When it comes to poker in Australia, one name immediately jumps out — Joe Hachem. However, years before the Aussie won the 2005 World Series of Poker Main Event, the "Land Down Under" had a clandestine poker scene that included David Gorr.
Due in large part to tax implications, Gorr hasn't played in the WSOP since 1997. That all changed this year when he decided to give the WSOP Main Event a go once again. Gorr may not be familiar to those stateside, but he is a poker legend in Australia.
In 2011, Gorr defeated a 721-player field to capture the prestigious Aussie Millions Main Event title and a AUD$2,000,000 first-place prize. On his way to victory, Gorr beat out a stacked final table that included Patrik Antonius, Chris Moorman, and Randy Dorfman. Then, in a marathon heads-up match, Gorr defeated young James Keys to prove that youth doesn’t always prevail over experience and perseverance.
Gorr may not have been familiar to the poker masses before his big win, but he was a local legend in Melbourne, having played at Crown Casino for many years and hailing from the same home game as Australian Poker Hall of Famers Leo Boxell, Mel Judah, and Billy “The Croc” Argyros. Gorr would be inducted into the Australian Poker Hall of Fame in 2012.
Gorr is down a bit from what he started the day with, but he's hanging in there against a tough table that includes chip leader Martin Jacobson. Rest assured we'll be keeping an eye on the wily veteran to see how his return to the WSOP goes.
One-time chip Day 1a leader Jon Broderick led out for 4,800 on a completed board of , and his opponent, Nam Le, raised to 15,000.
Broderick, a Massachusetts native, tanked for a minute or so before calling, and Le ripped over for quad threes. Broderick held on to his hand for a few seconds, then tossed it into the muck.
The flop showed when we walked into a big raising war between Marvin Rettenmaier and Cody Gorman. The bet sizes were hard to estimate, but it seemed like Rettenmaier had made it 12,500 after Gorman had put in 7,725. Eventually Gorman moved all in for 46,875, and Rettenmaier made the call.
Gorman:
Rettenmaier:
Another player at the table claimed to have folded the final three in the deck, and the board ran out , then .
Gorman found himself a big double-up while Rettenmaier still has a big stack with which to play.
Barny Boatman tangled with Martin Finger who was in the big blind and had checked it over to Boatman on a flop of . Boatman bet 1,600 and Finger made the call.
The turn was the . Finger checked, Boatman bet 3,000, Finger check-raised to 9,700, and Boatman called. The river completed the board and Finger led out for 16,700. Boatman didn’t waste any time before throwing his hand away.
Jonathan Dimmig came into the day with a solid stack of 89,600, and he's quickly run that up despite a recent setback.
On a board of , Dimmig checked out of the blinds and saw his opponent bet 15,000. Dimmig thought for a couple of minutes before making the call, and he was shown for a boat.
Dimmig's already proven he can navigate large fields, having topped 7,977 to take down the Millionaire Maker earlier this summer for more than $1.3 million. We'll see if he can pull off another deep run here in the Main Event.
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.
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.
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.