The preflop action escaped us, but we do know that Robert Shuptrine got his short stack all in on a flop and was at risk against Marcia Topp.
Shuptrine:
Topp:
Shuptrine had flopped a royal flush draw, and he needed to hit something as Topp had flopped trip jacks. The turn was a blank for Shuptrine, and so was the . Topp's set held and Shuptrine found himself heading back to Bentonville, Arkansas.
We noticed Poker Hall of Famer Mike Sexton was no longer seated at one of the outer tables, which led us to believe that he had been eliminated from the tournament. Sure enough, a quick check with some of the players confirmed that he had fallen in the latter half of Level 6.
According to one of the players, Sexton raised from middle position with and the player in the big blind defended with . The flop gave both players a little something, and before long Sexton's chips were in the middle. Another on the turn gave the big blind a full house, and a on the river officially put an end to Sexton's 2014 WSOP.
Mark Bansemer opened the action for 1,200 and Duncan McLellan, seated next to him, three-bet to 3,050. It folded back around to Bansemer who four-bet to 7,300 with around 14,000 behind.
McLellan set Bansemer in and the latter called with which was in good shape to double-up against the of McLellan.
The board ran out and McLellan conceded, “Nice hand.”
Bence Zoltan checked to Mike Dentale on a board of , and Dentale fired out a bet of 6,000. Zoltan thought for a bit before calling.
The completed the board, Zoltan quickly led out for a bet, and before we could even count the chips, Dentale called. Zoltan turned over for queens and fives, but it was no good against Dentale's for a turned straight.
We arrived to the table with three players in the pot and the board showing . A player in middle position checked and Eric Berger bet 5,800. Yifan Zheng made the call and the remaining player folded. The river was the and the action was on Berger.
Zheng, a Boston hat perched sideways on his head, shuffled chips in his left hand while watching Berger who eventually would check. Zheng made a bet of 8,500 and now it was Berger who was studying his opponent. Berger held three T5,000 chips in his hand, holding them aloft as if he wanted to drop them into the middle of the table. He decided against it, though, and mucked his hand. Despite the loss, Berger is up to 140,000 chips and has been steadily accumulating throughout the early portion of the day.
2003 WSOP champ Chris Moneymaker got off to a rough start here on Day 2a. In the latest PokerNews Impromptu, Moneymaker talks about the first level of play, having fun at the feature table, and his plans for after the WSOP.
It has been a quick two hours of play here at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino. The first level of the day is in the books and players are currently on their first 20-minute break.
Here's a look at some of the highlights from today's first level:
On the first hand of the day, online legend Chun Lei Zhou was eliminated from play by Salman Behbehani.
Antonio Esfandiari opened for 1,575 from the cutoff only to have Thomas Schrepfer three-bet all in for 32,700 from the button. Action folded back to "The Magician" and he seemed torn as to what to do as a call would constitute the vast majority of his chips.
"You just beat me in a flip," Esfandiari told Schrepfer. "Maybe I should beat you in one. Does that sound reasonable to you?"
Schrepfer smiled and simply said, "Maybe."
"To flip or not to flip, that is the question," Esfandiari said, referencing Shakespeare. "I hate calling with this hand." Nonetheless, Esfandiari did call.
Schrepfer:
Esfandiari:
It was a classic flip, but not after a player in the blind informed Esfandiari that he had folded ace-king. Esfandiari seemed a bit dejected by that news, but he perked up when the flop delivered him the lead with a pair of kings. On the flip side, Schrepfer wasn't too happy and stood up causing his chair to fall over.
Schrepfer then watched helplessly as the blanked on the turn followed by the on the river.
"Good game, sir," Esfandiari offered before collecting the pot.
Ole Schemion opened for 1,500 and was called by Valentin Messina. The two saw a flop of and Schemion bet 1,300 and Messina made the call.
The turn was the and Schemion again bet, this time for 2,600. Messina called.
The river was the and Schemion slowed down, tapping the table to indicate a check. Messina moved all in for his last 10,800 and Schemion tossed his cards with flair to the dealer.