Picking up the action after flop, Mickey Petersen (big blind) and a player in middle position checked to Phil Ivey in the cutoff. Ivey bet 1,000, both opponents called and the landed on the turn. Action was checked to Ivey again and he bet 3,000. Only Petersen called to see the river and both players checked.
Petersen showed for a set, but it was second best to Ivey's for a flopped straight. Before stacking his chips, though, Ivey stared at Petersen with his mouth open for about five seconds before asking, "That's all I won?"
With that pot, Ivey is back above the starting stack.
For four men in today’s field, their journey to the 2014 World Series of Poker began where poker tales often do — at a lowly truck stop in Loxley, Alabama. It was there that Biloxi, Mississippi poker player Kai Landry was sent, amid the dank odors of diesel and unkempt long-haul truckers, to meet a mystery man to pick up $40,000 in cash – enough for four buy-ins to the WSOP Main Event.
With cash in hand, Landry met up with Bill Philips, and together the two took the red-eye to Las Vegas to meet BJ McBrayer and Josh Reichard, with whom they would split the loot. The plan was simple for the four of them to take the cash, which had been raised by 73 investors at $200 per share, and test their luck in poker’s most prestigious tournament.
Not surprisingly, the truck stop, cash, and road to Sin City were all part of one man’s plan, Will “Monkey” Souther, who finished 175th in the 2012 WSOP Main Event for $44,655. Funny thing is, Souther isn’t even allowed to play in the WSOP. You see, a couple years back Souther was eighty-sixed from all Caesars properties after a contentious incident at the Horseshoe Hammond. Despite his best attempts, Souther’s WSOP eligibility has failed to be reinstated, so he’s decided to make his presence known through the aforementioned stable of pros, collectively known as “Monkey’s Minions”.
“I got the idea of making my presence felt at the Main Event, and the only way I could do that was by raising money to get players in and having them play under my guidance,” Souther explained. “So I announced what amounted to a contest on my blog. I got about 15-20 candidates to apply for consideration. My initial goal was to send three players. I had a lot of really solid candidates and a lot to consider. I finally narrowed it down to six and opened a poll for people to vote. After a week, I named BJ McBrayer and Joshua Reichard as my first two, and then said it would be up to voters to decide who would be the third.”
“The polls exploded,” Souther continued. “Both ‘Wild Bill’ Phillips and Kai Landry got a ton of votes each, and then all of a sudden, I had a flurry of interest from people wanting to buy in to the package. So instead of three, I ended up getting enough for four players. I started calling them Monkey's Grinders, but a lot of people have playfully renamed them Monkey's Minions, which is kind of fun, too.”
“Basically what I went looking for was the kind of players that I knew would be excellent in that structure among a field of tons of dead money. I wanted guys who were solid players but simply didn't have the $10,000 to pony up and would be forced to either win a satellite or sell a package of their own. I'd say three of the four are pretty introverted and not lucky enough to have the kind of network to sell a package as I am. Admittedly, I am one of the luckiest people in poker when it comes to that having cultivated an amazing network, mainly by doing my sports pools over the last 20 years.”
“All of them are buying in for tomorrow's Day 1c,” Souther said. “They've all signed a contract, and one of the stipulations on there is that should any of them make it to the final three tables, upon getting their money, they must request the presence of Jack Effel and make him the following offer: Immediately reinstate Will Souther to be able to play WSOP events at all Caesar's-owned properties and they will leave a 5% tip that will come out of the investors 65% and not the players share. Additionally, should any of them make the November Nine, there will be very interesting wardrobe choices as well as a dinner the night before the final table with all of the 73 investors who happen to make it to Vegas. Needless to say, I am very excited for tomorrow, as I have myself purchased five shares priced at $200 per share. There were a total of 200 shares sold.”
Here’s a little more information on each of Monkey’s Minion’s:
Josh Reichard
Josh Reichard
In November of 2013, Reichard topped a field of 305 players to win the Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) Ho-Chunk Gaming in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, a stop that created a state record prize pool of $305,000. Reichard, who hails from Janesville, Wisconsin, took down $78,003 for the win and a RF Moeller diamond championship bracelet.
A month later, Reichard captured his first WSOP Circuit gold ring when he won Event #4 $365 No-Limit Hold’em at Harrah’s Rincon for $11,589. Then, in April of this year, Reichard won his second ring when he took down Event #6 $365 Limit Omaha Eight or Better at Horseshoe Council Bluffs for $10,919. All told Reichard has $103,925 in WSOP earnings.
BJ McBrayer
Hailing from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, BJ McBrayer has $140,890 in career WSOP earnings, which includes a ring win at the WSOP Circuit St. Louis Lumiere Place Casino, which is where he won Event #8 $580 No-Limit Hold’em for $20,997.
Kai Landry
Monkey's Minions arrive at the 2014 WSOP.
Nicknamed “The Violent Milkman,” Kai Landry has $266,111 in WSOP earnings, which includes two WSOP Circuit rings. The first was back in the 2008/2009 season when he won Event #14 $5,150 Circuit Championship at Harrah’s Tunica for $183,974, and the other later that same season in the Harrah’s New Orleans Event #15 $340 No-Limit Hold’em for $35,620. Since then Landry has been a staple on the southern poker circuit.
“Wild Bill” Phillips
Phillips is looking for his first WSOP cash in Vegas, but he has nine cashes on the circuit for $92,595. While a gold ring has eluded him thus far, he did finish runner-up in the 2011/2012 WSOP Circuit IP Casino Resort & Spa $1,600 Main Event for $69,721.
How will Monkey’s Minions fare in the 2014 WSOP Main Event? Only time will tell.
One level is in the books here on Day 1c of the 2014 World Series of Poker. Event organizers were expecting a large turnout, and while official numbers aren't in, the amount of players has not disappointed as thousands are spread across the Pavilion, Amazon, and Brasilia Rooms.
Only two hours of play have passed, but there have already been some notable developments.
Players are now headed on their first 20-minute break of the day, and Level 1 was already a great one.
Earlier this morning, Pauly "Walnuts" Bianchi was playing poker in Chicago, but thanks to a few lucky hands of blackjack he finds himself in Las Vegas taking a shot at the Main Event.
Ariel Celestino checked to Paul Pierce on a flop of , and the 2008 NBA Champion bet 350. Celestino check-raised to 1,250, and Pierce went into the tank.
"How much more is it?" Pierce asked.
The dealer informed him that it was 900 more, and Pierce reached into his stack.
"I'll see one more card," he said, flipping a yellow T1,000 chip forward.
The turn was the , Celestino bet 2,000, and Pierce made a silent call. The river was a repeat nine — the — and the Brazilian casually tossed out 6,000. Pierce sat quietly for 30 seconds or so, then grabbed his whole stack with two hands.
"Okay," he finally said, pushing forward an all-in bet of 15,575 and standing up. "I guess it's time to go home."
Celsetino couldn't help but laugh at the 10-time NBA All-Star, and asked for a count. While the dealer was cutting down the stacks, Pierce started to stretch.
"I'm just stretching out," Pierce told the players next to him, loosening up his arms.
Celestino eventually made a crying call, asking if Pierce had a full house, and "The Truth" turned over for just that: eights full of nines.
"I thought you were going home?" a player asked Pierce, grinning.
"I told y'all I'm just stretching!" Pierce responded, smiling from ear to ear.
The future basketball Hall-of-Famer dragged in the pot, doubling to 38,000.
Paul Pierce, a Boston Celtics legend, Brooklyn Nets player, and future NBA Hall of Fame member, was recently spotted in the Amazon Room. We followed Pierce around to his seat and almost immediately saw him get caught up in a huge hand.
We arrived to see Pierce in the small blind calling after the big blind had raised to 1,000, then the flop came . Pierce check-called another bet of 1,000, and on the turn the hit.
Pierce checked again and the big blind bet another 1,000. Swiftly Pierce check-raised to 4,000 and the big blind called right away. On the river the completed the board and casually Pierce flicked out a bet of 10,000.
The big blind called and Pierce tabled for three of a kind queens and a busted straight flush draw. But the big blind tabled for a Broadway straight and Pierce, obviously disappointed with the loss of this big pot, complimented his opponent for his strong hand.
Some players look forward to partaking in the World Series of Poker Main Event, even planning their trip a year or more in advance. Then there is Pauly "Walnuts" Bianchi, a Chicagoland player that didn't decide to play until late last night.
You see, late Sunday night a group of Chicago players were deep in a poker game when the idea was floated about of getting someone in the 2014 WSOP Main Event. The problem was there was only one remaining starting flight beginning in less than 12 hours and they had only managed to pool together $1,200, well short of the $10,000 buy-in.
After the game broke earlier this morning, the motley crew decided to do what any true degens would do and headed to the local casino to try and spin it up playing blackjack. The problem was the closest gaming venue, the Rivers Casino, closes their table games at 7:00 a.m., so by the time they got there, they literally only had time to play three hands.
With a "go big or go home" attitude, the group promptly placed a $1,200 bet, which they won. The next bet of $2,400 turned into $4,800, and on the third hand they let it ride. The group ended up making a 20 with the dealer showing a seven, and Bianchi literally started dancing and yelling, "I'm going to Vegas."
The 20 held, and the group left the casino with $9,500 — still shy of the buy-in, but close enough to drum up a couple thousand more from another investor to cover expenses. Just like that Bianchi was on the first flight out of Chicago and now finds himself inside the Rio playing in poker's most prestigious tournament.
Obviously he's not playing on a lot of rest, so we'll have to see how he does here on Day 1c.
On one of the first hands of the day, Billy Chattaway just managed to secure himself a double-up. The hand was extraordinary, and the dealer's announcement, "All in and a call!" made a big crowd of people rush over to Table 374 in the Orange section.
The board showed while Chattaway's were tabled face up.
"He had ace-king," another player informed us.
Chattway was all in on the river for 27,025 and this huge hand puts him ahead of the entire field after just 25 minutes of play.
Simon Charette, also seated at this table, tweeted the following after this hand:
On the fourth hand of the day Daniel Negreanu just raked in a huge pot to put himself at the top of the chip counts.
Negreanu, seated at the secondary featured table, raised to 300 from the small blind and the player on his left three-bet to 800.
"Reraise?" Negreanu said with a smile before making the call.
The flop brought out and Negreanu checked to his opponent who bet 800. The Canadian pro check-raised to 2,800 and the player in the big blind made the call.
The turn was the and Negreanu bet another 3,500, which was quickly called. On the river the popped up and Negreanu casually tossed out two orange chips worth 10,000 total.
After quite a bit of tanking his opponent called, only to see that Negreanu had for a full house.
"I won two of the first three hands as well," Negreanu cheerfully added. "I had ace-king suited and nines."
After having all the dealers stand up to receive some well deserved congratulations and the showing of a brief video, it was none other than the reigning World Series of Poker Player of the Year who would take the microphone to announce the words every poker players loves to hear at the Main Event.
Daniel Negreanu, who is having another excellent WSOP sitting in fourth place in the current WSOP POY race and who recently finished second in the Big One for One Drop, took the microphone.
"I'm going to keep it short and sweet... I know everyone is ready to play," said Negreanu. "Dealers, shuffle up and deal!"
Welcome back to the 2014 World Series of Poker $10,000 Main Event. For the first time ever, the Main Event features a $10 million guaranteed prize for the winner, which also guarantees at least the second-largest prize in the event's history. In 2006, Jamie Gold took home $12 million for his victory in the Main Event, while the biggest payout since then went to Peter Eastgate in 2008 ($9,152,416).
That makes this year's Main Event extra special, and it's been reflected by the numbers thus far. On Saturday, 771 players took to the felt for Day 1a action — down from last year's 943 — but then on Day 1b a robust 2,144 entries showed up, a nice increase from 2013's 1,942; in fact, those numbers put the field on pace to surpass last year's 6,352. To do it, 3,438 players will need to take to the felt here on Day 1c, which is right on par with last year's Day 1c field of 3,467. With both live and online satellite numbers taken into account, expectations are high that today's flight could even draw as many as 4,000 runners, in which case this year's Main Event would the largest in recent years. Only time will tell if that will happen.
Speaking of the first two starting flights, Swedish player Martin Jacobson ended the Day 1a flight as chip leader with 200,100, while Day 1b chip leader Trey Luxemburger bagged up slightly less with 193,450 chips. Other notables who survived the early starting flights and will return on Day 2a/b include Erik Seidel, Vanessa Selbst, Jason Somerville, Chris Moneymaker, Antonion Esfandiari, Annette Obrestad, and defending champ Ryan Riess, just to name a few.
Of course not everyone has been so fortunate. Among those heading back home after facing early eliminations are Steve Gee, Jean-Robert Bellande, David Chiu, Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, David "Doc" Sands, Dan Shak, Joe Serock, Paul Volpe, and Chris Moorman. As they say, there's always next year.
While some have already begun their journeys and others have had theirs cut short, today marks the first step for some on the long path to poker immortality. Among those expected to enter Day 1c are 13-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth; 10-time bracelet winner Phil Ivey; "Top Dollar Man" Paul Newey; Denmark's Theo Jorgensen; female chess expert Jennifer Shahade; 2007 Main Event finalist Lee Childs; and last year's last woman standing Jackie Glazier. Of course that is just a small sample of the thousands of players that'll be dispersed throughout the Brasilia, Amazon, and Pavilion Rooms this afternoon.
Players will begin the tournament with 30,000 in tournament chips. Each level in the Main Event lasts 120 minutes, and today they will play five levels with 20-minute breaks after each level aside from a 90-minute dinner break after Level 3. Players will have until the end of the dinner break to register for the tournament, shortly after which time we'll have official entry and prize pool information. The remaining players from the Day 1c field will then resume play at 12 p.m. on Wednesday, July 9.
Cards will be in the air at noon local time, which is a couple of hours from now. Join us then as the PokerNews Live Reporting Team brings you all the hands, chip counts, and updates from the 2014 WSOP Main Event. Stay tuned!
![[user139916]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
flop, Mickey Petersen (big blind) and a player in middle position checked to Phil Ivey in the cutoff. Ivey bet 1,000, both opponents called and the 
landed on the turn. Action was checked to Ivey again and he bet 3,000. Only Petersen called to see the 
river and both players checked.
for a set, but it was second best to Ivey's 
for a flopped straight. Before stacking his chips, though, Ivey stared at Petersen with his mouth open for about five seconds before asking, "That's all I won?"
, and the 2008 NBA Champion bet 350. Celestino check-raised to 1,250, and Pierce went into the tank.
, Celestino bet 2,000, and Pierce made a silent call. The river was a repeat nine — the 
. Pierce check-called another bet of 1,000, and on the turn the 
hit.
completed the board and casually Pierce flicked out a bet of 10,000.
for three of a kind queens and a busted straight flush draw. But the big blind tabled 
for a Broadway straight and Pierce, obviously disappointed with the loss of this big pot, complimented his opponent for his strong hand.
were tabled face up.
and Negreanu checked to his opponent who bet 800. The Canadian pro check-raised to 2,800 and the player in the big blind made the call.
popped up and Negreanu casually tossed out two orange chips worth 10,000 total.
