a seat at Table 367, and he hollered something at Jason Somerville, who promptly began walking over from a neighboring table.
"I love when you see a guy who owes you money, and he just walks over right away and pays you," Esfandiari said as Somerville handed him a stack of chips. "Can you imagine if it was always like that?"
Matt Waxman joins the PokerNews Podcast at the top of the show to talk about winning a bracelet in 2013, debate whether or not the National Championship is a closed event, and tell the story of his first big heater in poker. The crew then gives play-by-play of a spat between Nick Schulman and the phone vendors outside of the Amazon Room, breaks down the recent bracelet winners, and more.
.
. The player called off his last 20,000 or so, and Tran showed 
for a set, and he was up against the 
. Tran faded the aces and the spades on the 
river, and he's now at about triple the starting stack.
flop only to have her opponent raise it up to 10,200. She potted it for all her oppenents chips, 27,200 effective and he made the call, turning over 
.
and failed to improve on the 
turn and 
was miles ahead of the 
held by the player on the button.
, and Matusow had his opponent covered.
was good for only a lower straight.
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